Pregame Post-Ups: Nets Showing Signs of Life with Lin

NEW YORK – It may be too little too late, but the Brooklyn Nets have suddenly begun to pick up the pace and build some solid momentum during the final stretch of the regular season.

Brooklyn currently owns the worst record in the league at 13-54, but it has won three of its last six games and has averaged the second-most points per game in the Eastern Conference (108.5 PPG) following the All-Star break.

The Nets have scored at least 120 points during their last three wins, including last night’s 121-110 win over the neighboring New York Knicks.

Tonight, the Boston Celtics will be tasked with slowing down Brooklyn’s red-hot offense on its home court at Barclays Center.

“[The recent stretch] has given us a natural, psychological boost,” Nets coach Kenny Atkinson said ahead of tip-off. “We’ve had some tough times this year and getting that momentum going is important. I think from an organization standpoint, too, it just gets our mojo up.”

The return of Jeremy Lin has played a major role in boosting that mojo.

Brooklyn’s starting point guard has missed most of the campaign with a nagging hamstring injury, and the team’s record has taken a major hit as a result; the Nets are 6-38 without Lin this season, compared to 7-16 with him on the court.

Lin missed 26 consecutive games from Dec. 26 through the mid-February All-Star break and Brooklyn won just one contest during that span. The team is 4-7 since his return and he has scored at least 13 points during each of the last seven contests.

“Certainly losing Lin for that long period of time really hurt them,” said Celtics coach Brad Stevens. “He was the guy, with his ability to get downhill, with his ability to shoot, with his ability to draw more attention, that I think helps make everybody else a little bit better. They’re clearly better with him. You knew that from the get-go this year.”

Lin’s return will not revive Brooklyn’s season, as it has already been eliminated from the playoff picture. It can, however, allow the Nets to spoil other teams’ playoff aspirations, and that’s what they will aim to do tonight when they host an Isaiah Thomas-less Celtics squad.

- Taylor C. Snow