Jeremy Lin will have left knee surgery next week and will miss six weeks, likely ending his amazing breakthrough season. The New York Knicks said Saturday their point guard had an MRI exam this week that revealed a small, chronic meniscus tear.
With the regular season ending April 26, the biggest story in basketball this season is probably done regardless of whether the Knicks make the playoffs.
He was barely holding on to a place in the NBA back in February. Now, after the back-to-back Sports Illustrated covers and popularity around the world, he has to go back to the bench when he wants to play most.
The Knicks will continue to turn to Baron Davis in place of Lin, the undrafted Harvard alum who became the starter in February and turned in a series of brilliant performances, kicking off Linsanity.
Lin is averaging 14.1 points and 6.1 assists, but the numbers only tell a small part of the story.
New York coach Mike Woodson, addressing reporters before the Cavaliers game, said it will be unlikely the team signs any point guards. In addition to Davis and Mike Bibby off the bench, Woodson said Toney Douglas can expect to see an increased role.
"If this was done very early in the year, obviously ... I don't know where my career would be. I could be, would be definitely without a job and probably fighting for a summer league spot," Lin said. "But having said that, this happening now hurts just as much, because all the players, we really put our heart and souls into the team and into the season, and to not be there when it really matters most is hard."
The Knicks were a mess when Lin was given a chance to play extended minutes at point guard for then-coach Mike D'Antoni on Feb. 4 against New Jersey.
Lin, the first American-born player of Chinese descent to play in the NBA, scored 25 points with seven assists in that New York victory, was inserted into the starting lineup two days later against Utah, and took the Knicks on a seven-game winning streak that gained world-wide attention.
"We've got to go on, but he's a big piece of our puzzle and what we've been doing as of late. All is not bad -- we have three veteran point guards sitting over there -- but we've just got to make do until he's able to get back in uniform," Woodson said. "But it is a big blow. He was starting to come as a player and it's not a career-ending injury. Plenty of people play with meniscus problems. He'll bounce back. We will anxiously await for him to get better."
Lin left the Knicks' easy victory over Detroit last Saturday, saying afterward he could have returned for the fourth quarter if the game had been close. He took part in shootaround before their game Monday and believed he could deal with the pain.
It's the second serious injury loss of the week for the Knicks, who are fighting for a playoff spot. Amare Stoudemire is out two to four weeks with a back injury, leaving the Knicks without their second- and third-leading scorers for perhaps the remainder of the regular season.
【NBA快讯】北京时间4月1日据纽约媒体报道，林书豪将进行膝盖手术，为此他至少要休战6周的时间，这意味着他很有可能赛季报销，至少肯定无缘剩余的常规赛了。
对于尼克斯来说这却如同晴天霹雳一般，尤其是在球队冲击季后赛的节骨眼上球队先后损失大将，先是斯塔德迈尔被曝至少休战4周甚至可能要到季后赛才能复出；如今林书豪又倒了下去。在昨天输给老鹰后尼克斯只领先雄鹿1.5个胜场，今日球队将于骑士交锋。这意味着今年2月开始以来的“林风暴”暂时告一段落，尼克斯队再次回到原点，他们急需一名合格的控卫。
林书豪坦言自己的膝盖早就感觉有些不太对劲，只是一直都在忍耐，但如今终于达到极限并不得不接受手术。“其实今早我前往训练场，想看看情况究竟怎么样，结果我既无法起跳也无法突破，只能接受手术。”林书豪这样说道。
本赛季至今为止林书豪总共为尼克斯打了35场比赛，场均可以贡献14.6分6.1助攻，是球队的助攻王兼第三号得分手。他是在3月25日对阵活塞的比赛中受伤，为此曾休战3场比赛。原本预计他或许能在4月4日复出，却未料到却等来了赛季报销的噩耗。
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