NEW YORK — Jeremy Lin committed nine turnovers, tied for the most in the NBA this season, and the New York Knicks’ seven-game winning streak was stopped 89-85 by the New Orleans Hornets on Friday night.
Lin scored 26 points, but his turnovers nearly doubled his five assists and the Knicks lost for the first time since Linsanity began, falling back below .500 at 15-16 heading into a matchup with the defending NBA champion Dallas Mavericks on Sunday.
“Just a lackluster effort on my part coming out and careless with the ball,” Lin said, “and so nine turnovers is obviously never going to get it done from your primary ballhandler. … I think everyone wants to credit me for this last seven games, then I definitely deserve this one on my shoulders.”
Trevor Ariza scored 25 points for the Hornets, who have won three in a row after a 4-23 start. Marco Belinelli added 17.
Amar’e Stoudemire had 26 points and 12 rebounds for New York, which played for the sixth game in a row without injured all-star Carmelo Anthony, missed 20 of its 24 3-point attempts, was 19-of-29 on free throws and was flat early, quieting a crowd that has been buzzing since Lin joined the rotation.
“Obviously it’s very disappointing just because we felt like, I felt like this could’ve been a good game for us to win,” Lin said. “But all the respect to New Orleans for what they did.”
Down by 12 early in the fourth, the Knicks made a run with Lin on the bench, and cut it to 73-71 when Jared Jeffries hit a free throw after Lin returned during a timeout with 5:29 left.
The Knicks got it down to two again on Lin’s free throws with 1:06 to play, but Gustavo Ayon answered with a basket, Lin missed wildly on a drive to the basket, and when Belinelli’s free throws with 25 seconds left made it 87-82, fans began heading for the exits.
