Brooklyn Nets Not Planning to Rest Jeremy Lin in Final Weeks of the Season
Teams that are already out of the playoff race tend to shut down their veteran players during the final stretch of the season. The Phoenix Suns have already decided to sit Eric Bledsoe and Tyson Chandler, and the Los Angeles Lakers are doing the same thing with Timofey Mozgov and Luol Deng.
To give their younger players a chance to play heavy minutes, the Brooklyn Nets can follow suit and rest Jeremy Lin and their other veterans. However, they are not going to do that because they want to see what Lin can do with the current lineup.
"We're not going to rest. I've been saying how important it is for us to finish the season strong, and I do think seeing more of Jeremy together with the group is helpful also," Nets coach Kenny Atkinson said on Saturday, according to Newsday.
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The Nets have been struggling badly all season long, but they are playing really well lately with Lin in the lineup. Lin and Brook Lopez just led the team to a 91–83 victory over the Atlanta Hawks and they now have a 9–10 win/loss record since the start of March. That's actually not bad considering how badly they performed without Lin in the first few months of the season.
The Nets sudden improvement in the past few weeks can't be entirely attributed to Lin, but it's clear that the team is running smoothly with him at point guard.
"The Nets don't have anyone else capable of running the offense on nearly the same level as Lin. Sure, he has his limitations. But Jeremy Lin is a good point guard, a solid, energetic defender, and someone who's capable of providing both crafty attacks inside and creating good looks for teammates," Tom West of FanRag Sports said in his report.
The Nets may no longer be competing for a playoffs spot, but they still want to see what this unit can do.
