Mark Zuckerberg faces Linsanity from behind Knicks bench

Facebook founder and Internet billionaire Mark Zuckerberg poked his face into the crowd at Madison Square Garden and checked on the status of another former-Harvard student and current NBA sensation Jeremy Lin.

The social-media giant sat directly behind the Knicks bench— not suprisingly— during Sunday afternoon's nationally-televised game between the New York Knicks and Dallas Mavericks.

Zuckerberg had to like what he saw after the Knicks beat the defending champions 104-97 in front of a sold-out crowd.

Photos of the 27-year-old gazillionaire began popping up on Twitter during the first quarter after an ABC camera panned the Knicks bench and Zuckerberg's smiling face was front and center on the screen.

Lin's status as a legend continued to grow.  He poured in a team-high 28 points and handed out 14 assists yesterday.

The media mogul— and Harvard dropout— could easily afford the prime seats.  Hell, Zuckerberg could buy the whole team by dipping two fingers into his petty cash budget alone.  Come to think of it,  there wouldn't be a descending peep from a single Knicks fan if he did.  Now that would be Linsane.

Zuckerberg now calls Palo Alto, Calif.  his home and — coincidentally— it is Lin's hometown as well.

Lin attended Harvard from 2006-07 and from 2009-10 while Zuckerberg left Harvard for the west coast in 2004, so the two youthful phenoms' paths have probably never crossed before.

There was no comment from Zuckerberg after the game.