Jeremy Lin vs Wizards [Highlights] - February 8th 2012

Jeremy Lin got the start at point guard and the short-handed New York Knicks beat the Utah Jazz on Monday night (Feb. 6). The starting lineup looked a bit different

with Lin and Jared Jeffries getting the chance to start for the first time this year. Jeffries got the start because Amare Stoudemire was out due to a family emergency. Somehow it all worked out, as New York is now on a two-game winning streak after putting down the Jazz.

I wrote on Sunday (Feb. 5) about how I felt Lin had earned more minutes and coach Mike D'Antoni came through for him against the Jazz. Lin provided the type of energy that the Knicks really needed and it became even more necessary when Carmelo Anthony went down with a groin injury in the first quarter. Without Anthony or Stoudemire, the team should have struggled, but the combination of Lin and Steve Novak off the bench ended up giving the Madison Square Garden something special in this one. Jeremy Lin scored a career-high 28 points in his first career start, Steve Novak added a season-best 19, and the New York Knicks overcame the absence of Amare Stoudemire and early loss of Carmelo Anthony to beat the Utah Jazz 99-88 on Monday night.

Stoudemire left the team to join his family in Florida after older brother Hazell was killed there earlier Monday in a car crash, then Anthony left after just six minutes with a strained right groin.