Houston Rockets guard Jeremy Lin returns to Madison Square Garden, birthplace of the "Linsanity" phenomenon, to take on the New York Knicks at 7:30 pm ET.

Lin makes his lone New York appearance with the Rockets, who threw big dollars at Lin in July and were maybe just as surprised as so many others when the Knicks let them have him. They could have kept Lin simply by matching the Rockets' offer, which was widely considered to be a foregone conclusion, and the big-market Knicks certainly could have afforded him.

Instead, they traded for Felton, and signed Jason Kidd and Pablo Prigioni, and nobody can argue now. The Knicks are the best in the league in taking care of the ball -- a Lin weakness even during his highest point -- and they have the best record in the Eastern Conference with Felton and Kidd starting together in a two-point guard backcourt.

Lin was quoted on the Rockets' website after their loss to Toronto on Sunday as saying he was looking forward to getting his return over with and getting some closure, and was asked what he anticipated.

Mike D'Antoni was booed when he returned Thursday with the Lakers, but the Knicks think Lin has earned and will receive a huge welcome back.

"I think that he touched a lot of people who are going to be in the stands," said Steve Novak, one of Lin's best friends on the team. "There's going to be some people come to see Jeremy, there's no doubt about it, because he did have an incredible run and touched a lot of their lives, and a lot of little kids got Lin jerseys and stuff like that. So I think it was tough when he left for all those people that have those jerseys and stuff, but they remember how much fun it was when he was here."

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