The Toronto Raptors face the lowly New York Knicks for the fourth time this season on Thursday night at Madison Square Garden. The Raptors, a real contender for the NBA title, are predictably 3-0 against the Knicks, who are a real contender for last place. So the game doesn’t mean much — stars like Kawhi Leonard will probably play limited minutes (if any), opening up minutes for Toronto’s reserves. Toronto will mostly run the game plan like a practice, working on things that can support their upcoming playoff run.
But there is one player for whom the game has special meaning — that’s Raptors reserve guard Jeremy Lin. There are many reasons, fueled by past and present, that Lin will be looking for special performance. First of all, Lin is new to the Raptors and he wants to be a playoff contributor — even as playoff teams usually slim down their rotations. Lin has played well in his minutes, but as those potentially grow more scarce Lin wants to implant in Raptors coach Nick Nurse‘s mind the myriad ways he can impact a game. Last time these two teams met, just ten days ago, Lin scored 20 points to lead all Raptors in scoring. Look for Lin to try to repeat the performance.
The other reason is, well, Madison Square Garden. Despite Lin’s short tenure in a New York Knicks uniform, no player this side of Patrick Ewing or Walt “Clyde” Frazier has quite owned the Garden the way Lin did during Linsanity. That burst of scoring and fame that made Lin a household name around the world makes MSG a special place for Lin, and Lin still means a lot to the MSG fans who remember his sudden stardom fondly.
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