Lin leads Knicks past Pacers

By CLIFF BRUNT, AP Sports Writer
10 hours, 14 minutes ago

INDIANAPOLIS (AP)—Whatever Mike Woodson is doing, it’s working.

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 Woodson, the team’s interim coach.

The Knicks have won 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, and that followed a 42-point victory against Portland in Woodson’s first game as coach.

Lin said there hasn’t been a major shift in the team’s approach. The team looks to the post on offense a bit more, but that’s about the only difference.

“I just think it’s we have all 15 guys right now on the same page buying in, and that’s the biggest thing, is that we’re playing together. I don’t think there’s any major changes philosophically from a coaching standpoint,” he said.

Knicks forward Amare Stoudemire said the messenger matters.

“Coach Woodson, he’s more of—he’s a player’s coach,” Stoudemire said. “It’s a matter of us as players playing hard for him and trying to get these wins.”

Woodson returned the praise, crediting his team for picking up its defensive intensity.

“Our hearts are right in it, and it was a total team effort,” he said. “I couldn’t be more proud of the team than I am tonight. I happen to have a great group of guys and a talented bunch. We just have to keep them playing at a high level. If we do that, we have a chance.”

Stoudemire and Carmelo Anthony each scored 16 points and J.R. Smith added 11 for the Knicks.

It was just New York’s eighth road win of the season, but in many ways, it wasn’t a road contest.

Lin, NBA’s first American-born player of Chinese or Taiwanese descent, made it seem almost like a Knicks home game. Hundreds of mostly Asian fans arrived an hour early and surrounded the visitor’s entrance to catch a glimpse of their hero, many wearing his No. 17 jersey. During the game, he got the loudest cheers. Lin, who is still adjusting to the enormous amount of attention he has received, was taken aback.

Old-school Pacers like Reggie Miller might have lost their lunches hearing a Knicks player draw cheers in Indiana.

But then again, Miller never faced Linsanity.

“I think it was a little crazier here than it normally is,” Lin said. “That’s cool. I didn’t know I had any fans in Indiana.”

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