Raymond Felton is using the playoffs to make his case in the inevitable comparisons with Jeremy Lin.
There was no more controversial event in the Knicks' offseason than when the team parted ways with Lin and brought in Felton from Portland to run the point.
Felton was absolutely terrific in the Knicks' 87-71 Game 2 win over the Celtics last night, penetrating into the lane, handling the ball flawlessly and ranking as perhaps the Knicks' second-best all-around player after Carmelo Anthony. Felton racked up 16 points on 8-for-15 shooting, pulled down seven rebounds, dished out two assists, notched a steal — and committed zero turnovers.
Charles Wenzelberg/New York Post
BONUS POINT: Raymond Felton goes up for a layup past the Celtics' Jason Terry en route to scoring 16 points in the Knicks' convincing Game 2 win last night at the Garden.
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"Felton was aggressive," the Celtics' Kevin Garnett said. "I felt like he was the X-factor."
In the third quarter, when the Knicks outscored the Celtics 32-11 to take command, Felton scored six points on 3-of-4 shooting and led the team to 71 percent shooting for the period.
"He changed the game in the third quarter," Mike Woodson said.
Including a strong Game 1, Felton is averaging 14.5 points, 5.5 rebounds, 4.0 assists, 1.5 steals and 2.0 turnovers in the series. It's a far cry from Lin's miserable showing in the Rockets' Game 1 loss to the Thunder on Sunday, when the former Garden fan favorite shot a woeful 1-for-7 and scored four points with four turnovers.
Felton missed the chance to be the Knicks' playoff point guard two years ago when he was shipped to Denver in the trade for Carmelo Anthony. After Chauncey Billups got hurt against Boston in Game 1 that season, the Knicks' primary playoff point guard became Toney Douglas.
Last year, with Lin injured, the Knicks' playoff point guards against the Heat were Baron Davis and Mike Bibby.
Safe to say Felton is an upgrade and relishing his first Knicks postseason.
"I was definitely sad and upset a little bit that I left the first time," Felton said. "But things happen. I'm back. It has been great, and I'm loving every minute of it."
Felton and Lin had comparable regular seasons: Felton averaged 13.9 points, 5.5 assists and 2.3 turnovers while shooting 43 percent (36 percent from 3), and Lin delivered 13.4 points, 6.1 assists, 2.9 turnovers and shot 44 percent (34 percent from 3).
But Felton's not leaving it up for much debate in the playoffs.
mark.hale@nypost.com
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