He was the star of the Hornets’ come-from-behind victory against the mighty San Antonio Spurs, one day after the Spurs defeated the even mightier Golden State Warriors.
The Hornets starters were groping for form during their March 22 game against the Spurs. But when Coach Clifford fielded Jeremy Lin off the bench, things started looking good for the Hornets. With his hot shooting, supported by Cody Zeller, they were able to claw back to the nearly insurmountable 23-point lead, cutting the deficit to seven points at the start of the fourth quarter.
The 27-year-old Harvard graduate practically re-lived ‘Linsanity’ for the Hornets on his way to scoring 29 points including a flawless 4 out of 4 from beyond the arc to inspire a come-from-behind 91-88 victory against the Spurs.
The first time that the Hornets led the Spurs during the game was at the opening moment of the first quarter with 2-0 before the Spurs completed the first canto with a 28-5 windup.
It was also Jeremy Lin who brought back the lead to the Hornets with 48.4 seconds remaining in the game in the fourth quarter by hitting a fallaway jump shot to put the score at 89-88.
The Spurs had an empty possession in the next play and Jeremy Lin was fouled and calmly sunk his two free throws to put the score at 91-88.
For Hornets to win in the playoffs, Lin should be given more playing time and Kemba should be restricted in his individualistic play. The team needs Kemba’s scoring but it needs team work more like Lin’s all around plays.