Jeremy Lin's Success With The Knicks Leads To Widespread Linsanity

For two straight seasons, one of the biggest stories in the NBA has belonged to the New York Knicks. Last year, it was The Melodrama and Carmelo Anthony's trade to New York after months of rumor and speculation. This year, it's Linsanity. While the two stories couldn't be any different -- one, a disgruntled superstar forcing a trade; the other, a classic underdog tale -- they both have had a significant impact on the Knicks' home ticket price average.

As shown below, in the week following the Carmelo trade last season, the average price for Knicks home games jumped 25 percent, from $204 to $256, according to ticketing information gathered by TiqIQ. This year, Linsanity has had an even bigger impact, raising prices an average of 33 percent, from $229 to $304. While fans in New York love their superstars, the comparison seems to show that they love a great Cinderella story even more.

The Knicks brass are also thrilled to be back at the center of the basketball universe. The 2012 edition, however, has come at a significant discount compared to the 2011 model. With his salary of $18 million, the buzz generated by Anthony‘s trade cost the Knicks $805,000 for each percentage point of price increase. This compares to just $23,000 for each percentage point increase that Linsanity has driven.

For those looking to score a deal for Knicks games the rest of this year, there are only a handful of games left with tickets under $100. If Lin can continue to help the Knicks win, come spring, the current average of $304 may be as distant a memory as Lin's spot at the end of the Knicks bench.

No doubt you have heard about this Jeremy Lin character coming out of nowhere to lead the New York Knicks to six straight wins, the latest via buzzer-beating 3-pointer. Unfortunately, his out-of-nowhere ascent has come after the close 2012 NBA All-Star voting, meaning the league's weekend of fun leading up to the Feb. 26 game won't include the season's biggest story. According to league sources, that may soon change. The New York Daily News reports that Lin may be added to the Haier Shooting Stars competition during All-Star Saturday night.

Admittedly, the Shooting Stars competition isn't one of the more exciting events of the weekend, but at least the league would be able to add Lin without blatantly snubbing another player. The event teams a current NBA player with a WNBA star and one of TNT's on-air personalities, and pits them against other similarly comprised teams in a shooting competition. Last year Team Atlanta won with Al Horford, Coco Miller of the Atlanta Dream, and former Hawk Steve Smith.

Otherwise, Lin's only chance to join the festivities may be as an alternate should an Eastern Conference reserve be forced to drop out of the weekend. He has only started five games this season, but he has certainly played at an All-Star level over that span, averaging 27.2 points and 8.8 assists.

For more on Lin and the Knicks, head over to the SB Nation blog Posting And Toasting.

What has happened to the New York Knicks to make their NBA championship odds drop from 40/1 to 18/1 in the matter of two weeks? Jeremy Lin happened and sportsbooks have been forced to take serious notice, just like the rest of the sporting world.

There has never been anything quite like the Knick guard’s meteoric rise. Tim Tebow had a long and award-filled college career. Cut by the Golden State Warriors and Houston Rockets and only playing because of Carmelo Anthony’s injury, the Harvard grad has led New York to nine straight wins. And bettors love him too – the Knicks are 8-1 ATS in those games.

Bovada Sportsbook’s lines manager says money has flooded in on the New York Knicks and forced them to create a handul of Jeremy Lin odds just to keep up with the demand. "The action has really picked up on NBA futures with Jeremy Lin making the Knicks the hottest team on the NBA and keep we keep taking money," explains Kevin Bradley.

"A guy like this is great for the game and has drawn a lot of interest from bettors on the Knicks games also. I am having visions of how they public was treating the Giants going into the Super Bowl being the hottest team in the NFL and costing us a mint and right now the Knicks are by far the biggest loser for the book."

He hit a trey to beat Toronto at the buzzer Tuesday and Bovada makes him 3/1 odds to do that again – beat a team on the final shot – this season. You can even bet on Lin to win the NBA MVP, although that is a longshot, fairy-tale scenario with a 40/1 line.

