Lakers Vs. Knicks, NBA Preivew: Linsanity Faces the Black Mamba at Madison Square Garden

The Los Angeles Lakers are fresh off an exhilarating win against the Boston Celtics in overtime at the TD Garden Thursday night, and now head to Madison Square Garden to face the New York Knicks, and upstart point guard Jeremy Lin.

Lin has been the lynchpin of the Knicks (11-15) recent success, averaging 25.3 points 8.3 assists in the three starts he's received with the injury plagued Knicks, all victories for New York. Head coach Mike D'Antoni has been making the most of his squad, which will once again be without the services of Carmelo Anthony and Amare Stoudemire. They will certainly have their hands full though as the Knicks haven't beaten the Lakers (15-11) at home in over five years.

As for Kobe Bryant, the league's leading scorer at 29.2 points per game, comes in averaging 33.4 points against the Knicks over their last nine games (all Lakers wins), including an even 40.0 points in his last four visits to the Garden. In regards to Lin, Kobe hadn't been paying much attention to him. He might start to take notice this evening.

Tipoff is set for 5:00 p.m. PT, with coverage on ESPN.

For more on the Lakers, head over to Silver Screen and Roll. For the Knicks side of things, check out Posting and Toasting.