The genius of Jeremy Lin

That one simple act changed the Knicks for the better last night as Lin, the Ivy League point guard, pulled off the shocker of the NBA season with an electrifying performance that neither Deron Williams nor all of Madison Square Garden will soon forget.
Lin, the league’s first Chinese-American player, scored a career-high 25 points and added seven assists and five rebounds as the Knicks ended a two-game losing streak by beating the Nets, 99-92, Saturday night.


For 36 memorable minutes, Lin’s ability to penetrate and get into the lane created better scoring chances for him and his teammates. The added bonus is that he outplayed Williams, the point guard free agents such as Dwight Howard are lining up to play with.
“It hasn’t really sunk in yet,” said Lin, who was released by the Warriors and Rockets before being signed by the Knicks on Dec. 27. “I am still in shock about everything that happened.”
Lin’s career night included 10 field goals, or one more than the combined total of Anthony and Amar’e Stoudemire. He was the game’s high scorer while becoming the latest Knick to be immortalized at the Garden by having his name chanted. Melo honored him by bowing after Lin converted a fourth-quarter layup as he was fouled.
How improbable was the performance? Lin’s previous career high was 13 points. He had never played more than 20 minutes in an NBA game and he had scored a total of 32 points in nine games with the Knicks. Also, the 6-3 product of Northern California had recorded nine DNPs since arriving in New York. He was inactive for one game and missed three others during a one-week stint in the D-League.