Jeremy Lin Returns as Rockets Face New York Knicks: Are Knicks Better With or Without Him?

On Thursday, for only the third time since the phenomenon known as "Linsanity" swept over New York (and the sports world), former New York Knick Jeremy Lin returns to New York to where it all began when the Houston Rockets play vs. the Knicks.

In the summer of 2012, the New York Knicks, eager to continue the revamping of their roster, had a big decision to make --sign Lin, their newest sensation, to a lucrative contract or let him walk.

If you had gone by what Lin had done prior to one fateful night on Feb. 4 at Madison Square Garden --when an unknown Lin came off the bench to score 25 points to lead the Knicks to a 99-92 victory over the Nets-- the decision might have been a lot easier for the Knicks. Lin had posted a mere 2.6 points over 29 games with the Warriors, and had been waived by the Rockets, ironically, before being picked up by the Knicks. He looked to be fated to be nothing more than a journeyman player looking for a home.

Then, Linsanity happened.

As sudden as a lightning strike and just as unexpected, Lin took off in an incredible stretch of play that month, scoring a torrid 23.9 points during the last 11 games of that month-during which the Knicks went on a 9-2 tear--sparking a turnaround for the lottery-bound Knicks that helped put them back on track for a late season playoff push. In addition, it created a new star overnight as fans worldwide took to the likeable Lin in droves, and his Asian American background opened up the potential gateway for the Knicks to huge advertising revenue for the ever-growing Asian market.

It seemed like Lin would be a familiar face for years to come in New York. However, with Lin's contract up at the end of that season, his stock was up and so was his asking price. The Knicks wanted to keep him, but the Dallas Mavericks, Toronto Raptors, and Rockets were also looking to sign him. Houston ended up winning the bidding war for the popular point guard's services thanks to a three-year, $25 million offer that the Knicks refused to match.

The Knicks decided to stay put as Lin left the bright lights of Gotham to head to the humid air of Houston and joined a Rockets team with a wide-open salary cap and plenty of potential in the Rockets, while the Knicks decided to invest in veteran players such as Raymond Felton, Jason Kidd, and Marcus Camby, among others.

The move started to look like it made sense for the Knicks last season, Kidd and Felton helping to bolster New York's backcourt as the Knicks captured their first Atlantic Division title since the 1993-94 season and went deep into the semifinals for the first time since the 1999-2000 season. For the Rockets, who acquired James Harden before the start of last season en route to the playoffs, Lin had his moments, but largely struggled to adapt to Houston's new system and his new role playing off the ball while racking up an average of 13.4 points and 6.1 assists for the year.

However, fortunes seem to have reversed for Lin, the Rockets and the Knicks this season. After working on his game in the offseason, Lin is on a roll this season as the Rockets' sixth man off the bench, averaging 16.1 points off 54.5 percent shooting, 4.0 assists and 1.6 steals in the first eight games of the season. His last game on Monday was by far his most impressive thus far, Lin scoring 31 points on 10-of-17 shooting with a critical three and relentless assaults on the basket in the Rockets' 110-104 overtime win against a very game Raptors team.

"Midway through the third I was feeling pretty good," Lin told the Associated Press via ESPN after the game. "I got in my rhythm. I got a few shots to go down. Everything just kind of slowed down."

Maybe it's the lack of pressure now that Dwight Howard has come to town bearing title hopes on his shoulders, or the work he did on his shooting form and motions in the offseason. Maybe he's playing with a bit of a chip on his shoulder since Rockets coach Kevin McHale has opted to start Patrick Beverley for the most part in games. Or maybe he's just decided to cut loose and have fun. Whatever the reasons for it are, Lin is looking good and playing with not only better shooting accuracy, but with more stability than he has in his last two seasons as the Rockets have started out with a 5-3 record, only 2 games behind the Western Conference champion San Antonio Spurs in the Southwest Division. He still has issues turning the ball over, committing 3.4 turnovers so far in the season, but his improvement is quite visible.

The Knicks, however, don't look anything like they did last season when they started the year out on a 6-0 tear, struggling to a 2-4 losing record to kick off the new season. The savvy Kidd, Lin's replacement, has retired and now coaches the Knicks' crosstown rival Brooklyn Nets, while Tyson Chandler, the Knicks' All-Star center and the rock of the team, is out with injury. And Raymond Felton, who was looking very steady around this time last year, has struggled, shooting a mere 37.5 percent from the field compared to Lin's 54.5 percent clip for 12.9 points and 5.2 assists per game.

On paper, and in the standings, it's starting to look like the Rockets may have been the winners regarding the Knicks' decision to let Lin split the Big Apple.

Why the Knicks declined to match the Rockets' offer for Lin lies in several scenarios. Already due to pay around $64 million to Carmelo Anthony, Tyson Chandler and Amar'e Stoudemire-the latter who has struggled with injuries during the last two seasons-perhaps the Knicks didn't want to risk betting a large sum of money on a player who, while sensational for a while, had no proven track record of success beforehand. Maybe the Knicks had their eyes on future free agent stars in the next three years and didn't want to tie up the salary cap-both of which are arguably pretty solid reasons to take a pass on Lin. Or maybe they wanted to get a veteran point guard on the floor instead, as Woodson has indicated in the past that he prefers veterans over young players.

Would Lin have been the antidote the Knicks needed to turn their slow start around this season? It's hard to say. Having those 16 points a night would definitely help, but then again, who's to say Lin would have been as effective under Knicks coach Mike Woodson's "Iso-Melo" offense that revolves around Anthony? Lin immediately struggled when Woodson took over for Mike D'Antoni two seasons ago, Lin averaging only 13.3 points and 5.4 assists per game in the seven games he played under Woodson before tearing the meniscus in his left leg, way off the 20.4 points and 8.5 assists he totaled in the 19 games he played under D'Antoni. In addition, the Knicks still would have to deal with an aging Stoudemire, a lack of star power aside from Anthony on offense, and a lack of chemistry on the floor now that familiar faces such as Steve Novak and Marcus Camby are gone and Andrew Bargnani, who can be hot one game and ice-cold the next, is still adjusting.

Regardless of the what-ifs, the fact remains that when Lin arrives back at the Garden on Thursday night, at the birthplace of the stretch of play that launched his career, he'll be riding a wave of momentum with a team that is arguably an NBA title contender with Howard and Harden as the stars, while the Knicks try and stay afloat among what is looking like a terrible, nearly disastrous start to their defense of their division title.

Lin has burned the Knicks in both of their games against the Rockets last season, scoring 17.5 points with 6.0 assists and shooting an effective 55.0 percent against his former team. And if the Rockets win again, which would make them 3-0 against the Knicks after the Lin signing, and Lin plays a big role in that win, don't be surprised to hear Knicks fans start wondering and tweeting about what could have been.