Hornets end Knicks’ Lin-ning streak, 89-85

NEW YORK (AP) - The Lin-ning streak is over. And Jeremy Lin’s sloppiness was one of the problems for the Knicks.

Lin committed nine turnovers, tied for the most in the NBA this season, and New York had its seven-game winning streak stopped with an 89-85 loss to the New Orleans Hornets on Friday night.

Lin scored 26 points, but his turnovers nearly doubled his five assists and the Knicks lost for the first time since Linsanity began, falling back below .500 at 15-16 heading into a matchup with the defending NBA champion Dallas Mavericks on Sunday.

Trevor Ariza scored 25 points for the Hornets, who have won three in a row after a 4-23 start. Marco Belinelli added 17.

Amare Stoudemire had 26 points and 12 rebounds for New York.

Playing for the sixth straight game without injured All-Star Carmelo Anthony, the Knicks missed 20 of their 24 3-point attempts, were only 19 of 29 on free throws and were flat early, quieting a crowd that has been buzzing since Lin joined the rotation.

Down by 12 early in the fourth, the Knicks made a run with Lin on the bench, and cut it to 73-71 when Jared Jeffries hit a free throw after Lin returned during a timeout with 5:29 left.

The Knicks got it down to two again on Lin’s free throws with 1:06 to play, but Gustavo Ayon answered with a bucket, Lin missed wildly on a drive to the basket, and when Belinelli’s free throws with 25 seconds left made it 87-82, fans began heading for the exits, perhaps in search of Lin-burgers, “Lings” _ Asian-spiced chicken wings _ or “Lintinis,” Lin-spired items that have begun popping up at bars around the city.

Thus ended a remarkable run by the Knicks, who were 8-15 when coach Mike D'Antoni finally turned to Lin, the undrafted point guard from Harvard who was perhaps days from being cut for the third time this season when got this sputtering team on track.

They only figure to get stronger in the coming days. Anthony worked out before the game and is close to returning, and the Knicks signed his former Denver teammate, J.R. Smith, on Friday. Smith is eligible to return to the NBA after his Chinese team’s season ended, and the Knicks believe he will strengthen their poor 3-point shooting.

But none of that helped Friday.

The poor performance came just as many New York residents finally got to see Lin for the first time. Fueled largely by the Asian-American’s popularity, MSG network and Time Warner reached a tentative deal Friday that puts Knicks games for some 2 million Time Warner Cable subscribers in the New York area. New York state officials and the NBA had pressured the companies to settle the dispute that began Jan. 1.

That left them out of Linsanity, which has made the Knicks the story in New York, where they have ranked much lower on the sports’ scene in recent years. The crowd of cameras and reporters at the morning shootaround was so large that one reporter cracked that the Knicks must have signed Kobe.

Who needs him? The Knicks already beat the Lakers, when Lin poured in 38 points to outscore Bryant.

That’s turned Lin, who graced the cover of this week’s Sports Illustrated, into one of sports’ most unlikely stars.

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