CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- The suggestion seems preposterous at first: The superstar, the player management traded half the franchise for, has to adjust to the undrafted free agent fresh off the bench, not far removed from being cut by two different teams?

But sometimes truth can be stranger than fiction. And with the New York Knicks riding a streak of seven wins in the eight games since Jeremy Lin was inserted in the starting lineup in something of a desperation play by coach Mike D’Antoni, Carmelo Anthony will indeed have to adjust to the new order of things.

“It’s crazy when you think about it beforehand, but with the way that Jeremy has made their team play -- with such high energy and selflessness on both sides of the court -- it makes a little sense,” Harvard cocaptain Oliver McNally said before practice Monday at Lavietes Pavilion. “But if you just look at it as Carmelo needs to adjust to Jeremy, it’s pretty crazy.

“But J deserves it. I mean, you see the numbers and wins that they’ve got when he’s been playing, it makes sense.”

Oh, the numbers. They’ve been added, subtracted, multiplied and, of course, compared and contrasted (often favorably) to numbers compiled by everyone from LeBron James to Magic Johnson. On Sunday, Lin scored 28 points, passed out 14 assists and swiped six balls from the day’s opponent, the defending NBA champion Dallas Mavericks.

That performance meant more comparisons. Lin was only the third player in the past 10 seasons to post a line of 28-14-6, the others being Chris Paul (who did so twice) and Nate Robinson, according to ESPN Stats & Information.

Since he exploded onto the scene off the bench against the New Jersey Nets -- Monday night’s opponent at Madison Square Garden -- on Feb. 4, his former teammates and coaches at Harvard have maintained that they aren’t surprised by Lin’s success.

They’d already seen him do too much.

“We saw a guy that had a passion for basketball,” Crimson coach Tommy Amaker said, “who was a hard-charging, passionate, athletic player and who was a dynamic playmaker. What we’re seeing now is what we saw on our level here for quite some time. So it’s nice to see that he hasn’t changed and he’s in a system that allows him to be who he is.”

The confidence Amaker & Co. have that this is the true Jeremy Lin should do nothing but delight Knicks fans … and worry fans of every other team in the Atlantic Division, including the Celtics. Because if the people who know him best are right, if Lin isn’t playing way, way above his level, the return of a bona fide superstar to the lineup he’s leading will only help the sensation succeed even after the surprise wears off.

“You look at what he does on the court, he looks exactly like he did when he was playing here, when I was playing pickup games with him a million times,” McNally said. “He’s not doing anything he can’t do. He knows what his strengths are and that’s driving people and using pick-and-rolls. And he’s just making plays for other people.

“You see it the first time it’s like, ‘Oh, wow, he’s getting playing time and playing so well.’ But now he’s doing the same thing. He does a lot of crazy, athletic things, but that’s what he’s been doing his whole life. That’s just the way he plays.”

And yes, that may mean that the turnovers -- with seven turnovers on Sunday, Lin set an NBA record by committing six or more in six straight games -- are here to stay.

“He might have a lot of turnovers, people give him some flak for that, but when you have the ball in your hands and [are] making plays for your entire team you’re going to have some turnovers,” McNally said with a shrug. “That’s the way he plays, and [people are] either going to love it or hate it.”

So far, D’Antoni’s shown nothing but love for Lin -- continuing to call his number and put the ball in his hands despite the turnovers.

Ironically, that Lin has had the ball in his hands so much during his run is exactly what worries some Knicks fans about Carmelo’s return. Will there be enough touches to go around?

Though the circumstances are different in many ways, that question should sound familiar to Celtics fans. People wondered the same thing when Danny Ainge traded for Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett, teaming the pair with Paul Pierce. The situation worked out pretty well for Boston’s Big Three, who added a championship banner to the rafters at TD Garden.

Can Anthony subjugate his touches for the good of the team? Can Lin continue to work his pick-and-roll magic and also satisfy the superstar’s desire to have the ball in his hands?

If Monday's game is any indication, there's some work to be done as the Knicks lost to the Nets, 100-92. Lin finished with 21 points, 9 assists, 7 rebounds, 4 steals and 3 turnovers, while Anthony had 11 points, 6 assists, 3 rebounds and 6 turnovers.

Amaker, for one, has no doubt that the situation will work itself out because when all the hype has dissipated, the bottom line will be the same.

“I know they all want to win,” he said of Anthony and the Knicks. “Now that they have someone who has shown that he can really help in that journey and that cause, you know it’s a team sport and I think all those guys are going to pull together and make it all work.

“And they have some pieces to the puzzle now that can put them in the position that they really want, which is to be contenders.”

The Knicks, contenders? What would have sounded preposterous just two weeks ago no longer does. New York has Jeremy Lin to thank for that for now, but if the Knicks wants to say the same in June they will need Melo to make it true.

Jack McCluskey is an editor for ESPN.com and a frequent contributor to ESPNBoston.com. Follow him on Twitter @jack_mccluskey.