Knicks Beat Pacers: Jeremy Lin Scores 19 In Third Straight Win (VIDEO)

INDIANAPOLIS, IN - MARCH 17: Jeremy Lin #17 of the New York Knicks drives the ball under pressure during the game between the Indiana Pacers and the New York Knicks on March 17, 2012 at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana.

INDIANAPOLIS -- Jeremy Lin scored 19 points to help the New York Knicks defeat the Indiana Pacers 102-88 on Saturday night and improve to 3-0 under interim coach Mike Woodson.

Lin also had seven rebounds and six assists. Carmelo Anthony and Amar'e Stoudemire each scored 16 points and J.R. Smith added 11 for the Knicks, who won on the road for just the eighth time this season.

The Knicks have won all three games by an average of 23.7 points since Woodson took over for Mike D'Antoni. New York defeated the Pacers 115-100 on Friday night in New York.

Roy Hibbert had 24 points and 12 rebounds, Paul George scored 18 points and Darren Collison added 15 points for Indiana, which made just 4 of 15 shots in the fourth quarter.

Back-to-back 3-point plays by Hibbert cut New York's lead to 72-70. The Knicks held on and led 77-74 at the end of the third quarter. Indiana forced the Knicks into 3-for-13 shooting and six turnovers in the third quarter. Hibbert scored 12 points in the period for the Pacers.

Lin scored on an awkward-looking floater, then made a jumper on the next possession to push New York's lead back to 86-79. Pacers coach Frank Vogel was issued a technical foul and Anthony made the free throw to push the Knicks' lead to eight.

New York pulled away from there, leading by as many as 16 points. Lin had eight points in the fourth quarter.

New York led 60-51 at halftime. The Knicks shot just 46 percent from the field, but made 14 free throws and six 3-pointers before the break. Anthony and Stoudemire each scored 10 points in the first half.

The Pacers shot 49 percent in the first half. Collison had 12 points before the break and George had all 10 of his first-half points in the first quarter.

New York pushed its lead to 14 early in the third quarter on a pair of free throws by Stoudemire, but Indiana cut its deficit to nine on a 3-pointer by George. Another three, this one from George Hill, cut New York's lead to 70-64.

Notes: Knicks G Baron Davis sat out with a strained right groin. ... Knicks G Toney Douglas missed the game for personal reasons. ... Indiana F/C Jeff Foster was out with a sore lower back. He has missed 10 of the past 11 games. ... New Pacers G Leandro Barbosa was inactive.

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Comments

[montanasian]

09:57 PM on 03/20/2012

Just if anybody caught the fact that top 3 stories in the HP sports lead is of Tiger, Hines, and Lin.
What do they have in common? Asian-or at least half. Hmm just saying.

[jel3800]

11:16 PM on 03/20/2012

how about that - not too nerdy at all

[montanasian]

12:50 AM on 03/21/2012

??? relevance? But then again Stanford, Harvard, and Georgia?

[quan T]

03:03 PM on 03/20/2012

# 1 + # 7 = # 17 Go Lin

[quan T]

02:30 PM on 03/20/2012

lin is super team player. hope other two super star (big $$) do the same, with out team work, with out no win.
Carmelo's defense has obviously changed for the better since D'Antoni has resigned? personal? can't make your team Down, cause big problem.

[mike72]

04:44 AM on 03/20/2012

Team play!!!

[AIlegroTroppo]

02:40 AM on 03/20/2012

Team play, not Kobe-style wild lobbing towards the basket, wins the game... what a big surprise!

[NatTurner1]

04:02 PM on 03/19/2012

I give the praise to interim coach Mike Woodson!

[Banghouse]

05:42 AM on 03/19/2012

As idiotic Mayweather may seem at times, he was 100% right. I lot of hating going on and we know why.

[Vit Rlayang]

03:22 AM on 03/19/2012

When hype of Lin took place, I was surprised because I never expected another Asian other than Yao Ming playing in the NBA. Basketball was of little interest to me then but since Lin came up, the hope was elevated. I support this dude not just because he's an asian person but of his virtues as well. Having a player with positive mind can help the team big time. His characters is unique and that's why I favor the NYK team. Also,I wouldn't blame anyone on the team tho. Blaming won't make anyone win but cause problems.

[UpandComer]

09:58 PM on 03/18/2012

Damn it, get rid of that mediocre ball hog carmelo anthony. he is very average, and hurts every team he is on prohibitively. There's a reason the knicks started losing again when he came back. He cam back and screwed everything up. He is so bad for teams. Trade that bum.

[Iain Banks]

11:21 PM on 03/18/2012

Go watch table tennis.

[Banghouse]

05:16 AM on 03/19/2012

thank you!

[RobietheCat]

10:07 PM on 03/19/2012

Glad they're turning it around, and congrats to Jeremy Lin.

