Rockets See Signs of Linsanity

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Jeremy Lin the 6-foot-3 point guard, who became an international phenomenon during one dazzling month with the Knicks last season, went through his first workout with the Houston Rockets on Tuesday.

Naturally, he drew a horde of media to the Toyota Center, evidence that Linsanity has plenty of life left in it.

"I don't know if I'm the face of the franchise just yet," Lin said. "I think we're a young team and we're all going to buy in. The thing about us is it's not going to be any one person that's going to carry us to where we want to go, it's going to be everybody. I think it's so early on, I'm just trying to get to know the guys."

Lin was waived by the Rockets last December, then picked up by the Knicks. He was hesitant to buy a home and slept on teammate Landry Fields' couch the night before his breakout game against New Jersey on Feb. 4.

Lin signed a three-year, $25 million contract with Houston over the summer. He arrived on Monday -- but first asked teammate Chandler Parsons if he could "crash" on his couch until he bought furniture.

He finally feels secure enough to settle down.

"I've got to get that bed in there, so I can sleep well tonight," Lin said.

The Rockets acquired Lin over the summer by outmanoeuvring the Knicks in free agency.

New York coach Mike Woodson said the team would match any offer to re-sign Lin and he would be the starter heading into training camp preceding this season. Lin originally signed a four-year, $28.8 million offer sheet with the Rockets, but the team revised its offer and made it three years and $25 million, with much of the guaranteed salary earmarked for the third year.

The extra money would've pushed the Knicks over the luxury-tax threshold in 2014-15, so New York backed off.

The Rockets held Lin's introductory press conference on a stage on the practice floor at the Toyota Center to accommodate a huge media throng. Lin is American-born, but his maternal grandmother is from China and he has Taiwanese parents, so the event also drew a large contingent of Asian media.

Lin toured Asia this summer, running a four-day basketball camp in Beijing and visiting Taiwan for the first time. He's also had the chance over the past few months to catch his breath and reflect on his whirlwind rise to worldwide stardom.

"Every once a while, I'll take a look back and just be like, `I can't believe this is happening," Lin said. "I had one of those moments this morning, in the training room, with the big Houston Rockets logo. It was just like, I was just appreciating the fact that I get to wake up and play basketball for a living. And even the whole NBA thing, yes Houston, (but) just (to) be able to play basketball for your job, like those are things I remind myself of every day."

The Rockets, meanwhile, were just happy to get Lin back after releasing him in training camp with Kyle Lowry and Goran Dragic ahead of him on the roster. The Knicks claimed Lin off waivers two days after Christmas, and he was put at the end of their depth chart at point guard.

Lin was briefly relegated to the developmental league, then recalled when Baron Davis postponed his return from a herniated disk in his back. That's when Linsanity exploded.

The undrafted free agent out of Harvard became the first player in league history to average 20 points and seven assists in his first five games. He scored 38 points against Kobe Bryant and the Lakers one night, then drained a game-winning 3-pointer against Toronto on another, and helped the Knicks rally for an eventual playoff berth.

Lin seemed to be a perfect fit for Mike D'Antoni's up-tempo system, but D'Antoni resigned in mid-March. Lin's numbers dipped and the Knicks revealed on April 1 that Lin needed surgery to repair a meniscus tear in his left knee and would miss six weeks.

Lin recuperated in his native California and said Tuesday that he was back playing basketball within two months. He dunked for the first time since his surgery in July, continued to train and says he's shed 10 pounds since last season.

"I feel good, I feel healthy," he said. "I feel lighter. I'm excited."

The Rockets, entirely rebuilt after a flurry of offseason moves, have their practice on Octover 1. They'll spend their first full week of training camp in Rio Grande Valley, home of their developmental league affiliate, and will play Oklahoma City there on Oct. 10.

Lin met most of his new teammates for the first time on Tuesday. While Lin has had a most unusual NBA career already, he's still only 24 and acknowledges that he still has a lot to learn.

"Last year, I actually had a real season under my belt, where I got to play and see what works and doesn't work," he said. "Definitely, you want to lead by example, more so this year than last year, or the year before, coming in as a non-guaranteed guy. Now, there's more stability, so I need to be more of a vocal leader and hopefully lead through work ethic and example."

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Lin Leaves New York on $25m Rocket

New York bid farewell to "Linsanity" on Tuesday when point guard Jeremy Lin was allowed to leave for the Houston Rockets.

