ATS Consultants posted on February 16, 2012 10:37
The New York Knicks continue to roll even without injured All-Star Carmelo Anthony. It also helps to play the Sacramento Kings at home.
This was a night where guard Jeremy Lin did not have to score a ton. Instead he handed out a career-best 13 assists, and New York got back to .500 with its seventh straight victory, 100-85 over the Sacramento Kings on Wednesday night.
Lin added 10 points, focusing more on his role as a distributor while the rest of the team torched the Kings for 51 percent shooting. Landry Fields had 15 points and 10 rebounds, while Bill Walker and Steve Novak each chipped in 14 points as the Knicks put seven players in double figures for the first time since April 5, 2009, at Toronto.
Lin scored 136 points in his first five starts, most by any NBA player since the NBA merged with the ABA in 1976. His 3-pointer with 0.5 seconds left Tuesday allowed the Knicks to pull out a 90-87 victory in a game they trailed nearly the whole way.
The Knicks (15-15) led this one almost throughout, evening their record for the first time since they were 6-6 after a loss to Oklahoma City on Jan. 14. They host hapless New Orleans on Friday, hoping Anthony will return from a strained right groin.
Lin, the reigning Eastern Conference player of the week, played 26 minutes before checking out for good late in the third quarter.
Tyreke Evans scored 19 points for the Kings, who had won four in a row in New York. DeMarcus Cousins added 15 but shot only 7 of 18 and grabbed just four rebounds.