Lin continues to roll, Adds Lakers to his List of Victims

Heading into Friday night's match-up at Madison Square Garden between the Los Angeles Lakers who are coming off an overtime victory in Boston against the rival Celtics and the New York Knicks who've been riding a three-game winning-streak without two of their key components on offense, the headlines weren't about Kobe Bryant who lit up the Garden for 61-points a few seasons ago, but rather an unlikely hero by the name of Jeremy Lin. Throughout his career, Kobe has averaged 30.5 PPG at New York's famed Madison Square Garden, but not even that was enough to steal the spotlight from Knicks guard Jeremy Lin who since the absence of Carmelo Anthony and Amare Stoudemire, has shined at his brightest in the starting lineup.

Lin, who was on the verge of being cut by the Knicks just a week ago, entered the game with 76-points during New York's three-game winning-streak by logging 25, 28 and 23 points in consecutive performances, matching his total of 76-points scored all of last season while a member of the Golden State Warriors. Prior to their duel on Friday evening, Kobe said he had barely heard of the guy when being asked by reporters what his thoughts on Lin were and said he was unaware of what he had been doing as of late. Kobe would become quite familiar with the craze better known as "Linsanity" before nights end. In his third year out of Harvard, Lin would add to that mark by logging a career-high 38-points over Kobe's 34 to lead the Knicks against the Lakers en route to a 92-85 victory.

It wasn't even a week ago when the New York Giants brought the Big Apple their second Super Bowl victory in four years, but even that appears to already be an afterthought in New York with the recent uprising of Lin. And speaking of football, I think it's safe to say Jeremy Lin is the basketball equivalent of Tim Tebow in the sense that neither were given much of a chance at the professional level or were expected to make much of a difference at first and since being promoted to the starting roster, both have become x-factors for their respective teams. The question is, will "Linsanity" continue or will the recent love craze fade into blackness and come to an early halt much like Tebow Mania did? The answer could very well live within his own team depending on whether or not Carmelo Anthony and Lin can coexist or will Melo's return decrease Lin's roll drastically?

Personally, I think Melo who's currently out with a groin injury and the Knicks would benefit a lot more if Melo allows Lin to play the roll of dictator. Another key factor which could very well play a roll in Lin's production is what coach Mike D'Antoni has planned for former All-Star Baron Davis who was signed by the team in December, but has been on the shelf with back and elbow problems up to this point. Davis is expected to return to the court in the next week or so, but it's uncertain as to what impact he'd have on Lin's roll if any.