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 That was the story as the Charlotte Hornets outlasted the Toronto
Raptors 109-99 in overtime Thursday night.
Lin stepped into the starting lineup in place of an ailing Batum and
delivered a season-high 35 points, on a night when the Hornets blew
a 16-point second-half lead but then dominated the final two minutes
of overtime.
The five-year veteran guard hit 13 of 22 from the field, including a
clutch 3-pointer that got the Hornets on track in overtime. The 35
points were three shy of his career high.
"I just tried to be aggressive," Lin said. "We lose a lot of
playmaking and versatility without Nic. He can do so many things. So
my mindset was, 'Hey, you're going to go out there and you're
probably going to play a little more so be aggressive.'"
Guard Kemba Walker added 27 points, including nine in overtime, and
afterward he smiled about this latest episode of Lin-sanity.
"That was a huge performance," Walker said. "We really needed him to
play at the level he played at, especially in the absence of Nic. It
was a really clutch performance and I'm really glad he chose tonight
to get hot."
The victory allowed the Hornets (15-10) to snap a two-game losing
streak and bounce back from a dreadful 113-98 loss at Orlando
Wednesday. The Hornets have now won five of their last seven.
"That was a really good win," Hornets coach Steve Clifford said.
"Obviously, to play like we did (Wednesday) night and then bounce
back, that's terrific. That's a good team we beat, and they had been
here for three days. It wasn't pretty there in the fourth quarter,
but I thought we had a lot of guys make a lot of good plays."
"This is a gutsy win," Lin said. "We saw a lot of guys play with a
lot of heart."
The Hornets never trailed in regulation, but the Raptors scored the
final seven points of regulation to force overtime at 90-90. They
actually could have won it in regulation, as guard DeMar DeRozan hit
a 35-footer on the final play, but it turned out the Raptors had
called time out with 0.7 seconds remaining and the basket didn't
count.
"Well, that's basketball," Toronto coach Dwane Casey said of the
ill-fated time out.
The Hornets then outscored Toronto 13-3 in the final 1:30 of
overtime, with guard P.J. Hairston's 3-pointer giving them the lead
for good at 99-96.
Lin played 47 minutes and Walker 44.
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"That was as good as it gets there," Lin said. "We both have nothing
left in the tanks. I couldn't have done it without him and I think
vice-versa. We were just playing off each other. That's the thing
about him, he's very unselfish so it's easy to play with him. He
helps me out just as much as I help him."
The Raptors (16-11) shot just 36.1 percent from the field and guard
Kyle Lowry struggled in particular. He was six of 29 from the field
and three of 17 from 3-point range, finishing with 20 points.
DeRozan led the Raptors with 31 points, forward Terrence Ross scored
17, and center Bismack Biyombo had eight points, 18 rebounds and
seven blocked shots.
"They were playing at a different speed than we were," Casey said.
"I'm proud of the way we competed late, but we didn't compete early
enough. It's almost like we have to get hit in the teeth before we
compete."
Hairston added 14 points for the Hornets, and forward Marvin
Williams finished with 10 points and 10 rebounds.
NOTES: Hornets C Al Jefferson served the second game of a five-game
NBA suspension. He will be eligible to return for the Dec. 26 home
game against Memphis. Jefferson previously missed six straight games
with a strained calf. ... The Raptors continue to be without C Jonas
Valanciunas (fractured hand) and F DeMarre Carroll (knee). ... The
Raptors were coming off a 106-90 loss at Indiana Monday when they
blew a 21-point lead. They came straight to Charlotte and spent
Tuesday and Wednesday practicing here. ... The Hornets were playing
their fourth back-to-back of the season after losing at Orlando
Wednesday. They led the NBA in back-to-backs last season with 22 but
this season they play only 15. ... The Hornets are now 2-0 in
overtime games and 12-0 when they score 100 points or more this
season. ... The Hornets will hit the road for two games, at
Washington on Saturday and at Houston on Monday. ... The Raptors
will close out this three-game road trip Friday at Miami.
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