Jeremy Lin spoke for the first time since suffering his second hamstring injury of the season, saying it’s less severe and improving faster than his first. But he still wouldn’t offer a timetable and admitted it’s been difficult and felt like a maddening case of déjà vu.
“It does feel like kind of Groundhog Day, this thing all over again, or the rehab days all over again,’’ Lin said
After missing 17 consecutive games over five weeks with a hamstring strain, Lin returned but suffered a second — and, the team insists, unrelated — injury Dec. 26. Monday’s 101-89 loss to the Jazz at Barclays Center was the third straight game he missed with the latest strain.
“It’s been difficult. The night I got hurt, I didn’t feel like talking or was just not in a place where I had anything to say to anybody. That night, I was pretty upset,’’ Lin said. “I think the whole process has been not what I anticipated in terms of you get this opportunity to be on this team.
“But that’s life. It’s more how you respond to it. It’s like, ‘I’m given this. How can I still pour into my teammates, or who can I study the game?’ I know in a lot of ways a lot of the setbacks or things that I’ve really not enjoyed in my life have been the most valuable for me in terms of a learning experience.”
The Nets have said this hamstring injury being in a different spot is a positive.
“Yeah, I can definitely say that. It’s a different area, the other side, and it hurt a lot less when it happened,’’ Lin said. “Everything’s progressing better than the previous one, so I’m definitely very encouraged. Yeah, definitely if it was the same exact spot, it’d be a different tune.”
While Lin said he didn’t have any idea what grade the strain was, he did emphasize this injury “is progressing much faster” than the first, and added he’s already started shooting.
Lin’s replacement Isaiah Whitehead had 12 points, six rebounds, took a charge versus Gordon Hayward and blocked 7-foot-1 Rudy Gobert.
“If I’ve got to put my body on the line to get a stop, that’s one of the easiest things to do. Just go out there play hard and try to win,’’ Whitehead said.
Trevor Booker shook off what seemed like an ankle injury and had team highs of 17 points and 15 boards against his old club, but he insisted he wasn’t motivated playing against a Jazz club that handed him just two starts in 79 games last season.
“Not really. It was great seeing them, but I wouldn’t say extra inspired,’’ Booker said.
Joe Johnson had seven points and four boards in 20:40 during his first game at Barclays Center since the Nets waived him last Feb 25. Johnson made five buzzer-beaters during his Nets stay, and was honored with a video montage.