Jeremy Lin or Raymond Felton, Who is Better? One-on-One Comparisons as Houston Rockets Play vs. New York Knicks Tonight

The comparisons between two of the New York Knicks' better point guards in the last decade -Jeremy Lin and Raymond Felton-began almost as soon as Felton arrived last summer, with a recently departed Lin's locker barely gone cold.

And the first shot was fired by none other than Felton himself.

"I wish him the best of luck," Felton told Newsday. "I'm not here to get into, 'He's getting way too much money.' I hear a lot of people are saying this and saying that. I feel like if you can go get the money, go get it. So I'm not going to be the one who says that.

"But at the same time, I'm a competitor. I'm a point guard just like he is. So do I think I'm better? Of course I'm going to say that. I think I'm better than any point guard. There's nothing personal between me and Jeremy. I know everybody is going to try to make it that way, and if it ends up being that way, then so be it. I'll be ready for the challenge."

Lin, meanwhile, has issued no real indication that he's coming in with something to prove tonight when he and the Rockets plays the Knicks at 8 p.m. in Houston, but is ready to give it his maximum effort when he squares off against his former teammates.

"I'm going to go out there on Friday and just play my heart out and just try to approach it the same, just play my heart out and be OK with the results, whatever they may be, trusting in God," he told the New York Post this week.

So, who is better: is it Lin or is it Felton?

Felton Looking to Prove a 'Point'

The fifth overall pick in the 2005 NBA Draft-which featured prominent point guards Chris Paul and Deron Williams-Felton had the best year of his career with the Knicks in 2010-11, averaging 17.1 points per game and 9.0 assists in 54 games before the Knicks traded him to Denver for superstar small forward Carmelo Anthony.

Last season, Felton produced a career-low 11.4 points for Portland, with word coming back of him being in poor shape and unmotivated before the Knicks signed him again in free agency. But since his return to Madison Square Garden, Felton has been on a tear, producing 15.7 points and 6.9 assists in 10 games, teaming with future Hall of Fame guard Jason Kidd to give the Knicks one of the league's strongest backcourts and helping the ball circulate more often in a more offensively potent, 8-2 Knicks team.

Admittedly, Felton has said this season that he has been carrying a little bit of a chip on his shoulder because of the criticism his play received last season, and is ready to prove he can be as elite as Paul and Williams at the point.

Can Lin Rebound from Shooting Slump?

Of course, those numbers, while strong, pale in comparison to the 18.5 points and 7.6 assists that Lin averaged in 26 games as a regular player in the Knicks lineup last season-which peaked at 22.7 points and 8.7 assists per game he averaged during the 12-game stretch dubbed "Linsanity" by the media and hoops fans worldwide.

Lin was sensational, but when the time came for a brand new contract at the end of the season, the Rockets-seeing the dollar value that Lin could bring by courting an Asian fan base, ironically enough, after they waived him last season-offered the undrafted Harvard point guard a four-year, $29 million contract that the Knicks brass refused to match and others around the league ridiculed. Lin's playmaking skills have been on display in Houston so far, Lin averaging 6.3 assists per game.

But his once-potent offense has dropped off to mere average levels, poor shooting and fewer shots dropping Lin's point totals to 10.0 points a night. Rumors have circulated that perhaps the Asian American point guard's skills have lagged because he is still recovering from leg surgery on his torn meniscus during the offseason.

Who Loves the Limelight More?

Like Frank Sinatra once said of the Big Apple, "If you can make it there, you'll make it anywhere."

New York City is one of the toughest places to be a success, but especially in sports. A rabid fan base that expects nothing but the best all day and every day, the city can make or break many athletes. It might be a trite saying, but it rings true-it does take a special kind of player to play and win in New York.

During the heights of Linsanity, Lin became the newest media darling. Fans showed up in droves around arenas nationwide to get a look at the Knicks' new star-an Asian one, to boot. Fans hounded him for autographs everywhere he went, even as he slept on his ex-teammate Landry Fields' couch. While grateful for the opportunity given to him, Lin has admitted that he is much more comfortable now in low-key Houston, where he can take off his hat and go to the grocery store.

"I went into an absolute shell for a few months in New York," Lin told Yahoo! Sports. "I went through a phase when I didn't want to talk to anybody. I didn't want to talk to my friends. I didn't want to give anybody close to me a chance to mess up our relationship. I saw how publicity and fame changed certain people around me, and changed how people looked at me. And I hated it."

Meanwhile, Felton seems to be one of those rare players that thrive in the bright lights of New York. In his two stints in New York thus far, playing alongside high profile players such as Carmelo Anthony, Kidd, Amar'e Stoudemire and Tyson Chandler has not intimidated the seven-year veteran one bit. In fact, Felton has flourished as a Knick, keeping the offense flowing while providing a dependable scorer to back up Anthony and J.R. Smith.

"He's doing an excellent job," Chandler said of Felton to the New York Times this week. "He's proven himself as one of the top guards in this league."