The Knicks had until midnight (0400 GMT) to match Houston's three-year $25.1 million (£16m) proposal for the restricted free agent, but decided the valuation was too steep for their resources.

The 23-year-old Lin exploded onto the NBA scene last season as an undrafted and overlooked Ivy League student, who briefly breathed new life into a stuttering Knicks side and made headlines around the globe for his livewire performances.

Lin's breakout campaign was cut short in March, however, when he suffered a season-ending knee injury and missed the playoffs after averaging 14.6 points and 6.1 assists in 35 regular season games.

The Los Angeles-born Asian-American had a brief spell with Houston last December, completing seven minutes of two pre-season games before he was cleared off the payroll and claimed by New York.

"Extremely excited and honored to be a Houston Rocket again!!" Lin said on Twitter shortly after the New York Knicks confirmed they wouldn't match Houston's three-year, $25 million offer for the 23-year-old player.

Lin's fate had been the subject of intense speculation since he became a restricted free agent this month.

The Knicks had vowed to match any offer Lin received, and they were widely expected to match a reported three-year, $19.5 million (£12m) offer from the Rockets.

However, Lin eventually signed the higher offer sheet from the Rockets, which includes a $14.9 million (£9.5m) scheduled payment for the third year.

That would cost the Knicks millions in luxury-tax penalties levied on excessive salaries.

Knicks star Carmelo Anthony called the offer "ridiculous," but said as recently as Monday that he hoped Lin would return to Madison Square Garden.

However, team-mate J.R. Smith said that if Lin, who has after all played only 64 games in his NBA career, was being paid such a high salary it could have led to tension in the Knicks locker room.

Over the weekend, the Knicks acquired Raymond Felton to join veteran Jason Kidd - recently obtained from Dallas - as two new point guards on the team's roster.

Lin played what proved to be his last game for the Knicks in their win over Detroit on March 24.

He suffered a torn meniscus in his left knee and opted to have surgery, missing the rest of the regular season.

Lin looked close to returning in the playoffs, but didn't make it back before the Knicks were eliminated by Miami in the first round.

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Lin Could Rocket to Houston

The Houston Rockets plan to offer a contract to New York Knicks guard Jeremy Lin on Wednesday, according to a report by The New York Post.

The Post, citing a league source, reports the Rockets will offer Lin a back loaded deal worth roughly $30 million. According to the same source, the deal would pay Lin $5 million in the first season, $5.2 million in the second, and then would increase to as much as $10 million per year in the third and fourth seasons.

"Jeremy Lin's an excellent player," Rockets general manager Daryl Morey told The Post. "We got to know him firsthand when he was with the Rockets early this season. We think he'd make a fantastic addition to our team."

While both Lin and the Knicks are hoping for a reunion, sources have told ESPN The Magazine's Chris Broussard that if any clubs offer Lin a back loaded contract that pays him an eight-figure salary in the third and fourth years, the Knicks could be hesitant to match the offer.

With the new collective bargaining agreement employing a more punitive luxury tax beginning in the 2013-14 season, the Knicks are concerned about the financial ramifications of such a deal.

The Knicks can offer Lin a four-year deal worth $24.5 million. In 35 games with the Knicks last season, Lin averaged 14.6 points and 6.2 assists per game.

Heat Knick Game One

LeBron James dropped to the floor holding the back of his head, grimacing and then staggering a bit when he reached his feet. A few moments later, he was fine.

A few moments after that, the Miami Heat had complete control of Game 1 against the New York Knicks.

James scored 32 points after shooting 10 for 14 from the field, and the Heat rode the strength of what became a 32-2 run to easily beat the Knicks 100-67 on Saturday, striking first in the series between clubs that waged classic annual battles from 1997 through 2000 and are meeting for the first time since.

Dwyane Wade added 19 points in his first game back after dislocating his left index finger.

"Our guys had a noticeable look in their eyes the last 24 hours," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. "We wanted to get back to the basics and play to our identity. For the most part, we were able to do that by being aggressive."

No, this wasn't redemption for falling short in last season's finals.

But for James and the Heat, it sure was a fine start.

"I'm a different player this year, a different person this year compared to last year," James said. "I've waited to get back to the postseason, prepared myself all season, throughout the offseason to get back to this point."

It was physical, it was heated -- and it was one-sided. New York's 67 points matched a franchise playoff low.

