Jeremy Lin had his best game of the season on Thursday, leading the Charlotte Hornets to a decisive victory over the Toronto Raptors in overtime.

ESPN reports the Hornets reserve guard scored a season-high 35 points, shooting 13 of 22 from the field, and bringing back memories of his "Linsanity" era performance.

Point guard Kemba Walker added 27 points for the Hornets, and P.J. Hairston contributed 14 points.

Lin was given the chance to shine when he was added to the starting line-up with the absence of player Nicholas Batum, who was ill.

Also missing was center Al Jefferson, who has missed a stretch of games due to both an injury, and a 5-game suspension for violation of the league's anti-drug policy.

"That's what I wanted to do for a long time," said Lin, referring to his opportunity to start. "I saw how much (being the playmaker) took out of Al (Jefferson) and Kemba. But I couldn't have done it without (Walker), and he couldn't have done it without me. He helps me out just as much as I hope I can help him."

Lin started off the game hot, scoring 18 points by halftime to give Charlotte a 56-44 lead. However, the Raptors rallied in the second half, managing to tie the game 90-90 and send it into overtime.

Toronto wasn't able to maintain a lead after that, and P.J. Hairston put them away on a clutch three with 1:30 remaining on the clock.

"That was a really good win," Charlotte Hornets coach Steve Clifford said. "It wasn't pretty there in the fourth (quarter), but I thought we had a lot of guys make a lot of good plays."

Walker had high praise for Lin after the game.

"When they deny me the basketball (as the Raptors did repeatedly Thursday), he can come and make plays. You can see it in the numbers; he played extremely well," said Walker, via the Charlotte Observer.

"Hopefully he can continue to be really, really, really good like tonight," he added.