By Larry Fine
NEW YORK (Reuters) - "Linsanity" reigned at Madison Square Garden for another night Friday as point guard Jeremy Lin outdueled Kobe Bryant to lead the New York Knicks to a fourth straight win with a 92-85 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers.
Lin, an overlooked 23-year-old who had been cut by two other teams earlier this season, led New York with a career-high 38 points and seven assists, while rookie Iman Shumpert was the next highest scorer for the Knicks with 12 points.
The Lakers, looking as though they were feeling the effects of back-to-back games after beating Celtics in overtime in Boston Thursday, shot a poor 37.5 percent from the floor as they fell to 15-12.
Bryant, who scored only 10 points in the first half, heated up after the intermission to pace the Lakers with 34 points.
Spurred on by the dazzling performance of Lin, the NBA's first Taiwanese-American player, the Knicks led by as many as 14 points in the second quarter, 12 points in the third and 13 in the fourth at 86-73 before a late fight-back by the Lakers brought them within six at 88-82.
Lin put on one last burst with a reverse layup and a pair of free throws, and drew a charge against Matt Barnes to help ice the victory and improve New York to 12-15 for the season.
(Reporting by Larry Fin)
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