Of course, it’s a longshot that he’s even playing the in NBA this season. Check out the recently posted Lin odds and live NBA odds on every game, every day at OddsShark.com.

Since Feb. 4, New York Knicks point guard Jeremy Lin has played in just six games and started only five. In that time, he has become a true international superstar and a social media sensation. He has energized the Knicks franchise and its fanbase while leading the team to six straight wins, their longest winning streak of the season. Not bad for a player who was waived by two separate teams in December alone.

Lin was set to begin the shortened 2011-12 NBA season on the roster of the Golden State Warriors, but was waived to free up salary room for a free agent offer that never materialized. He was claimed by the Houston Rockets and played two preseason games with them, but was again waived before Opening Day to free up payroll space. Lin was finally claimed by the Knicks on Dec. 27, and after a stint in the D-League in January, during which he registered back-to-back triple-doubles, he was recalled.

After limited playing time in his first few games with the Knicks, Lin was inserted into a game against the New Jersey Nets on Feb. 4. He played 36 minutes and led the team to a 99-92 win, during which he scored 25 points and recorded five rebounds and seven assists -- all career highs. From that point, a star was officially born.

Lin was inserted as the starting point guard two days later against the Utah Jazz, and he topped his career marks with 28 points and eight assists in a 99-88 win. On Feb. 8, the Knicks beat the Washington Wizards, 107-93, behind Lin's 23 points and 10 assists.

Lin's true coming-out party was on Feb. 10, as the Knicks hosted the Los Angeles Lakers in a game that was broadcast nationally on ESPN. Lin once again set a career mark with 38 points. He added four rebounds and seven assists as the Knicks topped Kobe Bryant and the Lakers by a final score of 92-85. At that point, there was no turning back. Linsanity officially swept the nation.

The Lakers game was followed up by two back-to-back games in which Lin scored game-winning points in the fourth quarter. He scored 20 points while helping the Knicks to a 100-98 victory against the Minnesota Timberwolves. A few nights later, he knocked in the game-winning three-point shot with 0.5 seconds left on the clock to net the Knicks a 90-87 win over the Toronto Raptors. He finished with a 27-point performance and 11 assists. The Raptors game saw Lin break Shaquille O'Neal's record for the most points in a player's first five games as a starter.

Beyond setting personal bests and capturing the attention of the nation, his performance since coming to the Knicks is of a caliber that is not often seen. Lin is one of just 15 NBA players since 1986 to record at least 20 points, seven assists and a steal in six consecutive games. As for where Lin can take the Knicks from here, for the time being it would appear that the sky is the limit.

Carmelo Anthony, sidelined since Feb. 6 with a groin injury, is expected to return late this week, the Knicks announced Monday on Twitter. But can he play with overnight sensation Jeremy Lin? That's a silly question, as far as he is concerned.

"When I'm reading the stuff, it's more funny than anything because at the end of the day I know what I bring to the game," Anthony said, according to the NY Daily News. "My teammates know that. But to say, ‘How can I fit in?' It's easy -- give him the ball and space out."

Anthony also added: "I know there's questions about, 'Can I fit in?' and stuff like that, but this is like a dream come true to me. It takes some pressure off of me. I don't have to play point guard. I don't have to try to get Amare 20 points, try to get this guy 20 points, me try to go out there and get 25-30 points a night, play defense, rebound do the whole thing."

Head coach Mike D'Antoni is also convinced Anthony will enhance rather than disrupt the team's newfound chemistry. "He's not going to mess it up. I think that's ludicrous," D'Antoni said. "I know, until you prove it. This should only enhance what we're doing."

Anthony has missed the last four games, but he was on the court during Lin's breakout appearance on Feb. 4 against the Nets. Lin finished that game with 25 points off the bench, while Anthony managed just 11 points. Anthony's low scoring output was the result of a poor shooting night more than anything else, as he shot just 3-of-15 from the field. Two days later during Lin's first career start, Anthony played just six minutes before leaving with injury.

