The legend of Jeremy Lin continues to grow. The fan favorite lit up the Lakers for 38 points while dishing out 7 assists and seemed to provide an answer anytime the Lakers began to bring the game back within striking distance. The Lakers offense struggled all night as they couldn't take advantage of their size inside and seemingly couldn't make a jumpshot no matter how open they were. They made only 30 of 80 field goal attempts, including 6 of 24 from behind the arc.
The Lakers rely on their big three but tonight they all struggled to put the ball in basket with regularity. Kobe finished with 34 points as he single-handedly tried to lead the Lakers comeback, but he couldn't overcome his early inefficient start and finished shooting only 11 for 29 from the field. Gasol meanwhile shot a respectable 6 for 10 but failed to impact the game in any meaningful way. The worst however was Andrew Bynum, who made only 1 of 8 field goal attempts despite taking most of them from within 6 feet. The Lakers had a chance to cut the deficit to six points with three minutes left when Bynum missed an open two handed tip-in from two inches away. The Knicks went down the other way and Lin scored again pushing the margin back to double digits, essentially ending the game there. Any remaining hopes were dashed when Lin drew a charging foul and Matt Barnes with under a minute to play and the Lakers looking to make it a four point game. Lin's play provided a stark contrast to the Lakers point guard play. It is only more frustrating to know that the Lakers gave some consideration trying to sign Lin in the offseason. At least we have Derek Fisher's intangibles, isn't that worth something?