 On February 4 , against the New Jersey Nets and All @-@ Star guard Deron Williams , Lin had 25 points , five rebounds , and seven assists — all career highs — in a 99 – 92 Knicks victory . Teammate Carmelo Anthony suggested to coach Mike D 'Antoni at halftime that Lin should play more in the second half . After the game , D 'Antoni said Lin had a point @-@ guard mentality and " a rhyme and a reason for what he is doing out there " . In the subsequent game against the Utah Jazz , Lin made his first career start playing without stars Anthony , who left the game due to injury , and Amar 'e Stoudemire , whose older brother had died . Lin had 28 points and eight assists in the Knicks ' 99 – 88 win . Stoudemire and Anthony missed the next three and seven games , respectively . D 'Antoni stated after the Jazz game that he intended to ride Lin " like freakin ' Secretariat " . Basketball trainer David Thorpe said in hindsight that such a statement of confidence so soon by a coach was " incredibly rare " , and likely gave Lin the confidence to continue to play aggressively despite making mistakes . 
