Jeremy Lin Injury: New York Knicks Shouldn't Rush Star PG Back

The New York Knicks need to be careful not to rush Jeremy Lin back into the lineup while he continues to recover from his injury—a slight miniscus tear in his left knee.

They may be more inclined to do so now more than ever before after they lost Baron Davis to a dislocated right knee in the middle of Game 4 (h/t ESPN.com), but the smart move is to make sure Lin is fully healthy before they let him in the game for full-speed playoff action.

For basketball players, there aren't many body parts that are as important to their performance as knees, and many a career has been dashed due to knee injuries.

It was only a few days ago that Lin spoke to the media about his progress, via NBA.com, and he talked about not being ready for Game 4:

"

I don't think the timing—I'll probably get one more day of contact maybe in between now and the next game, and I haven't been able to really load it or jump or explode or drive by somebody the way I want to. So it's going to be longer than that.

"

Lin is stil experiencing significant pain in that knee, and as he put it stoically the day after a recent workout the pain level, "wasn't the worst, it wasn't the best."

That doesn't sound like a player who's ready for playoff basketball.

When he was asked about whether or not he'd be ready for Game 5, Lin responded, via NBA.com: "I don't really want to say I am or am not, I just want to take it day by day. Game 4 doesn't look great. I mean, Game 5, I have no idea."

Lin is only 23 years old. He has his entire career ahead of him, and it would be stupid for the Knicks to take a short-sighted view on this situation. He needs to be 100 percent healthy before they allow him to play in a real game.

As much as they don't want to admit it, the Knicks don't have a chance to win the series against the Miami Heat. Sure, they pulled off a sweet victory at home in Game 4, but they don't have enough firepower on offense to overcome the stifling defense of the Heat—especially in Miami.

They won't win with Lin or without him, so the best thing they can do is keep him on the bench and let him fully recover for next season.

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