California has, like, 30 million people. So if you win the “High School POY” award, it means something. Apparently not if you’re Asian. Even Lin’s hometown University, Stanford, didn’t give him a look after a 32-1 championship winning season where he averaged 15.1 points, 7.1 assists, 6.2 rebounds and 5.0 steals. That’s like painting a Rembrant and not getting in to a 4-year art school. In this sneak preview look at this Sunday’s 60 minutes, the Houston Rocket’s point guard sits down and discusses his whirlwind tour to stardom, and the racial obstacles he’s had to overcome.

Did you know that James Harden, Chandler Parsons and Jeremy Lin all knew each other as infant babies? That’s them, right there on the left.

The Rockets as a whole had a tough time last night, falling to the Clippers 106-96 without James Harden, but Jeremy Lin had an especially rough time. It wasn’t so much because of his performance – he managed 14 points and seven assists, though he shot just 4-for-12 and had four turnovers – but because of the physical pounding he took, particularly one second-quarter sequence when he just kept getting knocked down to the court. And one of those plays, many thought, was dirty. Watch the video above and see if you agree. [ProBasketballTalk]

Welcome to another edition of “What Happened Last Night,” in which we will talk about (ugh) the Jets. And also other things, so as to cleanse your palate of the Jets once we’re through with the necessary evil of discussing them. Let’s get this over with, shall we?

It wasn’t all rainbows, butterflies, and tender hugs for Jeremy Lin in his return to New York. Reigning Defensive POY Tyson Chandler got particularly defensive in the second quarter of Monday night’s contest against Lin, whacking him in the face and drawing a flagrant foul.

Linsanity made its return to Madison Square Garden, and against a Carmelo Anthony and Rasheed Wallace-less Knicks, Jeremy Lin’s Rockets took care of business. Their 109-96 win handed the Knicks their first home loss of the year, making them the last team to lose at home. He also hugged Tyson Chandler ever so tenderly.

You know the song about using clay to sculpt the classic Hanukkah spinning top toy known as the dreidel, then playing with it once it has sufficiently dried out so as to suitable for spinning on a flat surface? Yeah, well, the Houston Rockets tried to sing it. See – and hear – after the jump, if you dare.

Last night was a busy one in the sports world, with plenty of NBA action and little bit of non-NBA action in play. Here now is a small pinch of the top stories so that you can stay somewhat informed before plowing back into leftover pie.

In relation to his meteoric 2011-12 run for the Knicks, Jeremy Lin’s 2012-13 stat line looks like this so far: a slight uptick in rebounds and steals, no real change in assists, and a noticeable drop-off in scoring stats, like points per game, field goal percentage… and three-point shooting. During Houston’s 113-110 loss to the world champion Heat — a game the Rockets should have won — Jeremy Lin had a chance to improve that three-point percentage ever so slightly. It didn’t go so hot. There will be better days ahead for this team, but for now, they’re 3-4, at the bottom of perhaps the best division in the NBA, and they can’t quite figure out how to win close games. [BI Sports]