Jeremy Lin continues to sit out and the Brooklyn Nets continue to fall. The latest whipping they had was at the hands of the Russell Westbrook-led Oklahoma City Thunder where Kenny Atkinson tried out Randy Foye at point.
Foye, a former teammate of Westbrook at OKC, is not a natural point guard. Seeing however that the team had limited choices, Atkinson seemed to bank on familiarity to defend the all-star guard. As one would guess, the ploy failed.
Westbrook ended up with a triple-double (30 points, 11 rebounds and 13 assists) but the story was not simply about containing the 28-year-old guard. Rather, it was the Nets poor job off the boards outside their defensive efforts. The Nets lost by a mile, 124-105, the NY Post reported.
There is no assurance that the final tally would have been different had Jeremy Lin played. Then again, his leadership could have been tested – one of the key things expected from him this season. Jeremy Lin was on the bench, but obviously, his presence was not enough to pump up the Nets who suited up against the Thunder.
There is no official timetable on when Jeremy Lin would return though it is obvious that he would have been a big help. His injury (strained hamstring) was supposed to keep him out for two weeks minimum, but the Nets don’t want to rush him back – thinking long-term, the Nets Daily reported.
With Foye bombing out, Atkinson may likely turn to rookie Isaiah Whitehead, Sean Kilpatrick or Yogi Ferrell next until Jeremy Lin is cleared to return to action. It may not show promise but Atkinson needs to find a suited backup plan for now.
The Nets are playing the Portland Trail Blazers as of this writing with Whitehead starting. He wasn’t much of a bright spot, though the Nets are fighting. Brooklyn is toting a 4-8 card, 13th in the NBA Eastern Conference.