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Jeremy Lin Love Affair Continues Despite Knicks Loss

By DNAinfo Staff on February 18, 2012 11:09am

Jeremy Lin drives against the New Orleans Hornets' Gustavo Ayon during the Knicks' 89-85 loss Fri., Feb. 17, 2012, at Madison Square Garden.
Jeremy Lin drives against the New Orleans Hornets' Gustavo Ayon during the Knicks' 89-85 loss Fri., Feb. 17, 2012, at Madison Square Garden.
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Getty Images/Chris Trotman

By Paul Lomax and Patrick Hedlund

DNAinfo Staff

MANHATTAN — They still got love for Lin.

Hoops phenom Jeremy Lin and the Knicks ended their magical seven-game winning streak Friday night, falling to the lowly New Orleans Hornets, 89-85, but that didn't stop fans from cheering on the emergent superstar.

“Everyone in the world knows who this guy is now,” said Alyssa Loomis, 22, a financial advisor who came with a friend all the way from Phoenix, Ariz., to attend the game. “Even my friend's dad who is on a business trip in Holland said that people there are talking about Jeremy Lin."

Lin and Amar’e Stoudemire led all scorers with 26 points each, but saw their fairy-tale streak snapped during the second matchup of their current five-game home stand at Madison Square Garden. 

The loss came only hours after Time Warner Cable and MSG resolved their six-week stalemate over broadcasting rights, which had kept subscribers blacked out from watching the Knicks at home.

Poor three-point shooting and 21 turnovers — a career-high nine at the hands of Lin — ultimately cost New York the game.

"9 TOs wont get it done...gotta learn from my mistakes and move on to the next one," Lin tweeted after the game.

But the team's lackluster performance didn’t stop fans from basking in the “Lin-sanity."

A couple from Maryland who made the trek up to Manhattan to attend the game said they couldn’t resist witnessing sports history — despite not being the biggest of basketball fans.

“I don’t care about the NBA,” said Mike Naylor, 29, who owns a mortgage company, as he sipped a post-game drink at the bar Irish Times right next to the Garden.

“I’m from Baltimore and don’t care about any teams, and here I am wearing a ‘Lin-sanity’ T-shirt," he added. "I’ll root for the Knicks the rest of the year.”

His wife noted that all the hype surrounding Lin and the Knicks made the game a thrill to see live.

“It was just the excitement of it,” said Erin Naylor, 30, an attorney. “You don’t get that all the time.”

Others were just happy for the chance to catch the game from their comfort of their couches.

"Thank God the TV dispute is over,” said Bobby Wilson, 38, a construction worker from Maspeth, Queens.

“Now everyone can watch Lin play. He's the biggest thing in New York right now, and I think could be for a while."

The Knicks will look to get back to their winning ways Sunday against the defending NBA champion Dallas Mavericks at 1 p.m.