Jeremy Lin News: Lin and the Brooklyn Nets Start NBA 2016-17 Season vs Boston Celtics
The Brooklyn Nets and the Boston Celtics face each other in both team's season opener for the 2016-17 NBA regular season.
The Atlantic Division teams will face each other on Wednesday, October 26, 7:30 PM ET at the TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts. It's a road game for the Brooklyn Nets, who will play with their new starting point guard Jeremy Lin and new coach Kenny Anderson.
Last time Brooklyn and Boston faced each other was on January 2, 2016, where the Brooklyn Nets won against the Celtics in a close fight; the final score was 100-97.
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Brooklyn Nets Rebuilding
The Nets had the third worst record last season, at 21-61. Only the Philadelphia 76ers and the Los Angeles Lakers had a poorer standing. To address this, the Nets organization has added some key players to the lineup through free agency, including Anthony Bennett, Trevor Booker, Luis Scola, and Greivis Vasquez.
With this roster change, Brooklyn lost Thomas Robinson, Willie Reed, Jarrett Jack and Wayne Ellington. Many analysts aren't sure that the roster change-up is effective and believe a major overhaul may be needed to solve the Nets problem.
Perhaps the most prominent addition to the Nets lineup is Jeremy Lin. Last season, he played for the Charlotte Hornets, averaging 11.7 points, 3.2 rebounds and 3.0 assists on 26.3 minutes played per game.
While Lin was crucial in helping the Hornets make it to the playoffs, having "Linsanity" moments in some playoff games, he took the opportunity to sign with the Nets and become a starting point guard.
Lin is the second highest paid player of the Brooklyn Net, with a cap hit of $11.5 million. Number one in this list is star center Brook Lopez, worth $21.2 million.
Expectations
Brian Lewis of New York Post reports that the Nets understand that they may not have a winning record this season because they are a young team coming off of a 21-win season.
But according to Luis Scola, "We worked very hard, very hard – that's all you can ask. We got better, which is the other thing we're going to use to judge how the season is going. How much do we get better from one week to the other?"
Scola adds that the 2016-17 Brooklyn Nets is a competitive team, and that they know that playing hard will win their team lots of games. They also understand that putting effort and preparation in practice comes first.
Jeremy Lin also said that the team needs to be "blue-collar, just nitty-gritty physical."