Mario Chalmers finished with 11 points and nine assists for Miami, which turned 27 New York turnovers into a franchise playoff-record 38 points. The Knicks were called for 21 fouls in the first half, Miami enjoying a 28-5 advantage in free throws attempted in the first 24 minutes alone, and centre Tyson Chandler sent James flying with what was called a flagrant foul as the Heat were blowing the game open.

J.R. Smith scored 17 for the Knicks, who lost Iman Shumpert to a torn ACL and have dropped 11 straight playoff games dating back to 2001. Carmelo Anthony missed 12 of 15 shots and finished with 11 points and 10 rebounds, and Baron Davis added 10 points for New York.

It was the worst playoff loss for the Knicks since a 126-85 defeat at Chicago on April 25, 1991.

"This series is not over," Knicks forward Amare Stoudemire said. "We've got to learn from our mistakes today and get ready for Monday."

The series isn't, but Shumpert's is. The Knicks said the rookie guard also tore a lateral meniscus and would miss approximately six to eight months. Even before an MRI at a hospital, Anthony said what was obvious to anyone who saw Shumpert take a non-contact tumble in the third quarter.

"We know Shump is not going to be with us," Anthony said.

Maybe it was ironic that this game took a turn when someone who helped doom Miami in last season's finals sent the two-time MVP flying.

Chandler -- who helped Dallas win the 2011 title over Miami -- set a back pick near midcourt with 1:34 left in the half, and James never saw it coming. The original call was a flagrant-2 against Chandler, which would have meant an automatic ejection. After review, it was downgraded to a flagrant-1, so Chandler could stick around for the rest of the debacle.

Given that he spent Friday and Saturday fighting the flu, Chandler would have probably rather left anyway.

"They played really well," Knicks coach Mike Woodson said, "and we played awful."

An awful 9 minutes for the Knicks decided this one.

After all, this is a Heat-Knicks playoff series. It's almost required to have emotions boil over.

With Jeff Van Gundy and Alonzo Mourning in the building -- remember, the former Knicks coach once tugged on the Heat center's leg during one memorable Miami-New York playoff dustup -- along with Knicks assistant general manager Allan Houston, he of the game-winner to eliminate the Heat from the last playoffs following a lockout-shortened season of 1999, things got heated once again.

There were early hints that tensions were high, like Stoudemire and Udonis Haslem getting double-technicals after jawing back and forth with 4:10 left in the opening quarter. A few minutes later, after Shane Battier committed a hard foul on Anthony -- who missed his first seven shots -- Davis ran about 50 feet to give Battier a light shove.

That was all little stuff, compared to what was coming. Said Woodson: "All hell broke loose."

Mike Miller's 3-pointer with 2:22 left in the half capped a run of 13 straight points by the Heat, and they were just getting started.

After making both free throws awarded for the Chandler foul, James banked in a 20-footer from the left wing while getting hit by Smith 10 seconds later for what became a five-point possession for Miami.

"I thought it was a legal pick, honestly," Chandler said.

And James still wasn't done, first hitting a fadeaway with 48 seconds left, then a layup while getting hit by Jared Jeffries with 3 seconds left in the half.

"Spectacular," Spoelstra said of James' flurry. "His play spoke for itself. It seemed on both ends of the court he had his hands on every single play, in some form or another."

The run then was 24-2. The lead was 54-31. For good measure, the Heat scored the first eight points of the third quarter as well, making it 62-31.

"Very eager to start this series off right," Heat forward Chris Bosh said.

A bad day got even worse for the Knicks midway through the third.

Shumpert -- who started the final 17 games of the regular season after Jeremy Lin had knee surgery -- was carried off the court by teammates after going down in almost the exact spot as where the Chandler-James collision took place.

Shumpert was bringing the ball up the right sideline and tried to dribble behind his back when he pulled up and immediately grabbed at his left knee. He was brought into the Knicks' locker room for evaluation, and as he was lifted from the floor Anthony looked at the scoreboard, shaking his head in disbelief.

Absolutely everything was going Miami's way.

"We're just trying to play our game," Wade said, "trying to come out and take care of business."

James provided the exclamation point with 1.4 seconds left in the third quarter.

He made a 3-pointer over Anthony, and then got the fourth quarter off. Through three quarters, the entire Knicks roster had only outscored James by 15, and Miami took an 81-47 lead into the final 12 minutes.

