Game 1: Atlanta Hawks vs NY Knicks
The time has finally arrived for the first regular season game of 2018-19 season. It has been almost a year since Jeremy Lin played in an NBA game when he got hurt in the first game of 2017-18 season on Oct 18, 2017. And it will be 555 days since Lin finished an NBA game healthy on April 10, 2017 against Boston Celtics in the 2016-17 season. He just returned to play 5-on-5 so he will come off the bench in the Madison Square Garden against New York Knicks, where Linsanity was born in 2012. His playing time might still be limited in his Return-To-Play protocol.
It might not be Linsanity game tomorrow with the still-rehabbing Lin but for Lin and his fans, seeing him healthy and enjoying to play NBA games is certainly something to cherish and be grateful . We do not need to see Linsanity tomorrow but we just need to enjoy the sight of a healthy Lin distributing the ball to his teammates and hopefully help his team to win the first game of the season on the road.
Most starters will remain the same as the preseason games except for Vince Carter will start for John Collins who is out with injury.
Trae Young, Kent Bazemore, Taurean Prince, Vince Carter, Alex Len will start for Hawks in season opener, per Pierce.
— ATL and 29 (@ATLand29) October 15, 2018
Overall, 4 Hawks players will be out and 1 is listed as probable
Hawks injury report for the opener vs NYK:
Justin Anderson (tibial stress syndrome, left leg), John Collins (left ankle soreness), Dewayne Dedmon (avulsion fracture, left ankle), Daniel Hamilton (right rotator cuff tear) are out.
Alex Len (low back strain) is probable.
— Brad Rowland (@BTRowland) October 16, 2018
Coach Pierce shouted encouragement during practice when Lin beat his man to get a nice layup
“Nice! I see you JLin!” [0:17]
Regular season ready.
Coach Pierce mic'd up at practice 👀⬇️ pic.twitter.com/aff4Pr9ZKN
— Atlanta Hawks (@ATLHawks) October 16, 2018
