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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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New York Knicks coach Mike D’Antoni has resigned; owner calls it mutual agreement

By Associated Press, Updated: Wednesday, March 14, 6:29 PM

NEW YORK — Maybe there’s a big-name coach out there who can bring out the best in Carmelo Anthony and the New York Knicks.

Mike D’Antoni decided Wednesday he wasn’t that guy. And so, he resigned, surprising even his bosses.

“It wasn’t just Carmelo,” interim general manager Glen Grunwald said. “I think it was our whole team was not playing up to where we thought they could be and I know Mike was as frustrated as anyone about that and that’s what led him to that decision, that maybe there needs to be a new approach and look at it.”

Assistant Mike Woodson will serve as interim head coach, starting with Wednesday night’s game against the Portland Trail Blazers at Madison Square Garden.

The Knicks’ brief resurgence in a wave of Linsanity last month has been replaced by a six-game losing streak that has dropped them into a tie for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference, along of speculation of friction between D’Antoni and his All-Star forward.

D’Antoni ran the Knicks through their morning shootaround, but not before stopping into Grunwald’s office at the Knicks’ training center and telling him and fellow executive Allan Houston of his intentions.

Grunwald called MSG chairman James Dolan, who went up to the Westchester training center for what he called a “very honest” conversation with the D’Antoni. He later said the parting was mutual.

“He clearly felt it was best for the organization if he were not to continue as coach of the team. He did offer to stay,” Dolan said during a press conference. “After a long discussion, we did agree it was best for the organization to have new voice moving forward.”

Dolan made it clear that he believes in the players and still expects a playoff berth. D’Antoni said before the season that the Knicks should be a contender, but they haven’t looked like one in the last 10 games — all since Anthony returned from a groin injury.

New York is just 2-8 in that span, and D’Antoni wasn’t the only one who couldn’t figure out why the Knicks couldn’t win with their best player.

“It’s hard to explain why we have struggled and I don’t really don’t want to get too deep on that,” Woodson said. “I think what’s more important is that we move forward.”

A message was left with D’Antoni seeking comment.

He seemed upbeat after the morning practice and gave no indication of his plans. Asked the last thing he said to players, rookie Iman Shumpert said: “Well, this morning it was, ‘See you tonight.’ So like I said, it’s a shock to us.”

Anthony said after the shootaround he supported the coach “100 percent,” denying a New York Post report that he would like a trade before Thursday’s deadline.

D’Antoni acknowledged the media frenzy around the sinking club but believed the Knicks would handle it.

“You battle against it. I think we’re cohesive enough to battle through this, and we expect to do that,” he said.

His departure comes less than a month after he seemed rejuvenated by the emergence of Jeremy Lin, the undrafted point guard from Harvard who came off the end of the bench and proved to be the player who could properly run his offensive system.

rockets voice: Rockets charge back late, beat Thunder 104-103

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