"I think the Miami Heat right now are feeling great about their performance," Stoudemire said. "Which they should."

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Lin Loses in Beantown Return

It was off-day for Jeremy Lin as the Boston Celtics beat the New York Knicks in overtime thriller

Harvard graduate Jeremy Lin's return to Boston was spoiled by the Celtics who earned a 115-111 overtime victory over the New York Knicks.

Rajon Rondo was key to the Celtics' victory, with his second triple-double in three games. Rondo had 18 points, 20 assists and a career-high 17 rebounds. Paul Pierce scored 34 including a 3-pointer with 4.9 seconds left in regulation to send the game into overtime.

Kevin Garnett scored 18 with 10 rebounds, and Ray Allen gave the Celtics the lead for good with a 3-pointer to make it 108-105, then followed it with a fast-break layup both on assists from Rondo.

Lin picked up two fouls in the first three minutes and struggled to 14 points in 32 minutes. He had five assists and four rebounds while shooting 6 for 16 from the floor.

When Lin was an undergraduate at Harvard, he would go to the Celtics' TD Banknorth Garden to watch games, particularly when Boston were playing the Golden State Warriors, the team he grew up rooting for in Palo Alto, California.

ESPN Issue Lin Apology

At ESPN we are aware of three offensive and inappropriate comments made on ESPN outlets during our coverage of Jeremy Lin.

On Saturday we apologised for two references. We have since learned of a similar reference Friday on ESPN Radio New York. The incidents were separate and different. We have engaged in a thorough review of all three and have taken the following action:

• The ESPN employee responsible for our Mobile headline has been dismissed.

• The ESPNEWS anchor has been suspended for 30 days.

• The radio commentator is not an ESPN employee.

We again apologise, especially to Mr. Lin. His accomplishments are a source of great pride to the Asian-American community, including the Asian-American employees at ESPN. Through self-examination, improved editorial practices and controls, and response to constructive criticism, we will be better in the future."

As a result of the inxidents ESPN has fired one employee and suspended another for using the same racist word in connection to New York Knicks’ guard.

In both cases, an employee used the word “chink” in reference to Lin, a Palo Alto native of Chinese descent.

One employee used the word in a mobile headline - “Chink in the Armor” - after the Knicks lost to the New Orleans Hornets Friday night.

The Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund also issued a statement on Saturday calling the phrase "racist and inexcusable." The organisation called on ESPN to issue an apology "aired prominently on ESPN's television programs," and also offered to meet with ESPN employees to prevent future racism.

ESPN’s employees are not alone in demonstrating poor judgment when it comes to Lin. MSG, which owns the Knicks, aired an image of Lin popping out of a fortune cookie while Fox Sports columnist Jason Whitlock posted an offensive tweet about basketball’s newest star last weekend.

Whitlock apologised, saying he surrendered to the “immature, sophomoric, comedic” part of his personality.

Lin, a Harvard graduate, has come out of nowhere the past few weeks to lead the Knicks to respectability.

His instant popularity has landed him a spot in the NBA's All-Star Weekend.

Hornets Stop Linsanity Knicks

Jeremy Lin committed nine turnovers, tied for the most in the NBA this season, and New York's seven-game winning streak was stopped 89-85 by the New Orleans Hornets.

Lin scored 26 points but his turnovers nearly doubled his five assists, and the Knicks lost for the first time with Lin as a starter, falling back below .500 at 15-16 heading into a matchup with the defending NBA champion Dallas Mavericks on Sunday.

"Just a lackluster effort on my part coming out and careless with the ball, and so nine turnovers is obviously never going to get it done from your primary ballhandler," Lin said. "It's on me in terms of taking care of the ball and also the game in general.

"I think everyone wants to credit me for this last seven games, then I definitely deserve this one on my shoulders and so that's fine with me."

Trevor Ariza scored 25 points for the Hornets, who have won three in a row after a 4-23 start. Marco Belinelli added 17.

Amare Stoudemire had 26 points and 12 rebounds for New York.

Playing for the sixth straight game without injured All-Star Carmelo Anthony, the Knicks missed 20 of their 24 3-point attempts, were only 19-of-29 on free throws and were flat early, quieting a crowd that has been buzzing since Lin joined the rotation.

"Obviously it's very disappointing just because we felt like, I felt like this could've been a good game for us to win," Lin said. "But all the respect to New Orleans for what they did. They came in here with a great game plan and they shot well and they played harder than we did and they got the win."

