Huge second half carries Lin, Knicks past Cavaliers

NEW YORK (USA TODAY) Point guard Jeremy Lin and the New York Knicks displayed resilience in storming back from a 17-point first-half deficit to rout the Cleveland Cavaliers 120-103 Wednesday night at Madison Square Garden.

Lin shook off a nightmarish outing in the previous game, when he shot 1-for-11 and finished with as many turnovers as points (eight) and the visiting Knicks were demolished by the Miami Heat 102-88 last Thursday night leading to the All-Star break.

"Coming off the Miami game, the only thing I focused on was to make sure my approach was the same in terms of aggressiveness and to make sure I did a better job of taking care of the ball," Lin said.

Although Cleveland often ran a second defender at him and put a body on him at every opportunity even bloodying his nose in the opening half Lin delivered the strong performance he had planned.

The undrafted find from Harvard closed with 19 points, converting six of 12 shots from the field and seven of nine from the foul line, and had a game-high 13 assists. He turned over the ball once in leading his team to its highest point total of the season.

"I'm happy about the one turnover," Lin said. "If I keep it to three or less every game, that's my goal."

Said Knicks coach Mike D'Antoni, "I thought he was terrific. This is nine games and in eight of them he's been unbelievable."

New York (18-18) trailed 61-49 at halftime but outscored Cleveland 71-42 in a second-half surge marked by key contributions from reserves. Steve Novak sparked the big second half by tallying 15 of his 17 points after the break. He shot 5-of-8 from three-point range.

Baron Davis, who suddenly finds himself as Lin's backup after missing the season's first 32 games with a herniated disc, showed he still can make a major contribution with eight assists in 14 minutes.

"He is getting better and better game by game," Knicks center Tyson Chandler said of Davis. "He is starting to move getting to the hole, getting more comfortable finishing. The better he gets, the better the team will be."

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Huge second half carries Lin, Knicks past Cavaliers