(Deron) Williams is the best point guard in Metropolitan New York – one of the five best on the planet – and yet he’s been best remembered this season as the original foil for the blossoming of the Jeremy Lin movement. Sixteen days ago, Knicks coach Mike D’Antoni gave Lin his big break against the Nets, and a magnificent performance earned him his first starting assignment. Sixteen days ago, Deron Williams started seething over that indignity and finally unleashed it all on Monday night, a hellacious 38 points to transform Linsanity into a whisper.

The Nets pounded the Knicks, and Williams devastated Lin with an array of shots, including eight 3-pointers, and hard drives to the basket. He hadn’t come to beat the Knicks, but punish Lin. Oh, yes, Linsanity stuck on his mind.

“When somebody says they destroyed you, and you watch the tape and you don’t feel like you got destroyed, you circle those games,” Williams said. “I took offense.”

via Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports