Linsanity Hits MSG

After two career nights at Madison Square Garden and electrifying the crowd, the New York Knicks’ Jeremy Lin has set the NBA world on fire. After brief stints with the his hometown Golden State Warriors and Houston Rockets and limited action with the Knicks, the Harvard grad has led his team to back-to-back wins during a disappointing season for the team.

Lin’s attention grabber came last Saturday when he dropped 25 points and 7 assists in 36 minutes (all career highs) against the New Jersey Nets. His explosion at The Mecca earned him national attention.

Playing without Amar’e Stoudemire (his brother died) and losing Carmelo Anthony to a groin strain during the game, Lin followed up his spectacular play with 28 points and eight assists against the Utah Jazz in the first start of his career.

Although it’s only been two games, it’s safe to say that “Linsanity” has been a surprise in this lockout-shortened season.

“It’s not like I’m mad at anyone,” Lin said about his recent play after last night’s win. “It’s just an opportunity and I don’t think anyone, including myself, saw this coming.”

Coach Mike D’Antoni didn’t see it coming either. When asked about Lin, he said,  “I’m riding him like friggin’ Secretariat.”

Point guard has been a problem for the Knicks this season. Toney Douglas and Mike Bibby haven’t been the answer at the one and Baron Davis cut his elbow and it later became infected, pushing back his Knicks debut.

For now, Lin is filling in and center Tyson Chandler praises Lin for what he’s done in the past couple of games. “What Jeremy is doing is incredible,” Chandler said. “Everybody is playing their natural position. The ball is moving much better, we’re having a nice flow, a nice tempo.”