By the numbers: Jeremy Lin is no fluke
The New York Knicks’ Jeremy Lin has scored at least 23 points in each of his last four games, including 38 on Friday night against the Lakers. He has also recorded at least 7 assists in each game, and he has been efficient, shooting at least 53 percent from the field each time.
Just how common is something like this? I searched basketball-reference.com for other streaks that were in the same general ballpark: players who scored at least 20 points, had at least 6 assists and shot 50 percent over a period of four consecutive N.B.A. regular season games.
Since the 1985-86 season, 41 players have had such a streak in addition to Lin.
It is an extremely impressive list. All but seven of the players made at least one All-Star appearance in their careers, with about two-thirds of them selected to the All-Star team multiple times. The list includes nine Hall of Famers — and a number of other players who are sure to make it once they retire. The players on the list account for 17 of the last 28 M.V.P. awards.
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The guy is amazing.
hawkdriver on February 12, 2012 at 8:37 PM
The big question coming up is how will Lin and the Knicks do when Amare Stoudemire and Carmello Anthony return to play in the next few games. The consensus right now is Stoudemire will do fine, since Lin is basically taking the Steve Nash role when Amare and Knicks’ coach Mike D’Antoni were in Phoenix. How it works with Carmello is the bigger unknown, since his game has been working isolation on his man, as opposed to the pick-and-roll game Lin has been doing with Tyson Chandler and Stoudemire worked so well with Nash (my guess is Carmello adjusts, since if the team’s current winning streak goes bye-bye when he returns, New York fans aren’t going to be blaming Lin for the problem).
jon1979 on February 12, 2012 at 8:53 PM
Please don’t rub it in. The Rockets had him signed in the preseason and cut him. Then again, they’re already loaded at the PG spot, so he would’ve ridden the bench here regardless.
Doughboy on February 12, 2012 at 8:57 PM
Up until last week, he was sleeping on a couch in his brother’s living room because his contract was not guaranteed. He now may be able to get his own place.
galtani on February 12, 2012 at 9:00 PM
I wonder if he’ll be Tebowed.
aryeung on February 12, 2012 at 9:07 PM
As someone who stopped watching basketball when they stopped calling “traveling” and allowed players to take multiple steps in their runup to dunking the ball, who cares?
Mitoch55 on February 12, 2012 at 9:07 PM
His career could end tomorrow and he’ll still always have that night when he dropped 38 on the Lakers.
JammieWearingFool on February 12, 2012 at 9:20 PM
I’d say 90 percent of the subset of liberal Knicks fans who can’t stand Tebow will be willing to (hypocritically) overlook Lin’s faith and his open admiration for Tebow as long as their long-suffering team keeps winning. But about 10 percent are so batshirt anti-Christian crazy it will actually affect their enjoyment of the team’s current and any future success (they’re already probably hurt, angry and befuddled that someone could go to Harvard and believe in God — only students at hick schools like Florida still believe in that stuff).
Of course of that 10 percent, you can almost be 100 percent assured that one of them will be posting a “Jeremy Lin Should Shut Up About His Christian Faith” op-ed in The New York Times sometime between now at the start of the playoffs.
jon1979 on February 12, 2012 at 9:22 PM
I watched that Knicks/Lakers game the other night. What a spectacular game. Lin definitely makes his team better. They actually play defense! That’s never an attribute of a D’Antoni team. It’s a great story. I hope he continues to play well. The concern would be the media circus now.
conservative pilgrim on February 12, 2012 at 9:24 PM
I am a basketball junkie and I am loving this, just wish he wasn’t playing for the Knicks.
rockmom on February 12, 2012 at 10:17 PM
And here I thought Knicks players were contractually prohibited from playing hard.
Mike Honcho on February 12, 2012 at 10:17 PM
Lin is a Christian?
hawkdriver on February 12, 2012 at 11:01 PM
I’m ALL LIN!
tdavisjr on February 12, 2012 at 11:07 PM
Yep — Here’s the story from Thursday that was the first to focus on it and his Tebow connection.
jon1979 on February 13, 2012 at 12:10 AM
Thanks for sharing that. Now having read this from the article I can only conclude that this man is evil and must be destroyed at all costs.
Why are Christians such a drag on our society? Can we not just get rid of them all?
hawkdriver on February 13, 2012 at 12:39 AM
Lin will eclipse the star that is Adele.
BHO Jonestown on February 13, 2012 at 1:29 AM
Do ya love this guy? I do!
Ain’t that America…
~John Mellencamp
Ladysmith CulchaVulcha on February 13, 2012 at 4:18 AM