Every weekday morning throughout the season, ESPNNewYork.com will tackle a burning question about the Knicks in our "Opening Tip" segment.

Today's Burning Question: Who needs to take more of a leadership role in the fourth quarter: Jeremy Lin or Carmelo Anthony, both of whom have been playing extremely well in the final period this season, helping the Knicks close out games?

Who would've thought the overarching question regarding the Knicks' future success this season would become: How will Melo need to adjust to Lin's game? That's what Lin-sanity has brought upon everyone.

Lin is now the only player in NBA history to go undefeated and score 20 or more points in each of his first five starts since the NBA-ABA merger in 1976. And he's accomplished that by having remarkable fourth quarters. In fact, on Tuesday, Lin scored as many points in the fourth quarter (12) as the Raptors combined. His points per quarter during the Knicks' six-game winning streak have been: 27, 38, 42 and 54.

Lin By Quarter During Win Streak

First Three Quarters | Fourth Quarter

Field goal percentage -- 48.2 | 56.3
3-point field goals -- 2-for-14 | 3-for-5
Effective field goal percentage* -- 49.4 | 60.9
Free throw attempts -- 29 | 24
*More credit for 3-point field goals

Source: ESPN Stats & Info

Lin's offensive intensity in the fourth quarter, especially getting to the foul line, has inspired the Knicks' to get after it defensively. In their past two games, against Minnesota and Toronto, they only allowed 11.5 points in the final period. For the season, the Knicks actually rank third-best in the league in average fourth-quarter scoring margin (+1.7), after Chicago and Portland, but they've been much better lately.

Soon, Anthony will return with his league-high 7.8 points average in the fourth quarter. Currently, Lin is at a 5.9 points average, a mark that is tied for eighth-best along with Oklahoma City's Russell Westbrook, Toronto's Andrea Bargnani and Cleveland's Kyrie Irving. Speaking of Westbrook, he and his teammate Kevin Durant (6.9 points average) are the only other pair in the top 20 for best fourth-quarter scorers.

Can Lin and Melo remain in that class and still lead the Knicks to victories like Durant and Westbrook do for the Thunder, who have the best record in the league (22-6)? For that to happen, Anthony will have to sacrifice his touches a little to allow Lin to work the pick-and-roll and create scoring opportunities for himself and others.

Previously, Mike D'Antoni tried to use Anthony as a point-forward, but that was mostly a forced experiment. In that situation, the Knicks tended to stand around and watch Melo too much; therefore, they didn't generate enough ball flow, which affected the players on defense because they were slow-moving on offense. Momentum has to carry to both sides of the court, and Lin has been able to establish that.

If the Knicks want to get a leg-up on learning how to close out games, they should watch game film of Westbrook, Durant and the Thunder. Durant isn't simply an isolation, clear-out-of-the-way player, which Melo is usually known to be. Westbrook gets things going for the entire team, and Durant benefits from his penetration.

What are your thoughts? Leave us your comments below.

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