There’s a good chance Twitter will crash Saturday when exciting young point guards Ricky Rubio and Jeremy Lin face off in Minnesota as the New York Knicks play the Timberwolves.
Carmelo who? Amar’e huh? The Knicks were free-falling, losers of 11 of 13 before a frustrated Mike D’Antoni inserted Lin – a third-string point guard cut twice in training camp – against the New Jersey Nets exactly one week ago. he responded with a then-career-high 25 points in a 99-92 victory.
Lin smashed that output Friday, outplaying Kobe Bryant and the big L.A. Lakers front line in an electrifying 92-85 win at home.
Lin had eight assists and 38 points, the most by any Knick this season (Anthony scored 37 on opening night). He will try to lead New York (12-15) to its longest winning streak this season against Minnesota.
Anthony (strained groin) and Stoudemire (family loss) remain out.
Minnesota (13-14) turned the ball over 28 times in a 104-97 loss to the Dallas Mavericks on Friday.
Kevin Love – who had a 30-30 game against the Knicks last season – led the Wolves with 32 points and 12 rebounds.
But Love’s All-Star play will be lost in the Lin-disputable Lin-sanity that has taken over New York and the NBA. So will Michael Beasley’s efficiency (8-of-11 shooting for 20 points).
Saturday’s story is Lin vs. Rubio.
The Spanish rookie sensation is averaging 10.9 points and 8.7 assists, fishing the Timberwolves from the NBA sewers with his draw-dropping play that numbers alone cannot do justice.
Lin, whose numbers make your eyes pop as much as his play, is the first player since LeBron James in 2003 to score over 20 points and hand out eight assists in his first two NBA starts. He’s averaged 28.5 points over the last four games – all wins.
Lin is gonna shred rubio. just ask dwill and john wall.