Knicks’ Lin needs knee surgery, likely done for season

NEW YORK — The New York Knicks say Jeremy Lin is having left knee surgery and will miss six weeks, likely ending his amazing breakthrough season.

The team said Saturday the point guard had an MRI exam this week that revealed a small, chronic meniscus tear.

The Knicks will continue to turn to Baron Davis in place of Lin, the undrafted Harvard alum who became the starter in February and turned in a series of brilliant performances, kicking off a phenomenon that was called Linsanity.

Lin is averaging 14.1 points and 6.1 assists, but the numbers only tell a small part of the story. He went from the end of the bench to the biggest story in sports in about two weeks.

The Knicks were under .500 and looking like a mess when Lin was given a chance to play extended minutes at point guard for then-coach Mike D’Antoni on Feb. 4 against New Jersey.

Lin, the first American-born player of Taiwanese or Chinese descent to play in the NBA, scored 25 points with seven assists in that New York victory, was inserted into the starting lineup two days later against Utah, and took the Knicks on a seven-game winning streak that gained worldwide attention.