Jeremy Lin returns, comes off the bench against Rockets

Jeremy Lin, the Brooklyn Nets point guard, returned to action Monday evening against the Houston Rockets after a six-week absence due to a hamstring injury.

Lin was playing his first game since he strained his left hamstring against the Detroit Pistons on Nov. 2.

Nets coach Kenny Atkinson had employed a wait-and-watch policy with Lin and didn't want to rush the seventh-year guard back despite his steady progress over the last few weeks. Last week, Lin returned to shooting drills and began participating in 3-on-3 drills a few days later, but the Nets didn't clear him for a comeback until Monday's game at the Toyota Center in Houston.

After signing Lin to a three-year, US$38 million (AU$51 million) contract in the offseason, the Nets began the season 2-3 with the Asian-American player running the point guard position. After Lin's injury, Brooklyn lost 13 of the 17 games and stumbled to the bottom of the eastern conference for a second consecutive season.

Jeremy Lin ready to make an impact

"I think I can appreciate it a little bit more having been out for so long. The game, the experience. I'm just going in there and going to have a lot of fun just competing again and being with my team on the floor," Lin said ahead of the game, via ESPN.

"I'm just going to go out and do my best and I don't expect everything to come back overnight. It's going to be a process. This whole thing has been a process. That's what we say here at this organization: This is a process.

"I'm just going to keep trying to build. Like today, I don't know what's going to happen, but tomorrow I'm going to try and get better and more and more of my rhythm back," added Lin, who is averaging a career-high 15.0 points and 6.2 assists this season.

Despite Lin's return, the Nets continued to start rookie Isaiah Whitehead at the point guard position. With 3:53 left in the third quarter, Lin had 2 points and 3 assists from 10 minutes on the court. Stay tuned for the final box score from the Houston Rockets vs Brooklyn Nets game.

Jeremy Lin and the Brooklyn Nets aren't projected to make the postseason.