Kings at Knicks
THE STORY: New York is in full-on “Linsanity” mode. Jeremy Lin has taken over the NBA and continues to amaze as the sensation that has driven the Knicks to six straight wins. Lin stepped up his own legend again on Monday, scoring six straight points down the stretch capped by a game-winning 3-pointer with 0.5 seconds left against Toronto. Next in line trying to stop the Lin train is the Sacramento Kings, who have dropped three of four. The Kings are just 3-13 on the road.
TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, CSCA (Sacramento), MSG (New York)
ABOUT THE KINGS (10-18): Sacramento has proven it is capable of beating teams like the Los Angeles Lakers, Indiana Pacers, Portland Trail Blazers and Oklahoma City Thunder - at home. The road is a different story. The Kings began their six-game road trip at Chicago on Tuesday and suffered a 121-115 loss. DeMarcus Cousins put up 28 points and 17 rebounds but Sacramento allowed the Bulls to shoot 52.4 percent. The Kings rank toward the bottom of the NBA in opponents field goal percentage and scoring defense.
ABOUT THE KNICKS (14-15): Lin scored 27 points and handed out a career-high 11 assists in the 90-87 win at Toronto on Tuesday. The Harvard product was the Eastern Conference Player of the Week last week and has put up 26.8 points and 8.5 assists during the winning streak, which began when Lin started to get heavy minutes. New York is still without Carmelo Anthony (groin) but did get Amar'e Stoudemire back on Tuesday. Stoudemire seemed comfortable enough with his new point guard, totaling 21 points. Overlooked has been the Knicks defense, which is holding opponents to 90.5 points during the winning streak.
BUZZER BEATERS:
1. Lin is just the third player in Knicks history with 20-plus points and seven-plus assists in six straight games.
2. The road team has won each of the last four in the series.
3. Cousins is averaging 14.2 rebounds over the last six games.