Impressed with what they had seen out of him in the past, the Knicks claimed former Harvard and Warriors guard Jeremy Lin off waivers yesterday.

The 23-year-old, 6-foot-3 Lin was with Golden State last year as a rookie. The Warriors waived him on Dec. 9. The Rockets added him three days later, but waived him Saturday.

“We’ve always liked him as a player, so we’ll see where we go with it,” Knicks coach Mike D’Antoni said. “Very quick. He defends pretty well. But he can really get in the lane and distribute the basketball. We haven’t seen him for a couple of years, but when we worked him out, we liked him.”

With rookie Iman Shumpert out up to four weeks with an MCL sprain, Baron Davis sidelined indefinitely with a back injury and Mike Bibby dealing with back spasms, Lin gives the Knicks some depth behind starting guards Toney Douglas and Landry Fields. Bibby, who sat out Sunday’s opener against the Celtics, is set to go tonight against Golden State.

“He’s good. He said he felt good, looked good,” D’Antoni said of Bibby. “He’s ready to roll.”

D’Antoni said he believes Lin will be with the Knicks today for the morning shootaround. Lin averaged 2.6 points and 1.4 assists in 29 games last year with Golden State, and also spent time in the D-League. A Bay Area native, Lin became the first Asian-American to play in the NBA since the 1947-48 season and the first Ivy Leaguer since Chris Dudley and Matt Maloney in 2002-03.

* Warriors star point guard Stephen Curry (ankle) likely will miss tonight’s game. Curry’s agent, Lance Young, told USA Today, “With this shortened season and back-to-backs, for him to be able to get four days of rest and get ready for Saturday [against the 76ers], he thought that [sitting out] probably would be the right thing.”

* Many observers thought Carmelo Anthony looked quicker in Sunday’s season opener than he did last season. Anthony did not speak yesterday at practice, but when asked about it, D’Antoni said, “I do know he’s very focused and in tune and getting in the weight room and doing what it’s going to take to have a stellar year. I expect him to have that.”