Jeremy Lin Vs. Ricky Rubio: The NBA’s Puppy Bowl

It sounds like The Puppy Bowl, Super Bowl Sunday's most adorable tradition. (Seriously, though, the puns are just awful.) But this weekend, all those eye-batting attributes apply to Saturday night's battle between America's sweetheart point guards: Ricky Rubio and Jeremy Lin.

Lin, fresh off of ensuring Kobe Bryant remembers his name for a long, long time, leads the New York Knicks into the Target Center for a road game against Rubio's Minnesota Timberwolves (8 p.m. ET, League Pass and local broadcasts only). The Knicks have won four straight, with Lin breaking 20 points in each of them, including 38 against the L.A. Lakers at Madison Square Garden on Friday. Lin has started three straight games, and doesn't look like he's interested in going anywhere.

The Wolves are 13-14, having lost two straight -- including Kevin Love's return from suspension -- since narrowly beating the hot Sacramento Kings on Tuesday. Rubio, a contender for Rookie of the Year, leads the league in steals per game (2.4) and sits at No. 5 in assists per game (8.7). He has been dubbed the Spanish Unicorn by our friends at Canis Hoopus. That pretty much says it all.