TORONTO - Jeremy Lin peered up from a podium at a virtual sea of cameras and reporters in a scene he could never have envisioned a week ago.

The New York point guard who in the span of five games has gone from a seldom-used player to NBA phenomenon arrived at the Air Canada Centre on Tuesday as his Knicks set to battle the Raptors -- and Linsanity prevailed.

More than 75 journalists and 16 cameras, squeezed into a news conference that was as crowded as that for an NBA playoff game -- and it's been a while for one of those in Toronto.

Last week saw the 23-year-old Harvard grad come off the bench to lead the Knicks to five consecutive victories in his first week as a starter.

"I think this is a miracle from God, the way I would describe it, just because obviously, I don't think anybody expected this to happen the way it happened," Lin said.

A day earlier, the NBA's first American-born player of Asian heritage, was named Eastern Conference player of the week after averaging 27.3 points and 8.3 assists in his first four starts.

His sudden arrival in the spotlight comes after Lin went undrafted, worked out for but was passed over by several teams including the Raptors, then was cut by Golden State and Houston.

Knicks coach Mike D'Antoni -- whose search for a point guard had been frustrated by injury and poor performance -- called Lin's story, dubbed "Linderella," a great one for the game.

"It's what's right with sports," D'Antoni said. "He's an underdog who came on, does it right, the right way. . . Probably the biggest point is to be able to step on national TV with all the scrutiny, Madison Square Garden against the Lakers, against Kobe (Bryant) and produce what he did.

"To me that's remarkable, it's unbelievable that he could do that in that game."

Linsanity is sweeping every city where Lin touches down. He got a huge cheer from the capacity crowd at Air Canada Centre just before tip-off. Blue and orange Knicks jerseys dotted the crowd, and one group of fans wore T-shirts that spelled out L-I-N 4 M-V-P.

Raptors officials said they had handed out about 75 additional media credentials, including more than 25 to Chinese journalists from the Toronto area.

They had to turn down requests from journalists to cover Tuesday morning's availability with Lin, to prevent overcrowding.

Lin, who is due to make US$789,000 this season, was a hot ticket Saturday in Minnesota as the Timberwolves drew their largest crowd since 2004.

The unassuming guard was asked if it's difficult to focus on basketball with all the distractions around him.

"I try to just not pay attention to it as much as possible, spending a lot of time with my family and friends in my free time," Lin said. "When I'm with the team we stay focused, and we know what we have to do. And then just staying in my Bible, basically."

Lin's story is so inspirational, Hollywood writers could not craft a better script, said Raptors coach Dwane Casey.

"In the biggest market in the world, in New York, he becomes an overnight sensation," Casey said. "You go from being in the D-League on waiver wire, getting picked and now he's a starter on one of the prime teams, historical teams in the NBA."

Both Casey and D'Antoni insist Lin is the real deal.

"You can't say he's a flash in the pan, he's done it for five games, against some quality teams," Casey said. "He's taking advantage of his opportunity, and that's what you tell players all the time, be ready when your number is called, and he's done that."

Lin has already had a huge impact on Chinese fans, becoming that country's most popular player since Yao Ming virtually overnight. A Chinese journalist presented Lin with a book of "Year of the Dragon" stamps from Canada Post.

"I know you are a dragon, so this is for you, from the heart of Canadian fans," she said.

She then asked him to say something in Mandarin to children who look up to him, and he obliged before translating for English reporters: "I just said thank you to everyone for watching us play basketball."

"My whole thing as I try to live my life is have fun, explore your opportunities, your dreams, find something you're passionate about, and then just go after it," Lin said. "And I think that's true for kids whether they play basketball, or they want to do whatever they want to do.

"So hopefully I can be an inspiration to them."

The Knicks came into the game with a 13-15 record, compared to 9-20 for Toronto.