The NBA’s first American-Taiwanese player, Lin had 27 points and a career-high 11 assists in his first game since being named Eastern Conference player of the week.

The season-high crowd of 20,092 roared as Lin drained a pull-up jumper from the top with half a second to play, giving the Knicks their first lead since the opening quarter.

Toronto’s Rasual Butler airballed his attempt at the buzzer as the Knicks swarmed their newest hero at center court.

Amare Stoudemire returned from a four-game absence with 21 points and Tyson Chandler had 13 for New York.

Jose Calderon scored 25 points, Linas Kleiza had 15 points and 11 rebounds, and DeMar DeRozan scored 14 for the Raptors.

: In Indianapolis,  LeBron James scored 23 points and nearly produced his first triple-double in 11 months, Dwyane Wade had 16 points, and Miami became the first team in 33 years to win three straight on the road in three days.

Miami is also the first club in 42 years to win each of the three by double digits. Phoenix was the last to win three in a row on the road in consecutive days, from Dec. 21-23, 1979. Milwaukee was the last team to win all three by at least 10 from Nov. 20-22, 1970.

Rookie Norris Cole matched his season high with 20 points and James had nine points and six assists in the first 14 minutes. Wade made his first five shots and needed a little more than eight minutes to reach 10.

In Oklahoma City, James Harden scored 22 points, Kevin Durant added 21 and Oklahoma City beat Utah for the second time in five days.

In between, NBA-leading Oklahoma City got three days off. Utah embarked on its only back-to-back-to-back set of the season and finished it with two straight losses.

The well-rested Thunder never trailed and led by at least 12 throughout the second half on their way to a seventh straight win at the Chesapeake Energy Arena, extending the team’s longest home winning streak since moving from Seattle in 2008.

In Auburn Hills,   Michigan, Tim Duncan had 18 points and 13 rebounds, and San Antonio overcame a spirited Detroit rally to beat the Pistons for its eighth consecutive victory.

Detroit trailed by 15 in the fourth quarter but came back to take the lead behind Ben Wallace, the veteran big man who set a record by appearing in his 1,055th career game — the most for an undrafted player since the NBA-ABA merger.

The Spurs finally took the lead for good on Tony Parker’s driving layup with 1:13 remaining.

In Denver,   Arron Afflalo scored 20 points, Ty Lawson had 17 and Denver broke open a close game in the third quarter to beat short-handed Phoenix.

Chris Andersen had 16 points and seven rebounds and rookie Kenneth Faried had 13 points and nine rebounds for the Nuggets, who snapped a five-game home losing streak.

Markieff Morris had 21 points, Michael Redd had 20 points and Marcin Gortat had 10 points and 14 rebounds for the Suns, who played without starters Steve Nash and Grant Hill.

In Chicago, Luol Deng came through with 23 points and a career-high 11 assists, and Chicago beat Sacramento after watching a 19-point, fourth-quarter lead dwindle to two.

Joakim Noah added 22 points and 11 rebounds. Kyle Korver scored 18, hitting four free throws in the final 17.6 seconds. Carlos Boozer scored 16, Taj Gibson added 15 points, and the Bulls came away with the win — barely — even though Derrick Rose missed his third straight game with lower back spasms.

In Memphis, Tenn., Mike Conley scored 21 points, and Rudy Gay added 20 points and eight rebounds to lead Memphis over Houston.

Conley scored seven points in the final 2:26 after the Rockets had trimmed what had been a 15-point lead in the third quarter to 84-79 on Kyle Lowry’s steal and layup with three minutes left.

Conley answered with a 3-pointer following a scramble for a loose ball under the Grizzlies basket for an 87-79 advantage.

In Los Angeles, Pau Gasol scored seven of his 20 points in the final 5:20 and grabbed 13 rebounds, and Los Angeles beat Atlanta.

Andrew Bynum had 15 points and 15 rebounds for the Lakers, who returned from a 3-3 road trip and improved to 12-2 at home — compared to 5-10 away. Kobe Bryant, whose jumper in the final 5 seconds beat Toronto on Sunday, finished this one with only 10 points in 34 minutes on 5 for 18 shooting.

The Hawks shot just 34.4 percent in the opener of a five-game trip. Jeff Teague led them with 18 points, and All-Star Joe Johnson was held to 15 in 37 minutes on 7 for 17 shooting.

In Portland, Oregon, Nick Young scored a season-high 35 points, John Wall added 29 points and nine assists, and Washington beat Portland for its second straight road win.

Jordan Crawford added 21 points for Washington, which put together its best game of the season, shooting 60 percent from the field and 52 percent on 3-pointers. Young was 7 of 8 from behind the arc.

Nicolas Batum tied a career high with 33 points for the Blazers (15-14), who lost All-Star LaMarcus Aldridge to an ankle injury early in the game. Gerald Wallace had 25 points and eight assists, and Marcus Camby added 13 points and 12 rebounds.