RAYMOND FELTON Replaced Linsanity (NBAE/Getty Images)
Linsanity was never one of my favorite terms. Too silly, too commercial, too individual for such a team game as basketball.
Yes, it is a good thing the Knicks have exchanged Linsanity for Winsanity, good for Jeremy Lin and good for the Knicks.
Lin will return to the Garden tonight for the first time since jumping to the Rockets. He returns to face his old team that is a perfect 10-0 at the Garden this season. When Lin signed with Houston as a free agent this past summer, a deal the Knicks chose not to match, critics insisted the Knicks had once again made a mistake.
As it turns out it wasn’t insanity on the Knicks’ part at all. They found other ways to win and fully committed themselves to making this Carmelo Anthony’s team. Anthony has risen to the occasion and so have the Knicks.
In the process the Knicks have created another rival. There is nothing insane about that and the Garden will be electric with Lin on the floor wearing Rockets colors.
The Knicks have faced and passed some big tests this season but tonight is really something special. The Rockets crushed the Knicks in Houston a month ago, winning 131-103. It was one of those games where everything went wrong for the Knicks as James Harden scored 33 points, Chandler Parsons added 31 while Lin contributed 13 points, seven rebounds and three assists.
That marked the first time the Knicks lost consecutive games this season.
Anthony missed Saturday’s 103-102 win over the Cavs with a sprained ankle. The Knicks need him on the floor tonight. They need to beat the Rockets to go to 11-0 at home.
This is one of those challenge games when you look inside a team’s soul.
Everything has been great at home for the Knicks this season, but if Lin comes in and beats his old team for their first home loss, a team that opted to let him leave, this will be a big embarrassment to James Dolan.
This is one of those “win one for the owner’’ games.
Anthony makes the Knicks go, of course, but the thing to like best about this Knicks team is that it plays for one another. Coach Mike Woodson has done a fabulous job of making these Knicks accountable to one another and to put forth a team effort.
Woodson took note of all that after Saturday night’s Melo-less victory. “We have a way of coming up with big plays, guys stepping up, making big plays and that is how it’s got to be,’’ Woodson said. “No excuses.’’
There are no excuses tonight. The Knicks must shut down Jeremy Lin and win this game. They must come together as a team and not let Lin get the win.
The 18-5 Knicks have dominated the Heat and the Lakers at home. They can’t let Lin and the 11-12 Rockets get the best of them and hand them their first home loss. No excuses.
Raymond Felton and Jason Kidd run the offense now and they have done a superb job and are making the most of having Tyson Chandler roll to the basket. “I trust Tyson,’’ Kidd said of Chandler’s ability to get the basket or get to the foul line once the pass is made.
Lin is averaging 10.8 points and the Rockets are coming off a 103-96 loss in Toronto yesterday.
The All-Star Game is in Houston this year and Lin is likely to win this popularity contest and be voted onto the West team. A big game tonight against the Knicks will give a huge boost to his candidacy.
The Garden spotlight is again on Lin and appreciative Knicks fans will give him a warm welcome for his spectacular performance last season when “Linsanity’’ took over the NBA.
It’s up to the Knicks, though, to turn that spotlight on them and continue the “Winsanity’’ at the Garden. Changing that “L’’ to a “W’’ is what these Knicks are all about.