New York Knicks: Jeremy Lin Must Be Played Responsibly by Mike D'Antoni

The 45 minutes Jeremy Lin played last night were crucial in the New York Knicks' 99-88 win over the Utah Jazz. They were crucial because of the absence of Carmelo Anthony (injury) and Amar'e Stoudemire (death in family). However, coach Mike D'Antoni must be cautious not to overexert Lin out of desperation.

Lin's mistakes were few and far between in the first half but as the game went on and his minutes grew longer, it was noticeable that Lin's turnovers were occurring on a more regular basis. Although it didn't affect his scoring in the second half, it did affect Lin's ability to take care of the ball.

And despite the offensive spark he's provided in the past two games, one can't forget that the most important job Lin has is running this offense and taking care of the ball.

D'Antoni also must be weary of injury. Yes, Lin is only 23 years old, but even younger players can be overplayed and hit a wall if given too much playing time. Furthermore, it can lead to injury as well because it's only logical that more minutes on the floor leads to more opportunities for injury.

I don't expect Lin to be logging that many minutes every game because like I said, it was a special situation last night. But it can be tempting to keep a player like Lin on the floor, especially since the Knicks are obviously a better team when Lin is running the point.

Anthony is expected to miss 1-2 weeks with a groin injury, but Stoudemire should be back relatively soon despite the family tragedy he's going through. Stoudemire's return, along with Melo's, should ease the load on the Harvard grad's shoulders considerably.

We may continue to see increased minutes for Lin the next few weeks while the Knicks are nursing Anthony back to health, but that should only be temporary at most. Even D'Antoni himself admitted the minutes Lin logged last night were a bit much.

"I'm riding him like freakin' Secretariat," D'Antoni said after the game.

It might be a huge plus for the Knicks when Lin is on the floor, but in the end, it's more important that he's actually effective on the court in less minutes for New York rather than being overplayed, tired and a shell of himself in more minutes.

D'Antoni is a professional basketball coach and I'm sure he fully understands the limits of a basketball player and more importantly, a human being.