Amar'e Stoudemire, who missed four games following the death of his brother, is also ready to return -- and he's excited about playing with Lin. From ESPN New York:

"Lin is finding guys out there. He's playing totally unselfish. He's taking what the defense gives him. He's studying, which is what you want from your point guard, a guy who wants to be that facilitator and get guys involved and get guys open shots. He's passing the ball right on the numbers where guys can catch and shoot. That brings up high-percentage shooting," Stoudemire said, adding, "This is what we've been talking about all year. It's finally happened."

For more on the Knicks, visit Posting and Toasting and SB Nation New York.

The New York Knicks are on an improbable three-game win streak after Jeremy Lin had another strong game for the 'Bockers on Wednesday, racking up 23 points and 10 assists in a road victory over the Washington Wizards. On the one hand: it was the Wizards, now 5-21 on the season. On the other hand, this just doesn't really happen at the NBA level, especially before the season has devolved to entire games worth of garbage time. (It is becoming increasingly difficult to argue that every Wizards game isn't a full 48 of garbage time, though.)

The Knicks have won the last two games largely without either Carmelo Anthony (groin injury) or Amar'e Stoudemire (death of brother); there's no telling how Lin's game will be forced to evolve when his high-profile teammates return. ('Melo left Monday's game against the Jazz in the first quarter.) But for the time being, one thing is clear: the Lin-Tyson Chandler pick-and-roll is murder. Chandler racked up 25 points on 7-12 shooting; he's been unleashed during the Linsanity Era.

New York ended up with an offensive efficiency of 119, with Steve Novak hitting five three-pointers off of the bench and totaling 19 points. John Wall had a big game opposite Lin with 29 points on 12-21 shooting with six assists and just one turnover, but he didn't get a whole lot of help on either end. Washington shot just 2-17 on three-pointers; Nick Young and Jordan Crawford, the team's designated gunners, combined to go 0-8 from long-range.

In other action:

Hawks 97, Pacers 87: Josh Smith was nasty, with 28 points on 11-17 shooting, 12 rebounds, five steals, three assists and three blocks.

Cavaliers 99, Clippers 92: Cleveland stunned L.A., as the Clippers' defense played as poorly as it has in weeks. That the Cavs did it without Kyrie Irving (concussion) is all the more reason for some head-shaking. Ramon Sessions had 24 points and 13 assists in Irving's spot, and a thousand Lakers fans just drooled on cue.

Grizzlies 85, Wolves 80: The rims won this game. The teams combined to shoot 38 percent; with all of that awful shooting, Memphis' advantage on the offensive glass (21-10) sealed the game.

Pistons 99, Nets 92: Detroit's won three straight, and the Nets have dropped four in a row. Greg Monroe had 20 points, 12 rebounds and four assists. All-Star! All-Star!

Bulls 90, Hornets 67: Against the Heat on Wednesday, the Magic took 42 three-pointers. In this game, the Hornets took three. New Orleans is soooo old-school.

Bucks 105, Raptors 99: "Carlos Delfino shall thrive, and life shall be good." -- John Hammond 3:16. Twenty-five points for the Argentine.

The New York Knicks got a much-needed boost on Saturday when Jeremy Lin's breakout performance off the bench guided them to a comeback win over the New Jersey Nets. On Monday, the stage seemed set for New York to squander that momentum in typical fashion. For one, Lin was hastily promoted to the starting lineup and seemed destined to regress with more pressure and against a better defensive team in the Utah Jazz. When Amar'e Stoudemire had to fly home to mourn the death of his brother and Carmelo Anthony strained his groin in the first quarter, Lin and the Knicks found themselves severely short-handed against a very big Utah team.

