From New York to Asia

NEW YORK(AP) -- Comparisons to the likes Shaquille O'Neal and LeBron James are one thing, but nothing reflects Jeremy Lin's amazing impact on the NBA this season better than the fact that the New York Knicks are now being talked about as championship contenders.
Before Lin's extraordinary first week as a starter, the Knicks were 40-1 with bookmakers and being booed by their notoriously demanding fans. Five games later, they're 18-1 with Bovada.lv and the hype-o-meter is into the red zone, mostly thanks to the Taiwanese-American.

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The undrafted player from Harvard made a 3-pointer with half a second left Tuesday to give the Knicks a 90-87 victory at Toronto. The Knicks returned home Wednesday to host Sacramento, looking for a seventh straight victory that would get them back to .500 after an 8-15 start.
Lin joined the rotation only then, starting the last five games, so comparisons with Michael Jordan, Shaq or LeBron are more than a touch premature. But the Knicks have seen enough to believe this ride may last a while longer.
"I don't know when there's an ending. Maybe there won't," coach Mike D'Antoni said.