The 'Linsanity' era officially begins in Toronto

It’s amazing how time flies.

The fact that Valentine’s Day 2019 will be the seven-year anniversary of Jeremy Lin nailing his famous game winner against the Toronto Raptors while with the New York Knicks is absurd.

And while all of the hype surrounding him has quieted quite a bit since, it’s still a hell of a thing to see Lin suit up for the same squad he victimized at the height of “Linsanity.”

After being bought out by the Atlanta Hawks earlier this week, Lin officially signed with Toronto only a few hours before their meeting with the Washington Wizards at Scotiabank Arena on Wednesday night.

Not only did he did fit nicely into his new team’s wacky choreography during introductions, he made quite the impact in a tight game. With guard Fred VanVleet expected to be out for at least five weeks due to a thumb injury, Lin was leaned on by coach Nick Nurse and had Raptors fans in the building on their feet on numerous occasions.

The first time, fans made plenty of noise when he checked into the game with 4:05 left in the first quarter.

It didn’t look like Lin’s first contest with a new squad. He brought speed to the floor, moved the ball well and put up some points along the way.

Early in the second quarter, with the score tied, he drove and converted the layup for his first points in the red and black.

I feel like a broken record here because I wrote similar things about Marc Gasol’s debut with the team less than a week ago; nonetheless, it’s insane to think that he’ll only get better as the chemistry builds with his new teammates.

And plays like this alongside Kyle Lowry are a pretty good start.

After averaging 10.7 points and 3.5 assists in just under 20 minutes per game with the Atlanta Hawks this season, Lin finished with eight points, five rebounds, five assists, a steal and a block in 25 minutes of action in his Raptors debut.

His performance, along with a career-best 44 points from Pascal Siakam and a career-high 22 points from OG Anunoby, led Toronto to an impressive 129-120 win.

In the process, the Raptors improved to 43-16 and have won six straight. The Wizards, meanwhile, fell to 24-34.

Following the final buzzer, he tweeted his thanks to Toronto’s fans for the warm welcome that they gave him.

If he continues to contribute to his new squad like this for the rest of the season, I have a feeling those same fans will quickly forget about that dagger he hit against the Raps seven years ago. In fact, if he plays his cards right, there may be much bigger shots for the former Harvard guard to take once April and May roll around.

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