Knicks vs. Timberwolves: Jeremy Lin Steals Spotlight from Ricky Rubio

Remember early in the season, when all anyone could talk about was the flair and creativity of Ricky Rubio's game? Remember how quickly he swept the league by storm and became the game's most intriguing player?

Well, move over Rubio. There's a new sheriff—er, point guard—in town, and his name is Jeremy Lin.

Superstars aren't made in four games, but that's all it has taken for Lin to metamorphose from novelty act to genuine intrigue around the league.

People are starting to wonder just how good this Lin character might become.

It has all the elements of a great sports story. There's the surprise factor, for one—who in the hell even knew who Jeremy Lin was before?

That leads into the rags-to-riches narrative of the tale, as Lin was crashing on a couch in his brother's apartment before the New York Knicks guaranteed his contract.

There's the redemption aspect, in small part for Lin, who bounced around quite a bit before landing on the Knicks. But this is true also for Mike D'Antoni, who was planted firmly on the hot seat this season after the Knicks began the year a disappointing 8-15.

There's even the fact that Lin breaks the NBA mold. He's Asian-American in the NBA, a league largely lacking Asian-American players. He's a Harvard grad, who are generally lacking in professional sports across the board.

And now, when pitted against the point guard that was one of the league's biggest stories in the first part of the season, Ricky Rubio, Jeremy Lin outplayed him. Yes, Lin disappeared in the second half, but Rubio's two turnovers in the final minute doomed the Timberwolves.

Like it or not, Linsanity is here to stay. And if the Knicks can continue to play a winning brand of basketball when the offensive black holes that are Carmelo Anthony and Amar'e Stoudemire return to the Knicks, New York fans may find they have another championship contender to root for.

Hit me up on Twitter—I'm #Linning.