Lin's career night leads Knicks over Nets, 99-92

NEW YORK — Jeremy Lin zipped through the Nets' defense all night before he was finally surrounded.

As teammates hugged him at center court while Pearl Jam's "Jeremy" blasted through the arena, it was clear the New York Knicks had finally found a spark.

And even the Harvard-educated Lin struggled to explain how it ended up being him.

"This night, it just hasn't really sunk in yet to be honest, he said. "It's like I'm still kind of in shock about everything that happened but I'm just trying to soak it all in right now."

Lin scored a career-high 25 points and the Knicks salvaged the finale of a back-to-back-to-back set by the New Jersey Nets 99-92 on Saturday night.

Lin came in to control a sluggish offense, adding a career-best seven assists while outplaying Nets All-Star point guard Deron Williams.

"Jeremy came out and gave us a great spark off the bench, and that was phenomenal for us tonight," forward Amare Stoudemire said.

Stoudemire and Tyson Chandler each added 17 points for the Knicks, who won for just the third time in 14 games. They fell just short in losses to Chicago and Boston over the last two nights before picking up a much-needed victory Saturday.

Williams had 21 points and 11 assists but shot 7 of 19 for the Nets, while Kris Humphries added 20 points and 12 rebounds.

Lin was the catalyst for the Knicks, who have been desperate for production at point guard while they wait for Baron Davis to finally become available. Lin was a hit with the fans practically from the moment he checked in, and some of the loudest cheers of this disappointing season roared through Madison Square Garden when his three-point play made it 95-86 with 2:03 remaining.

He scored on the next possession to make it an 11-point game as chants of "Jeremy! Jeremy!" broke out.

Carmelo Anthony had just 11 points on 3 of 15 shooting, perhaps tired on the third straight night of games.

"If you would have told me Melo would go 3 for 15 and Amare would get in foul trouble, I'd think, 'Man, we'd win by double figures,'" Nets coach Avery Johnson said. "But when you have a guy coming off your bench like that and getting 25 points, it's pretty deflating."

The Knicks' struggles have created speculation that Mike D'Antoni's job could be in jeopardy, especially if the Knicks had dropped this one and fallen behind the Nets in the Atlantic Division standings. But he said before the game there was no reason to panic and that he still believed in his players.