SALT LAKE CITY — You witnessed the phenomenon, now see the movie.
Rockets point guard Jeremy Lin took the world by storm last season when his exciting play for the New York Knicks sparked the “Linsanity” craze.
Since then he signed a fat contract with he Rockets and has settled in for a season in which he’s averaging a solid 12 points and 6.1 assists per game.
He isn’t quite the star he was in New York, but still, he stars in the movie “Linsanity,” a documentary about Lin’s life thus far in the NBA.
The movie, directed by Evan Jackson Leong, opened at the Sundance Film Festival last week.
Lin arrived in Utah with the rest of the Rockets on Sunday and immediately headed up to Park City to see the movie. A snowstorm prevented him from arriving until the end of the film.
Speaking to reporters after Monday’s shootaround, Lin said he caught the end of the movie, did a few Q-and-As with reporters then went to dinner with some friends.
The 24-year-old said he wan encouraged to invite his teammates to see the movie, but ultimately decided against making too big a deal out of it.
“That would have been really weird,” he said. “My agent suggested I invite everyone in the organization and I was like, ‘That would be pretty awkward.’ I was thankful because some of my teammates and some of the staff members were kind of excited to go see it. That’s really cool they would take the time to watch a documentary about me.”
Lin only saw the end of “Linsanity” but said he had already watched a rough cut.
Seeing only part of the movie was not a big deal, he said, since he already knew what it was about.
“It’s my own story, so I already know what the ending’s going to be like, because I lived it,” he said. “It’s not too bad.”
GAME 45
Rockets 125, Jazz 80
• BEST PLAY: As the seconds tick down before halftime, Utah’s pick-and-roll defense fails as the Rockets’ James Harden splits Randy Foye and Al Jefferson on his way to an acrobatic dunk. It gives Houston a 57-39 lead and even elicits cheers from around the arena.
• BEST LINE: Harden finished with with 25 points on 8-for-15 shooting. He also had three rebounds, three assists and a steal.
• KEY STAT: The Rockets outscored the Jazz 29-17 in the second quarter, including 16-8 in the paint and 11-0 in fastbreak points. The game was never close after that.
• SIDELINE MOMENT: Ogden native and ex-University of Utah basketball Wat Misaka was at Monday’s game to meet Lin. Misaka was the first player of Asian-American to play in the NBA.
• MILESTONE: Monday was the worst home loss in Jazz history, surpassing a 33-point failure against Milwaukee in November 1980.
• INJURY REPORT: The Jazz played without point guard Mo Williams (thumb surgery) and swingman Gordon Hayward (right shoulder sprain).
• ETC.: Former Ogden Raptors’ pitcher Manny Parra was at Monday’s game. … Harden had 18 points in the first half. Carlos Delfino had 14. He hit 4-of-5 from behind the 3-point line. … Randy Foye led the Jazz with 10 points. As a team, Utah shot 36 percent from the field. Houston, meanwhile, hit 53 percent. … The Jazz had eight turnovers in the first half. … Jazz rookie Kevin Murphy finished with nine points, a career high.
• UP NEXT: The Jazz will play host to the New Orleans Hornets on Wednesday.
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