Lin scores 38 as Knicks down Lakers

NBA: Jeremy Lin keeps getting better. Better even than Kobe Bryant on Friday night.

Lin had the most astounding performance of his remarkable week, scoring a career-high 38 points and outdueling Bryant as the New York Knicks held off the visiting Los Angeles Lakers 92-85.

Buried deep on the bench a little more than a week ago, the undrafted Harvard product led the Knicks to their fourth straight win, tying their longest streak of the season.

Bryant finished with 34 points as the Lakers’ nine-game winning streak against the Knicks was snapped.

• Blazers snap skid: Jamal Crawford scored a season-high 31 points, and the Portland Trail Blazers snapped a two-game skid with a 94-86 victory over host New Orleans, the Hornets’ eighth straight loss.

• Hornets’ Jack out a week: The Hornets say starting point guard Jarrett Jack is expected to be out at least a week because of soreness in his left knee.

UConn’s waiver request denied

College basketball: The NCAA turned down the University of Connecticut’s request for a waiver that would allow its men’s team to play in the 2013 national championship tournament.

UConn doesn’t qualify for the tournament because of below-standard academic results, but it requested a waiver last month. The school proposed alternate penalties. The school will appeal.

• Judge limits claims in Boeheim suit: Salacious claims about the wife of an assistant Syracuse coach who was fired after claims that he molested boys have no bearing in a slander lawsuit two of the men brought against the team’s head coach, Jim Boeheim, a judge ruled. Two former ball boys who accuse Boeheim of defamation said some players may have had sex with Laurie Fine, the wife of fired assistant coach Bernie Fine.

• Harvard beats Penn: Corbin Mille and Kyle Casey scored 17 points apiece and No. 25 Harvard (21-2, 7-0) remained perfect in the Ivy League with a 56-50 win over Penn (12-11, 4-2) in Philadelphia.

Wi leads by three at Pebble Beach

Golf: Charlie Wi escaped most of the rain and built a three-shot lead in the Pebble Beach (Calif.) National Pro-Am.

Sunshine gave way to clouds and eventually a light rain on the Monterey Peninsula, which put a stop to the low scoring. Wi holed out a wedge for eagle on the 13th hole at Pebble Beach and limited the damage to a bogey on his final hole for a 3-under-par 69. He’s at 12-under 130.

Dustin Johnson shot 72 at Spyglass and was three back at 9-under 135. Tiger Woods had a 2-under 68 at Monterey Peninsula, which put him six shots behind. Phil Mickelson shot 65 and was five behind.

• Pavin leads Allianz: Corey Pavin shot an 8-under 64 to take a two-shot lead over Fred Funk, Bernhard Langer and Peter Senior after the first round of the Champions Tour’s Allianz Championship in Boca Raton, Fla.

Isner stuns Federer for Davis Cup lead

Tennis: John Isner jolted Roger Federer with his big serve and booming groundstrokes Friday, winning 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (4), 6-2 to give the United States a 2-0 lead against Switzerland in the first round of the Davis Cup in Fribourg, Switzerland.

Isner sent Federer to his first loss in Davis Cup singles in eight years.

The upset was preceded by a riveting opening singles match, with Mardy Fish outlasting Stanislas Wawrinka 6-2, 4-6, 4-6, 6-1, 9-7.

The U.S. can eliminate Switzerland in doubles in the best-of-5 series today.

Red Wings win 19th straight at home

NHL: Pavel Datsyuk and Todd Bertuzzi scored shootout goals to give the Detroit Red Wings their 19th consecutive home victory, 2-1 over the Anaheim Ducks.

Detroit tied the 1970-71 Boston Bruins for the second-longest home streak in NHL history. The 1975-76 Philadelphia Flyers and the 1929-30 Bruins won 20 consecutive games at home.

Red Wings captain Nicklas Lidstrom played in his 1,549th game to tie former Detroit star Alex Delvecchio’s NHL record for games with one team.

• Avs top Canes in OT: Ryan O’Reilly scored on a slap shot with 1.2 seconds remaining in overtime and Jean-Sebastien Giguere stopped a season-high 39 shots in Colorado’s 4-3 victory over Carolina in Denver.

The Hurricanes franchise hasn’t won in Denver since Feb. 9, 1996, when the team was the Hartford Whalers.

Sandusky asks for greater freedom

Miscellany: Jerry Sandusky declared that people have turned against him, moments after the ex-Penn State football coordinator asked a judge in Bellefonte, Pa., for greater freedom while he awaits trial on child sex abuse charges.

Sandusky asked a judge to let him see relatives, including supervised visits with his grandchildren, and friends. He denies the criminal allegations.

The judge could rule early next week on Sandusky’s request.

• Pats’ Gronkowski has ankle surgery: New England Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski had arthroscopic surgery on the left ankle that hampered him in the Super Bowl, according to the Sports Business Journal. The Patriots declined comment.

• Dundee remembered: Hall of Fame boxing trainer Angelo Dundee was remembered as a master motivator and a man who left a legacy of kindness that was just as impressive as what he accomplished in the ring molding a record 15 world champions, including Muhammad Ali, at a funeral in Clearwater, Fla.

Dundee died last week at age 90.

• Asada wins gold at Four Continents: Two-time world champion Mao Asada of Japan won the women’s short program at the Four Continents Figure Skating Championships in Colorado Springs, Colo.

U.S. champion Ashley Wagner was second and Japan’s Kanako Murakami was third.