Jeremy Lin Calls Stephen Curry, Russell Westbrook His Toughest NBA Matchups

Jeremy Lin had an opportunity to virtually connect with New York Knicks fans via the team's official Twitter account Wednesday and gave a fascinating answer about his toughest matchups in the NBA.

The point guard named both Stephen Curry and Russell Westbrook with one major caveat: Curry was tougher to face before the arrival of Kevin Durant in Golden State, and Westbrook was more challenging after Durant left Oklahoma City.

That opinion isn't supposed to toss shade on Durant. It may do the opposite considering Lin rarely had to guard Durant in man-to-man situations outside of a few defensives switches.

But by not having Durant on the floor, Curry and Westbrook—already two of the best individual playmakers in the game—would have to create for themselves, and that meant a lot of extra work for Lin on his own end of the floor.

"Their usage rates were so high," Lin said. "You could never take a break. They were literally getting pick-and-rolls every single possession. And they're also amazing players."

Yeah, that makes for quite a combination to have to guard.

Lin's defensive stats against Golden State and Oklahoma City start to back up his comments as well. While the guard holds a career 108 team defensive rating (points allowed per 100 possessions), against the Warriors that jumped to 113, with the team's rating reaching 118 against the Thunder—the highest against any time in his NBA career, per Basketball Reference.

While those numbers only tell a small part about Lin's performance against Curry and Westbrook, the splits do not differentiate between when Durant was a member of each team.

In any case, Lin's life should be a bit easier now that he doesn't face them on a regular basis.

Nearly a decade after Linsanity took over Madison Square Garden, the guard is playing with the Beijing Ducks of the Chinese Basketball Association.

However, it's clear Westbrook and Curry still haunt him on defense. The former Knick didn't even hesitate when asked who his toughest matchups are.