What a week it has been for Jeremy Lin.
With three breakout games, the Harvard graduate has become the NBA’s newest playmaking sensation. He’s a fan favorite — home and away — and has earned more than 60,000 Twitter followers in just five days.
Now, he also has his first NBA dunk.
Lin had 23 points — two on that slam — and a career-high 10 assists in the New York Knicks’ 107-93 win over the Washington Wizards on Wednesday night.
Late in the third quarter with the Knicks up by four, Lin drove past three Wizards players and suddenly was alone in front of the hoop. He slammed it through with his right hand.
“Just one of those in-a-moment things,’’ Lin said. “I think they messed up on their coverage, so I was able to get free.’’
In his previous two games, Lin had 25 points against New Jersey and 28 more against Utah in his first start — both wins. Now, he had to go on the road, and instead of facing a hostile crowd, Lin found an adoring one.
The fans cheered louder for Lin than for any other player in introductions, waving Taiwanese flags and signs —including one that read: “Linning and Grinning.’’
By the time the game ended, the crowd was chanting for him as he walked off the floor.
“Like I said after the last game, I wouldn’t have imagined this,’’ said Lin, who was undrafted in 2010 and played his rookie season in Golden State.
“Thanks to them for coming out and they came out strong for the Knicks tonight,’’ he added. “We had a lot of energy that came from them.’’
When the Knicks last played here on Jan. 6, Lin didn’t play at all. With their two leading scorers missing — Carmelo Anthony gone for a week or two with a strained right groin and Amare Stoudemire mourning the loss of his brother — New York desperately needed Lin’s scoring this time around.
He didn’t single-handedly make up for the 40 points that Anthony and Stoudemire provide, but sure energized this decidedly pro-New York crowd.
“He just does everything easy and the rest of the guys around him are playing the way we want to play,’’ New York coach Mike D’Antoni said.
Tyson Chandler had 25 points and 11 rebounds to lead the Knicks, who won for the third straight time. Chandler, a 10-year NBA veteran, finished two points short of his career high, but it was again Lin’s night.
This season has been a rough one for D’Antoni, who’s facing questions about his job, but for now, he has a most unexpected asset — Lin.
“I think it’s for real,’’ D’Antoni said. “The things that are real are his vision, which won’t change; his speed, which won’t change; his knowledge of the game, which won’t change. I think it can only get better.’’
