Lin had the most astounding performance of his remarkable week, scoring a career-high 38 points and outdueling Bryant as the New York Knicks held off the Los Angeles Lakers 92-85.
Buried deep on the bench a little more than a week ago, Lin led the Knicks to their fourth straight win, tying their longest streak of the season. His two free throws with 52 seconds left and some booming “MVP! MVP!” chants stopped the Lakers’ final rally and allowed the undrafted Harvard product to pass Carmelo Anthony for the Knicks’ highest point total this season.
Iman Shumpert added 12 points for the Knicks, who are still without Anthony and Amare Stoudemire. But they have Lin, the point guard that two other teams gave up on in December and didn’t get his chance in New York until three other players couldn’t do the job.
Bryant finished with 34 points, but he got off to a horrendous start and finished only 11 of 29 from the field.
In Washington, Dwyane Wade scored 26 points and dominated during a second-quarter run to lead Miami over the Washington.
Wade either scored or got the assist on 20 consecutive Heat points in the second. He combined with LeBron James to score Miami’s last 18 points of the first half.
Chris Bosh had 24 points and 11 rebounds, and James added 18 points and nine assists.
JaVale McGee had a season-high 24 points and 13 rebounds to lead the Wizards, who are 3-7 since Randy Wittman replaced fired coach Flip Saunders.
In Salt Lake City, Russell Westbrook scored 28 points and Kevin Durant added 19 to lead Oklahoma City over Utah.
The Jazz seemed determined to limit Durant’s offense — he took only 10 shots — but Westbrook found extra room to drive to the basket and created some fast breaks with five steals.
Serge Ibaka had 16 points and 11 rebounds, and Kendrick Perkins added 10 points and 10 rebounds for the Thunder.
In Philadelphia, Chris Paul hit a 17-foot jumper with 3.2 seconds left and finished with 24 points to lift Los Angeles over Philadelphia.
Blake Griffin had 16 points and 11 rebounds, Mo Williams scored 14 points, Randy Foye had 10 and Reggie Evans chipped in with a season-high 10 rebounds for the Pacific Division-leading Clippers, who improved to 16-8.
Elton Brand had 12 points and 10 rebounds for the 76ers, while Andre Iguodala contributed 12 points, eight rebounds and seven assists.
In Charlottte, North Carolina, Joakim Noah had 17 points and 14 rebounds, Carlos Boozer scored 16 points and Chicago beat Charlotte despite the absence of reigning league MVP Derrick Rose.
The Bulls won their fifth straight overall and improved to 5-1 this season without Rose, who sat out because of a lower back strain.
Derrick Brown scored 10 points to lead the NBA-worst Bobcats, who shot 33 percent and lost their 13th straight game to fall to 3-23.
In Minneapolis, Dirk Nowitzki welcomed Kevin Love back from his two-game suspension with a season-high 33 points, winning the matchup of Western Conference All-Star power forward and helping Dallas stave off a Minnesota rally.
Nowitzki topped 24 points for the fourth straight game by shooting 11 for 19 from the floor, including 4 of 7 from 3-point range.
In Toronto, DeMar DeRozan scored 21 points, Jose Calderon had 17 points and 14 rebounds and Toronto beat Boston for their third win in the past 20 meetings against the Celtics.
Amir Johnson had 12 points and 12 rebounds, and Aaron Gray matched a season high with 11 rebounds as the Raptors avenged a 100-64 loss at Boston on Feb. 1 — their worst defeat of the season.
Joe Johnson scored four of his 14 points in the extra period and added five assists for the Hawks, who won their fourth straight regular-season meeting with the Magic dating to last season. Atlanta won its second straight overall since snapping a three-game losing streak.
In Memphis, Tennessee, Rudy Gay scored 21 points, and Marreese Speights added a season-high 19 points and nine rebounds to lead Memphis over Indiana.
Marc Gasol and Mike Conley finished with 15 points each, while Conley added six assists. O.J. Mayo scored 13 for Memphis, which won its second straight.
David West led the Pacers with 22 points, shooting 8-of-13, and grabbed 13 rebounds. Danny Granger had 19 points and reserve Dahntay Jones added 10.
The game was tied 86-all with 4:30 left, but Memphis outscored Indiana 12-6 the rest of the way, including converting 10 of 12 free throws down the stretch.
In Cleveland, Brandon Jennings scored 24 points and made a big layup in overtime as Milwaukee rallied past Cleveland.
Jennings added eight assists for the Bucks, who trailed by 10 late in the third period — right after Milwaukee coach Scott Skiles was ejected. Drew Gooden scored 19 points and made two free throws with 4.4 seconds left in OT for Milwaukee.
In New Orleans, Jamal Crawford scored a season-high 31 points, and Portland snapped a two-game skid while handing New Orleans its eighth straight loss.
Raymond Felton scored 18 points, including a pair of free throws that gave the Blazers an 88-84 lead in the final minute. LaMarcus Aldridge and Gerald Wallace each added 14 points.
Crawford, playing 30 minutes as a reserve, scored 12 of his points during a 15-5 run that began late in the third quarter and gave Portland a six-point lead early in the fourth.
In Auburn Hills, Michigan, Greg Monroe had 18 points and 11 rebounds to help Detroit rout New Jersey for its fourth straight victory.
Jonas Jerebko scored 20 points and Rodney Stuckey added 19 for the Pistons, who are on their longest winning streak since a five-game run in December 2009.
The Nets scored the game’s first seven points before Detroit answered with a 12-0 run.
