Great Call: Mike Woodson Declares Jeremy Lin Out for Knicks-Heat Series

Credit to Mike Woodson for putting it clearly (via Howard Beck of the New York Times): Jeremy Lin will not play a minute against the Miami Heat, even it the series goes seven. Also, credit to whichever party made this call. It's the sensible, long-term decision. 

The Knicks are likely doomed in this series, despite having won an exciting game at home. But even if they weren't, it would make little sense to have their 23-year-old rising star risk playing on a gimpy knee. I cite knee-addled Brandon Roy's heroics versus the Mavericks as a moment that felt fantastic at the time, but ultimately mattered less than the fact that Roy's out of the league right now. 

This may be a watershed moment for the Knicks, an organization as defined by its impatience as any other. Team Dolan has made a reputation of jumping at whichever scenario helps in the short term, long-view consequences be damned. Playing Jeremy Lin—considering the season-ending knee injures to Baron Davis and Iman Shumpert—would be keeping up with that bad tradition. 

So perhaps this reflects better on New York than an improbable series victory would. The Knicks are finally acting like a real basketball franchise.