Brooklyn Nets point guard Jeremy Lin will make his return from injury against his former team, the Houston Rockets, on Monday night.
Lin missed a near-six weeks with a strained left hamstring, making his latest on-court appearance on Nov. 2 against the Detroit Pistons.
“I think I can appreciate it a little bit more having been out for so long,” Lin told ESPN's Calvin Watkins. “The game, the experience. I'm just going in there and going to have a lot of fun just competing again and being with my team on the floor.”
The Nets have lost 13 of 17 games during Lin's absence. He said he wasn't sure if he'll start against the Rockets, but knows his minutes will likely be restricted.
Brooklyn has used a makeshift approach to the point guard position during Lin's absence, using shooting guard Sean Kilpatrick to run most of the offensive sets and a combination of Isaiah Whitehead and Randy Foye defensively with very little results to show for.
Lin likened his experience to Joel Embiid‘s characterization of the Philadelphia 76ers being the “process.”
“I'm just going to go out and do my best and I don't expect everything to come back overnight,” said Lin. “It's going to be a process. This whole thing has been a process. That's what we say here at this organization: This is a process.
“I'm just going to keep trying to build. Like today, I don't know what's going to happen, but tomorrow I'm going to try and get better and more and more of my rhythm back.”
Lin is in the first year of a three-year, $36 million deal with the team, but has only managed to play five games, averaging 15 points and 6.2 assists during his short stint with the Nets. If he doesn't start tonight, Whitehead will likely get the nod before his minutes slowly vanish as Lin gets his rhythm back along with his starting spot.
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