TORONTO — Around the arena, inevitability ruled the moment. Among 20,092 people inside Air Canada Centre, all of them on their feet. Among the Toronto Raptors, who could sense they were being set up as patsies. Among the Knicks, of course, who have come to believe that there is nothing their point guard can’t do.
And, yes: Watching Jeremy Lin, you could see it in him, too.
“My teammates trust me with the ball at the end of the game,” Lin would say.
Trust him? It takes everything they’ve got not to stand up and applaud him at the end of these games now.
“It’s the greatest story in sports,” Jared Jeffries would say.
“I don’t know when this will end,” Mike D’Antoni would add. “Maybe never.”
Right now, never is at least in the conversation. Through 47 minutes it was clear that this would be the game that would remind Lin and everybody else how humbling a game basketball can be. Through 47 minutes he turned the ball over, he missed killer free throws, he allowed Jose Calderon to look … well, a lot like Jeremy Lin.
The Knicks trailed by as many as 17. They whittled all but two points off the lead, but the Raptors answered with a haymaker. Then Iman Shumpert picked Calderon clean, dunked on the other end, sliced the lead to three.
There were 73 seconds left in the game. Lin took an outlet pass from Amar’e Stoudemire, a blur in blue, and he had the presence of mind to spot a collection of Raptors gathered too far under the basket, so he drove, drew the foul, made the basket, made the free throw. Of course it was a tie game now. Of course it was.
Now the ball — and the game — was in his hands.
“Me and Amar’e, we knew he was gonna shoot it, we looked at each other and said, ‘Let’s make sure we don’t get in his way,’ ” Shumpert would say, laughing.
Six seconds. Five. Calderon didn’t want him flying past so he was giving him a little extra space at the top of the key. Four seconds. Three. Across this most remarkable week, Lin had found every way possible to win games for the Knicks: instant offense off the bench against the Nets; assists early and points late against the Jazz; outdueling John Wall and the Wizards, then outdueling Kobe Bryant and the Lakers; a tie-breaking foul shot against the Timberwolves.
He hadn’t yet tossed in a game-winning buzzer-beater yet, though, and you had to wonder what he was waiting for.
Two seconds.
One.
“Get a good shot, at the end of the clock,” Lin said to himself. Check. And check. The ball left his hand and was in the air and everybody knew. Are you kidding? Did you doubt for even a second it was going to splash through cleanly? Could you?
“After the way things have gone,” Landry Fields said, “all you can ask yourself is: Why wouldn’t this happen?”
He left five-tenths of a second for the Raptors. He’ll do better next time.
“He’s going to make every big play for us,” Jeffries said.
“It’s amazing what he’s doing,” Stoudemire said. “I can’t explain it. It’s fun to watch him. And it’s fun to be a part of it.”
Everyone thought so. The moment the ball swished, the people inside ACC let loose an explosion that nearly detonated the night — and this was all for a shot that was going to make sure the home team lost. They didn’t care. They were here for Jeremy Lin, they wanted to see what all the fuss was about.
And probably left thinking we’ve all been a little too reserved in our descriptions.
Lin? He took a pounding last night, every time he drove the ball, and on the other end, running full steam into screens. He looked vulnerable. He looked human.
And then at the end: He looked otherworldly. You try to figure it out.
“I love playing on a team that wants to be a team,” Lin would say. “That’s why we’re having fun.’’
Back at you kid. Signed, Everyone.
michael.vaccaro@nypost.com