Jeremy Lin will sit out Saturday’s preseason game between the New York Knicks and Brooklyn Nets, causing the game to lose some appeal.
Saturday’s preseason matchup between the New York Knicks and Brooklyn Nets was supposed to feature the return of Jeremy Lin to Madison Square Garden. Apparently, we’ll have to wait for the regular season because after his 21 point performance in the preseason opener; According to Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News Lin is going to sit out tonight’s game.
Jeremy Lin isn't playing tonight for the Nets. Also heard Derrick Rose is not playing for the Knicks.
— Stefan Bondy (@SBondyNYDN) October 8, 2016
Derrick Rose testified at his civil trial Friday in Los Angeles and won’t be available for the intercity showdown. Joakim Noah (hamstring) will miss his second straight preseason contest.
Joakim Noah and Derrick Rose are officially out tonight.
— Stefan Bondy (@SBondyNYDN) October 8, 2016
With both starting point guards out tonight, the matchup loses some of its appeal. Or whatever appeal a preseason game can have.
Carmelo Anthony’s comments about Lin being the face of the Nets franchise made for an intriguing storyline, but Lin quickly threw water on that fire anyway telling the New York Post, “I didn’t hear anything about it [Friday], nobody texted me about it [Friday], so I don’t think it’s a big deal, to be honest. I don’t really know what he said. Again, five years ago, I’m not really too worried about anything.”
It seems that everything is cool on Lin’s side, but Melo still gets uncomfortable when his old teammate’s name is brought up. Even more so after Amare Stoudemire and Mike D’Antoni did more to paint him as the villain in Lin’s abrupt departure from New York.
Rose’s absence tonight could be a sign of things to come as his trial is scheduled to continue through at least Oct. 14.
The Knicks and Nets had a different experience in their first preseason contest. The Knicks were overwhelmed by the uptempo attack of the Houston Rockets in a blowout loss while the Nets proudly showed off their new offense in a victory over the Detroit Pistons.
The Nets will look to show off more of their new three-point oriented attack on offense and the Knicks will try and shore up their defense in Saturday’s contest. Both teams are trying to get used to completely new systems and new coaches. The preseason is crucial for each franchise.
