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Teamsanity! Lin-Mania Takes Back Seat To Knicks' Depth

NEW YORK (WFAN) -- It wasn't the Jeremy Lin show at Madison Square Garden.

But the Knicks point guard was happy to put Linsanity on hold for a complete 120-103 team win over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Wednesday night.

It was the guys behind Lin and the rest of the starters who turned this one around.

"I think our second unit did an awesome job," Lin said.

Steve Novak had 17 points off the bench as the Knicks turned a 17-point deficit into an easy win, outscoring the Cavs 71-42 in the second half. They capped a 10-5 month, their first 10-win February since going 10-3 in 1996-97.

With the recent additions of Baron Davis and JR Smith, and the return of rookies Iman Shumpert and Josh Harrellson from injuries, the Knicks believe their depth has become a strength. And it was the reserves who broke open the game.

"I think we've been talking a lot about our depth and tonight we definitely got to see the depth," said Lin. "And so that's going to be a strength of ours and we need to continue to use that."

Lin bounced back from his 1-for-11 performance in a 102-88 loss at Miami in the last game before the break, going 6 of 12 with only one turnover.

"Coming off of Miami, the only thing I was focused on was to make sure my approach was the same in terms of aggressiveness, but do a better job taking care of the ball," said Lin.

The reserves got loud ovations as they departed late in the fourth quarter, and Novak was even treated to a "We want Novak! We want Novak!" chant with about 3 minutes left.

Novak said it was no "Stevesanity."

"There's only one Linsanity," he said. "It's over there. I can't compete with that."

Was the the best team win you've seen from the Knicks in a long time? Sound off below...

(TM and Copyright 2012 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2011 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

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