Jeremy Lin Struggles in Boston as Celtics Beat Knicks in OT 115-111 [Video]

Jeremy Lin has seen quite a bit since stepping into the NBA spin cycle a month ago to the day from taking the floor against the Celtics yesterday.

He’s gone up against some of the best players in the league and held his own or done even better.

But it’s fair to say his six minutes of playing time against Boston last month didn’t prepare him for what he saw from Rajon Rondo this time.

While Lin was having one of the worst games of his now 13 starts, Rondo was putting together a set of single-contest stats ( 18 points, 17 rebounds, and 20 assists) that would go into the NBA record books.

Lin was quick to praise Rondo’s amazing efforts following the Knicks 115-111 loss in overtime:

“Like I said before the game, he’s one of the best in the league, and so you saw a stat line tonight .?.?. there aren’t many guards — maybe no guards — who can put up something like that. We didn’t do a good job of containing him, and he obviously controlled the tempo of the game.”

Lin had 14 points and five assists, but also committed six turnovers and missed six shots in overtime in his team’s disappointing loss. But that was an improvement on Lin’s 2-point performance in a 91-89 defeat against the Celtics last month.

After that Feb. 3 game – in which Lin played a little over six minutes and scored two points – at TD Garden, Lin went on a hot streak, scoring 20 or more points in nine of 10 games.

Lin since has slowed down, but he still has produced double-figure scoring in every game except for an 8-point, 1-for-11 shooting performance against Miami.

“The thing about Jeremy is he’s going to make some mistakes,’’ Knicks coach Mike D’Antoni said. “He’s got a learning curve. There’s no way you can throw him in there first time and expect it to be perfect. But he finds a way to be very positive in the end of the games – hit the big three and a couple of other shots. It was good and he’s going to be good. Just a matter of going through some learning experiences. But I thought overall he was good.’’

Lin agreed with D’Antoni’s assessment in a post-game interview:

“It’s just going to take time, you know? It’s my, whatever, 11th, 12th [game], I don’t really know — early on. I’m learning a lot and absorbing information right now.”

via Boston Herald