Down by 12 early in the fourth, the Knicks made a run with Lin on the bench and cut it to 73-71 when Jared Jeffries hit a free throw after Lin returned during a timeout with 5:29 left.

The Knicks got it down to two again on Lin's free throws with 1:06 to play, but Gustavo Ayon answered with a bucket, Lin missed wildly on a drive to the basket, and when Belinelli's free throws with 25 seconds left made it 87-82, fans began heading for the exits, perhaps in search of Lin-burgers, "Lings" -- Asian-spiced chicken wings -- or "Lintinis," Lin-spired items that have begun popping up at bars around the city.

"It's the NBA, man. I mean, the kid is really good. I love his passion. What I love about him is he is so humble. He deserves everything he got right now and everything he is going through because, you know, the way he handles himself," Hornets guard Greivis Vasquez said. "But tonight it was a little bit different. We came out and played great team defense."

Thus ended a remarkable run by the Knicks, who were 8-15 when coach Mike D'Antoni finally turned to Lin, the undrafted point guard from Harvard who was perhaps days from being cut for the third time this season when he got this sputtering team on track.

The Knicks only figure to get stronger in the coming days. Anthony worked out before the game and is close to returning, and the Knicks signed his former Denver teammate, J.R. Smith, on Friday. Smith is eligible to return to the NBA after his Chinese team's season ended, and the Knicks believe he will strengthen their poor 3-point shooting.

But none of that helped Friday.

"They're long and they did defend well," D'Antoni said. "But at the same time, I was telling him he's trying to make the hardest pass out there; he's trying to make the home run pass. That will happen for young guys. When they collapse so much, he has to kick. At the same time, we weren't making any outside shots, so they weren't coming out.

"He'll learn. He'll get through it. I thought he played well. Second half, he adjusted."

The poor performance came just as many New York residents finally got to see Lin for the first time. Fueled largely by the player's popularity, MSG network and Time Warner reached a tentative deal Friday that puts Knicks games back on TV for some 2 million Time Warner Cable subscribers in the New York area. New York state officials and the NBA had pressured the companies to settle a dispute that began Jan. 1.

The stalemate left some fans out of Linsanity, which has made the Knicks the story in New York, where they have ranked much lower on the sports scene in recent years. The crowd of cameras and reporters at the morning shootaround was so large that one reporter cracked that the Knicks must have signed Kobe Bryant.

Who needs him? The Knicks already beat the Lakers, when Lin poured in 38 points to outscore Bryant.

That's turned Lin, who graced the cover of this week's Sports Illustrated, into one of sports' most unlikely stars.

"I lived through Vinsanity when I was with Toronto in Canada, and that was big then, but this is bigger than that," said Knicks interim general manager Glen Grunwald, referring to when Vince Carter played for the Raptors. "It's really hard to believe."

But it was finally halted in front of a sold-out Madison Square Garden crowd in which many fans wore shirts that read either Lin or Linsanity above his No. 17.

Spike Lee, who usually wears Landry Fields' No. 2, switched up to a different model. He donned Lin's high school jersey from Palo Alto, Calif., a dark green No. 4 he wore over a neon green long-sleeved shirt, clashing horribly with the Hornets' green and purple Mardi Gras uniforms.

But the ugliest thing at the start was the Knicks' offense. Lin's five turnovers in the first quarter matched their number of baskets, and Chris Kaman had 10 points to lead the Hornets to a 27-13 lead. The Knicks cut it to 43-39 at the half.

"We had a few lulls in the second and a little bit in the fourth. But when you play that kind of defense, to hold that team to 13 points in the first quarter and 19 in the third, you set yourself up to have a chance," Hornets coach Monty Williams said.

The game was originally scheduled for ESPN, back when the story would have been Chris Paul's last visit to New York before the Knicks' expected pursuit this summer in free agency. Instead, the Knicks took themselves out of the free-agent market by acquiring Tyson Chandler, Paul was dealt the Clippers and the Knicks looked like they might have lasting point guard woes until Lin's emergence.

But he's been turnover prone -- committing at least six in five straight games -- and it finally came back to cost the Knicks this time.

"It takes a few games like this in order to learn from the mistakes," Stoudemire said. "It's a learning curve for him right now. He's going to watch film, I'm sure, and get better."