[westseadoc]

08:21 PM on 03/18/2012

For the Lin-doubters, the past two games should prove that Jeremy Lin real. He is integral to this team. Importantly, he is able to subvert his own ego to help the team. He has embraced his "lesser role" in the new offense and massaged the egos of the "big stars." Many post that "Lin-sanity" is over now that the offense has moved to emphasize Melo and Stoudamire.

Talk of trading for a "better point guard" [Deron Wms in particular] should be silenced. First, the cost of accomplishing this would be prohibitive.

First, the Knicks would not only have to give up players or draft picks to obtain such but they would lose the box office draw that Lin affords the Knicks. Secondly, the new PG point guard has to assume the "new lesser role" in the Knicks offense; otherwise "fights for the ball" would increase team tension and developing team chemistry would disintegrate.

Jeremy has proven resilient, flexible, and hardworking. He is aware of his weaknesses [HE remembers that he is essentially a rookie and has a big learning curve yet to ascend.] and will work hard to eliminate such. He is well known as "easy to coach," hardly guaranteed with anyone new with established "cred" who may prove resistant to suggested changes.

With BD out, Jeremy had "enhanced lesser role" Saturday. He LEAD THE TEAM in POINTS & ASSISTS, 2nd in REBOUNDS, and only turned the ball over twice. What more can you ask?

[Iain Banks]

11:24 PM on 03/18/2012

What box office draw? The Knicks are sold out every day, every year regardless of them winning or not. The only fans Lin is bringing in is Asians who've never watched the game before in their lives. Btw, he's not a rookie, but a second year player. He is a great talent and will be a good player, maybe not elite but solid. Lets leave it at that until he's single handedly winning playoff games.

[ycfu]

05:05 PM on 03/21/2012

"The only fans Lin is bringing in is Asians."
Indeed, about 100 million people in China watched the March 6 Knicks-Dallas Mavericks game.

[CamilleXin]

03:48 PM on 03/18/2012

Of course basketball is a team game and nobody alone can win, not even Michael Jordan. But Lin is a great spirit and he will lead the team up with the help of his star players, but if they're not willing to do the defense, they're not going to win. So everybody has to be on the same page and be aggressive on defense and assist each other. I think Lin shouldn't just take the role of assist of Melo, when you're open, just shoot the ball.

[Bados]

06:20 PM on 03/18/2012

No offense but this completely lacks substance. You could substitute any player and any sport and give the exact same advice you just gave the Knicks.

" We are a team not a group of individuals. If we help each other out we'll be more successful. We have to take it to them. If we out hustle them we will win. Defense wins games. Effort is contagious. Dont worry about the outcome just our work your man. Individual stats dont mean anything if you dont win. One possession at a time. If we play defense and execute, we should win. Hustle for 4 quarters ( this doesnt work in hockey because they have 3 periods). Play hard until the very last whistle."

That's all I can think of at the moment. All that and I didnt actually say anything.

[Banghouse]

05:23 AM on 03/19/2012

LMAO! Faved!

[RVU]

01:43 PM on 03/18/2012

The Knicks are clearly a superior team when Jeremy Lin leads the way. Lin is the most valuable Knick and would have been rookie of th year. Carmelo Anthony in an isolation offense is a very mediocre player barely shooting 40 %.It would be sad and a formula for defeat if the Knick offense ran through Anthony, who is in the middle but not an elite forward in the NBA.

[Iain Banks]

11:25 PM on 03/18/2012

Rookie of the year over Kyrie Irving? Go back to watching Sailor Moon please.

[Ron Cab]

01:07 PM on 03/18/2012

I'm about to twit that the next 20 games are winnab%$####...
I'm taking that back for karma's sake.

Go Knicks!

[Rosalee Harris]

12:55 PM on 03/18/2012

I see HP got the memo. WHen they win its because of Lin but when they lose its ALL Carmelo's fault.

[Bados]

06:22 PM on 03/18/2012

And when they win and it's clearly because of Melo, they just act like the game was never played. LOL

[Valois]

12:05 PM on 03/18/2012

The Knicks won a game? Well, make an article about it! HP knows the Knicks are the only NBA team that matters.

[oniya]

12:28 PM on 03/18/2012

I am glad you see the light. If others are like me, their interest in the NBA has been initiated or renewed all because of the Knicks and their newbie point guard. I have not been this interested in basketball since MJ.

[Valois]

01:48 PM on 03/18/2012

I think old school NBA fans like me are insulted by people like you who would even mention Lin and MJ in the same sentence.

It's awesome that you came back to the NBA, but Lin hardly has a case for top 15 Pgs in the NBA right now. A ton of players better than him out there.

[JacksonHts]

01:11 PM on 03/18/2012

HP is still not real up to it with sports. For some reason, there are multiple Colorado Rockies stories posted every day and remain on the front page of the Baseball page for weeks after the Rockies are done and baseball is deep into the playoffs or World Series. To be fair they were posting other teams and scores earlier in the season, usually not right away. Maybe the NCAA tournament and all the articles took the bulk of their attention. But they are kind of slow on sports at times.