Playing their first professional basketball game as teammates, former NBA sensation Jeremy Lin and younger brother Joseph helped lead the New Taipei Kings to victory in their season opener for the East Asian Super League.
More than 4,400 fans crowded into the Xinzhuang Gymnasium in New Taipei City on Wednesday to watch the game against Seoul SK Knights, where Jeremy Lin flirted with a triple-double.
But it was his younger sibling who took control, accounting for 19 points in the second half to guide the team to a 90-72 victory.
“I just told [Joseph] to go for it and don’t think about helping me,” Jeremy Lin, 35, said. “He wanted to help me but I just couldn’t get it going.
“So I said what we needed was for him to go for it himself, that’s why we are such a threat because you cannot just focus on one player.”
Shaking off a two-point performance in the first half, Joseph Lin helped put the hosts in the lead after starting the third quarter tied at 43-43.
The 31-year-old hit five of six shots from long range to finish with 21 points, just one shy of the team-high 22 by player of the game Kenny Manigault, who also had 11 rebounds and five steals.
Two other Kings starters, including Jeremy Lin, also scored double figures, while Jameel Warney’s 45 points accounted for nearly two thirds of the Knights’ total score.
In his second season with the Kings, the younger Lin admitted he was “extremely happy” to play alongside his brother, knowing their potential on the court.
“It’s not only me, my brother also excelled at pick-and-roll so that means we, and our teammates will have more chances,” Joseph Lin said.
“To have two guards who can pick-and-roll as well as driving through the lane, it creates changes for our teammates and I think it is really difficult for other teams to defend.”
In sealing a historic win for a Taiwanese P. League+ team at the regional competition, Jeremy Lin, who finished the game with 12 points, eight rebounds and nine assists, said it was a “special” night in New Taipei City.
“I was probably too nervous and trying to play a good game,” Lin, a former NBA champion with the Toronto Raptors, said. “I was rushing it on the court, I hesitated at times or was playing too fast.
“The Knights will play much better on home soil. They looked tired but you cannot tell from just one game, we need to be respectful when we face them again in South Korea, they will be good for sure.”
The Kings, who were runners-up in the playoffs final last season, will begin their local season on Saturday with an away game against reigning and three-time champions the Taipei Fubon Braves.
The Kings will play their first league home game on November 18, when they host the Hsinchu Lioneers.
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