Spurs succumb to Linsanity 2.0
March 21, 2016 Updated: March 21, 2016 11:07pm
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Almost all of the Spurs’ 23-point lead had evaporated Monday night at Time Warner Cable Arena.
They eased into the fourth quarter leading Charlotte by five, hoping nothing too crazy happened in the final 12 minutes.
What happened next, in what became a 91-88 victory for the Hornets, was insanity.
Or, to dust off a word that feels from a bygone NBA era, “Linsanity.”
Jeremy Lin, a backup guard and once-upon-a-time folk hero, scored 15 of his 29 points in the fourth quarter to help the Hornets complete the season’s most improbable rally.
“He was spectacular,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. “We couldn’t stop him all night.”
Video: Postgame Wrap: Spurs vs. Hornets
By himself, Lin came within a point of equaling the Spurs’ scoring in the fourth quarter.
He buried all four of the 3-pointers he tried in the frame, including a deep one from the top of the arc that put Charlotte up 85-82 with 4:57 left.
“He made some unbelievable shots and got his confidence going,” said forward Tim Duncan, who returned to the Spurs’ starting lineup and posted a double-double. “It changed the game for them.”
Lin’s late outburst finished off the biggest comeback victory in Hornets history during regulation. Last season, they beat Milwaukee in OT after trailing by 24.
The Spurs, meanwhile, ended a string of 72 straight wins when leading by at least 15 points.
“They did a good job of hanging in and playing hard,” Popovich said after Charlotte’s 12th comeback victory from a double-digit deficit.
Truth be told, the Spurs feel like they fumbled away the game long before Linsanity came back en vogue.
Coming into the night, the coaching staff worried about an emotional letdown after Saturday’s thrilling home victory over Golden State.
Those fears seemed misplaced early, as the Spurs (59-11) held Charlotte to 3-for-21 shooting and forced five first-quarter turnovers to take a 28-7 lead.
When David West made a layup on the Spurs’ first possession of the second quarter to push the Spurs’ edge to 23, Charlotte coach Steve Clifford called a timeout 11 seconds in.
“When you play an elite team,” Clifford said, “it starts with competing against them.”
The Spurs mustered four points in the first 5:29 of the second quarter, going 2 for 7 with four turnovers during that stretch.
The Hornets (40-30) were able to slice the deficit to 51-36 at half, still kicking after a brutal start.
“In the second quarter, I thought our second team was basically out to lunch,” Popovich said.
LaMarcus Aldridge had 18 points and 12 rebounds. Duncan notched 16 points, 10 rebounds and four blocks, and Tony Parker went for 19 points and seven assists.
The Spurs’ bench, typically a strong suit, combined for 18 points on 7-of-22 shooting.
Boris Diaw, so crucial to the Spurs’ toppling of the Warriors two nights earlier, was 0 for 5 in his return to Charlotte.
“You would think it was lack of energy, but it wasn’t,” said Patty Mills, who was 1 for 5. “We came out in the beginning and we moved the ball well, we played good defense and got stops. There was that one little patch where we turned it over a few times, and they just punished us for it. We ended up on our heels.”
Even so, the Hornets — having trailed for all of the first three quarters — entered the fourth needing a hero to lift them over the top.
That’s when Lin reached back in time for the alter ego that has been mothballed since he left New York.
Lin became a national sensation during February of 2012, when he averaged 24.6 points over a 10-game stretch for the Knicks.
Linsanity turned out to have the staying power of disco, however. He has played for three teams in four seasons since leaving the Big Apple.
Monday night, with the game on the line, the Spurs had no answer for Linsanity 2.0. It was Lin’s first game with more than 16 points since Feb. 3.
“When I’m comfortable and in the zone,” Lin said, “it’s usually good for me.”
After a Lin jumper put Charlotte up by one with 48.4 seconds to go, the Spurs had two chances to pull ahead but Kawhi Leonard missed a jumper and a 3-point try.
Down three heading into the final 18 seconds, Mills and Danny Green — who combined to go 1 for 12 — each missed tying treys.
“We got lucky,” Lin said. “To beat San Antonio, normally you need sustained play for all 48 minutes. We definitely stole this one.”
Duncan did not disagree.
“Jeremy played a heck of a game and kind of took over for them,” Duncan said. “All in all they played well, but we gave the game away there for a couple of quarters.”
jmcdonald@express-news.net
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