The Knicks on Tuesday claimed former Harvard point guard Jeremy Lin off waivers.
The Houston Rockets released the 6-foot-3 Lin Sunday to make room for former Elizabeth (N.J.) St. Patrick star Samuel Dalembert.
“He can really get in the lane and distribute the basketball,” Knicks coach Mike D’Antoni told reporters of Lin on Tuesday. “We haven’t seen him for a couple of years, but when we worked him out, we liked him. We’ll see.”
The Knicks needed a backup point guard after rookie Iman Shumpert went down Christmas Day with an MCL sprain. He is out 2-4 weeks.
Lin is expected to join the Knicks Wednesday in California in advance of the game at the Golden State Warriors.
Backup point guard Mike Bibby is also expected to be able to play Wednesday after missing Sunday’s game with back spasms.
Point guard Baron Davis remains sidelined with a back injury.
Lin is the team’s third point guard behind starter Toney Douglas and Bibby.
“If someone wakes up with a cold, he’s playing a lot. If not, then we’ll see,” said D’Antoni, who joked that Lin “might be the smartest guy we have.”
Lin averaged 2.6 points, 1.4 assists and 1.2 rebounds over 9.8 minutes in 29 games with Golden State last season and in 20 games for Reno of the NBA D-League, he averaged 18.0 points, 5.8 rebounds and 4.3 assists in 20 games.
During four years at Harvard, he averaged 12.9 points on .481 shooting, 4.3 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 1.96 steals over 29.3 minutes.
Waived by the Warriors on Dec. 9, 2011, Lin was claimed off waivers by Houston on Dec. 12, and later waived on Dec. 24.
Photo: ESPN
