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Knicks to Lose Jeremy Lin to Rockets, Report Says

By Jim Scott | July 17, 2012 7:46pm

MANHATTAN — Linsanity is headed South.

The New York Knicks plan to let point guard Jeremy Lin walk away by not matching the Houston Rockets' $25.1 million offer sheet Tuesday, according to the New York Times.

The Knicks have until 11:59 p.m. on Tuesday to match the 3-year, $25.1 million offer made to Lin, but it seems the Garden brass will instead part ways the 23-year-old phenom, the Times reported.

Lin quickly became one of the most popular players on the Knicks when he exploded onto the New York basketball scene in February. The 6-foot-3 undrafted point guard from Harvard led the Knicks on a 7-game winning streakthat month that included a 38-point effort against the Los Angeles Lakers on Feb. 10, and a game-winning shot at the buzzer against the Toronto Raptors on Feb. 14.

Lin jerseys and T-shirts flew off the racks and games at Madison Square Garden became a citywide event once again. Lin, who played his college ball at Harvard, was an unknown commodity when the Knicks selected him off of waivers in January.

Lin averaged 14.6 points and 6.2 assists in 35 games for the Knicks, including 25 starts. His season was cut short by a knee injury, and he was criticized by some media members when he did not come back in time to play in the playoffs against the Miami Heat in May.

The Rockets' back-loaded offer had Lin scheduled to make $14.8 million in the third year of the deal, according to several reports. The final year of the deal would put New York well over the salary cap, subjecting them to harsh luxury tax penalties from the NBA.

New York may have tipped it's hand on Lin's fate when the Knicks engineered a sign-and-trade deal for former point guard Raymond Felton over the weekend. Felton joins point guard Jason Kidd, who signed as a free agent with the team last week.