The Brooklyn Nets ended the season with a loss to the Chicago Bulls, while starters Jeremy Lin and Brook Lopez rested. But the two veterans come into the offseason with optimism for their next season, especially if Lin will be healthy for a full season.
According to a report from Newsday, the actual season of the Nets started on March 1, which is the date point guard Jeremy Lin returned from injury. Lin missed 45 games due to a hamstring injury.
Lin himself considers March 1 as the beginning of their season, saying that the other stuff is just "like a blur." He said he "remember playing with the guys at the end and how much fun that was, how much progress we made."
Lin said the Nets were struggling to find an identity in the first half of the season, but once they start identifying it toward the latter, the team started playing well. Starting center Brook Lopez admitted that his pairing with Lin was just a "small sample size," considering Lin only played 37 games.
But their pairing showed promise, with the Nets playing well, which makes Lopez also optimistic about the team's future. The Nets started well but when Lin went down on December 26 the team went 1-27, with the point guard playing in only two of them at restricted minutes (both loss).
But come March, the team started playing well and winning some basketball games. The report said that the Nets actually went 11-12 in their last 23 games, before Lin, Lopez, and Trevor Booker, another key player of the team.
Vavel reports that one of the keys for the Nets coming into next season is to make sure that Lin stayed healthy. The team clearly struggled without their starting point guard running the show, and played well when he is on the court.
The report said it will be interesting to see how a Nets team with a healthy Lin pairing with Lopez play during an 82 game stretch. Fans will have to wait next season to find out. Check out Jeremy Lin's highlights during the 2016-2017 NBA Season.
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