Three quarters. Sixty-one points.
The media and fans were going crazy—but Lin Yi? Dude was chilling.
He felt great tonight. He knew the Nets inside out, so putting up those numbers? Honestly, not that surprising to him.
If anything… he just felt kinda drained.
"Man, I'm gassed," Lin Yi muttered to himself as he leaned back postgame.
No wonder legends like Havlicek and Kobe were dubbed iron men. Those guys had inhuman stamina. To be able to shoot non-stop, and more importantly, you need a body made of steel. Kobe could handle it. Most players? Not even close.
Without that kind of endurance, forget about it.
...
The press conference room was already packed before Lin even stepped in. The media were practically vibrating.
The first stat ESPN dropped? Lin Yi's total time holding the ball: 125 seconds. For the entire game.
That's it. Just over two minutes.
Cue chaos.
People swore Lin had the ball the whole night. But the data didn't lie. ESPN even triple-checked.
The thing is, Lin didn't need to dribble around like Harden. He got the ball and went. No hesitation. He played like he had the scouting report burned into his brain. The Nets couldn't guard him, and he knew it.
By the second quarter, he started moving more off-ball, catching and shooting like a knockoff Klay Thompson—which was wild because Klay hadn't even popped off in the league yet.
Still, Lin borrowed the style: no wasted motion, quick release, always moving.
Klay once dropped 59 in three quarters on 110 seconds of ball time. Lin's 61 came in with 125. Not bad, considering the Knicks didn't exactly have the Warriors' passing machine.
Honestly? Lin knew he wasn't touching those God-tier performances unless he boosted his physical level with more training.
But tonight? Everything clicked. Catch-and-shoots. Free throws. Rhythm. Confidence.
Hooked. He was fully hooked.
...
The moment Lin Yi walked into the press room, it exploded.
Reporters fired off questions like it was a war zone.
High scoring doesn't mean everything in the NBA, but it sure helps. Think Kobe's 81, MJ's 69, "Wilt's 100". That's what cements your legacy.
Tonight, Lin Yi became the youngest player in NBA history to record a 50+60 game. He also shattered Bernard King's Knicks franchise record.
"Lin, you scored 61 points tonight. What does that mean to you?" one reporter asked.
Lin smiled.
"Well, first off, yeah—it feels great," he said. "My teammates were feeding me all night, and Coach gave me the greenest light imaginable. So I just let it fly."
He paused, then grinned wider.
"And I also wanna give a big shoutout to Charles Barkley. Looks like he doesn't have to kiss a donkey's butt after all. I was low-key nervous when I heard he believed in me."
The room broke into laughter. Barkley even did a victory dance live on TNT after the final buzzer.
Next question.
"Earlier this month, Brandon Jennings dropped 55 and said he's as good as any rookie from the '09 class. You just scored 61. Do you see him as your biggest competition for Rookie of the Year?"
Now we're getting spicy.
Lin cracked open a bottle of Gatorade, took a sip, and said with a smile:
"I feel like I need a cigar right now... and say: Hey, whoever wants second place can fight for it."
Reporters roared with laughter.
"But seriously," he added, "it's still early. A lot of the season is left. At the end, people will make their call."
Confident, but not arrogant. It hit the sweet spot. Lin Yi knew how to play the game, on and off the court.
He'd learned from LeBron's early PR scars. You don't go shouting about how many rings you'll win. Just hoop.
Later, another hand shot up from the back.
"Lin Yi, you hit quite a few deep threes tonight, and hit them well. Are those range shots gonna be a regular thing for you?" asked Wu Xiaolei, a familiar face in the Chinese media.
Now that was a great question. In 2009, pulling up from deep was still kinda nuts.
"Well, I felt good tonight. If I'm feeling like that again, I'll let it fly," he said. "Also gotta thank Coach D'Antoni—he's always given me the freedom to experiment."
Lin could already see it: once he maxed out his Limitless Range badge, taking a step or two beyond the arc would feel like a layup.
Thank God he didn't have a coach like Larry Brown. He'd be chained to mid-range purgatory.
....
After the game, the buzz didn't stop. Lin Yi had broken a ton of records:
Youngest 50+60 game in league history
Knicks franchise single-game scoring record
The highest NBA score by a Chinese player
Five days after his birthday, Lin Yi had turned into a walking stat sheet.
...
Later that night, he grabbed dinner with Yao Ming and Yi Jianlian. Chairman—quiet and humble as ever—asked if Lin could work with him over the summer.
"Sure thing," Lin said casually.
If Ryan Anderson could get paid just for spacing the floor, then why not Yi Jianlian?
This game against the Nets showed Yi something: if he didn't adjust, he'd get left behind. Fast.
Yao watched the two younger players with pride. There weren't many Chinese athletes in the NBA. Seeing them stick together and grow?
That was a win.
...
After dinner, Lin rejoined the team.
Because... schedule from hell.
This was already New York's third back-to-back of the season.
Lin looked at the calendar and sighed.
"Did Dolan personally piss off the league office or something?"
Their next opponent?
The Celtics.
...
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