NEW YORK – Linsanity lives.

Forget the off night that had NBA fans worldwide wondering whether the Jeremy Lin story was too good to be true. It’s still plenty good, all right.

The Harvard sensation was back at his whirling ways Sunday, and the stage couldn’t have been better – against the defending champions on national TV.

Lin was Lin, and that was good enough for the New York Knicks to win.

Hours after the opening of “Saturday Night Live” spoofed the Lin phenomenon, the point guard had 28 points and a career-high 14 assists to carry the Knicks to a 104-97 victory that ended the Dallas Mavericks’ six-game winning streak.

“Looking back, it’s like I was watching them win the championship last year, and that’s obviously where this team wants to go,” Lin said.

“This is helpful to us, not just to me but to us, just to be able to see where our team can go and what we can become, and I think that’s the biggest takeaway from tonight,” he said.

Dirk Nowitzki scored a season-high 34 points for the Mavericks, who had been playing championship-level defense but became the latest team who couldn’t stop Lin.

“I was talking to them before the game and they were saying they had an answer for Lin,” said Knicks center Tyson Chandler, who played for the Mavs last season, “I guess they were dead wrong on their scouting report.”

PACERS 108, BOBCATS 73: In Indianapolis, first-time All-Star Roy Hibbert had 18 points and 14 rebounds to lead Indiana. Danny Granger and David West each scored 14 points. West added eight rebounds for the Pacers, who have won two in a row.

The Bobcats have lost 17 of the last 18 games and never led in this one.

HEAT 90, MAGIC 78: In Miami, Dwyane Wade scored 27 points and LeBron James had 25 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists to lead the Heat to its sixth consecutive victory. Wade made 13 of 23 shots from the floor, shooting 50 percent or better for the 10th straight game.

PISTONS 96, CELTICS 81: In Auburn Hills, Mich., Greg Monroe had 17 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists to lead Detroit, which has won seven of its last nine games. Paul Pierce led Boston with 18 points.

CAVALIERS 93, KINGS 92: In Cleveland, Kyrie Irving’s two free throws with 0.4 second remaining sparked Cleveland. Irving’s foul shots came after DeMarcus Cousins’ basket with 2.9 seconds left gave the Kings a 92-91 lead.

ROCKETS 101, JAZZ 85: In Houston, Kyle Lowry scored 32 points and Luis Scola had 26 as the Rockets held off Utah.

TIMBERWOLVES 92, 76ERS 91: In Minneapolis, Kevin Love scored 12 of his 20 points in the fourth quarter, including a pair of free throws with 0.1 second, to lead Minnesota.

BUCKS 92, NETS 85: In Newark, N.J., Ersan Ilyasova had career highs of 29 points and 25 rebounds as Milwaukee snapped a four-game losing streak. Deron Williams had 26 points to lead New Jersey.

THUNDER 124, NUGGETS 118, OT: In Oklahoma City, Kevin Durant scored a career-best 51 points for the top performance in the NBA this season, Russell Westbrook added 40 and Serge Ibaka had his first career triple-double – 14 points, 15 rebounds and 11 blocks – for the Thunder. Arron Afflalo scored 27 points and Andre Miller had 21 points for Denver.

SUNS 102, LAKERS 90: In Phoenix, Jared Dudley scored a season-high 25 points and Marcin Gortat had 21 points and 15 rebounds as Phoenix held on to beat Los Angeles. Kobe Bryant scored 32 points but was 1 of 8 on three-pointers and committed 10 turnovers, one shy of his career worst.