Luckily for the Knicks, it was also a sluggish and uncharacteristically sloppy Utah team. The typically careful Jazz committed twenty turnovers and didn't get nearly enough production from their big men. New York's defense, anchored by the ball-poking, charge-drawing Jared Jeffries (Tyson Chandler played just 22 minutes due to foul trouble), allowed Al Jefferson to score 22 points, but held Paul Millsap to just nine and kept the Utah bench mostly in check. Save for the occasional Gordon Hayward highlight, a little run of second half three-pointers from Raja Bell, and the occasional entry pass, Utah simply couldn't string together positive offensive possessions, and the Knicks made them pay on the other end of the floor.

Lin picked up right where he'd left off in the New Jersey game, running a clinical pick-and-roll with Chandler and Jeffries to either feed the big men inside (he had eight assists, but could have had a dozen if Jared Jeffries didn't buff his fingers before every game) or blow by Devin Harris for crafty finishes around the rim (a career-high 28 points). When the Jazz clogged the middle, Lin turned to none other than Steve Novak, who rose from the bench to go wild from downtown. Novak scored 19 points, including five threes, in just 17 minutes, and did so primarily off catches from Lin penetration.

After halftime, the Jazz wisely focused their defense on Lin and frazzled him into eight(!) second half turnovers. The Knicks managed to tread water throughout the third and fourth quarters, but the Jazz appeared to be threatening in earnest once the closing minutes came around. Then, off a Tyson Chandler tip-out of an Iman Shumpert airball, with just tenths of a second left on the shot clock, Lin did this:

And, yeah, that about did it. New York's win moved them to 10-15 (2-0 in the Jeremy Lin era), while the loss dropped Utah to 13-10 (and just 2-6 on the road).

Check out Posting and Toasting for more on the Knicks and visit SLC Dunk for all things Jazzy.

By the end of the game, he was wagging his tongue, blue from sorely needed Gatorade, crop top drenched in sweat. The crowd at Madison Square Garden was as loud as they've been in months, on their feet to cheer him on, suddenly the New York Knicks' brightest and most pleasantly surprising new hope of a point guard. Before the game, he was just Jeremy Lin, preparing to make his first career NBA start coming off a 25-point outburst in his first major contribution just two days earlier.

The arc of an NBA career can change in a minute here, but right now, Lin might as well be wearing football pads the way the New York crowd was cheering him. His fearless attacking style resulted in several trips to the foul line, but his unexpected upper body strength and dexterity help him finish many of the plays anyway. By the fourth quarter, he looked like he was about ready to collapse on the court, but he still had time for one last bit of magic:

(via @cjzero)

It was the pièce de resistance of his incredible masterpiece. The Knicks were playing without Amar'e Stoudemire because of his brother's sudden death and Carmelo Anthony after a first-quarter groin injury against a team with one of the better records in the NBA, the Utah Jazz. It didn't matter. Coupled with Steve Novak's dead-eye shooting (19 points, 5-8 from distance), Lin willed the Knicks to an improbably 99-88 victory with an unbelievable 28-point, eight-assist performance.

The win was a big one — it was only the Knicks' 10th in 25 games —but the excitement about Lin will be the big story moving forward. There is no incumbent for him to replace. Toney Douglas has been dreadful in his time this season, and Iman Shumpert is more comfortable as a shooting guard. Baron Davis still isn't in game shape, so Lin was the last hope, if not the best. His performance, and apparent love of the spotlight of Madison Square Garden, may be enough to put those downtrodden New Yorkers in even higher spirits.

The Jazz were pretty much powerless to stop the force of nature that was Jeremy Lin, but Al Jefferson was terrific on offense, scoring 22 points, as was Gordon Hayward. Paul Millsap dominated the glass with 13 rebounds, but Devin Harris and Earl Watson were routinely toasted defensively, which doomed the Jazz.

For more on these two teams, visit Knicks blog Poasting And Toasting, SB Nation New York and Jazz blog SLC Dunk.