Mike D'Antoni (left) and point guard Jeremy Lin speak during a game when D'Antoni was head coach of the Knicks in 2012.
HOUSTON – Brooklyn’s 122-118 loss in Houston was a barnburner, the “good ol’ Texas shootout” Brook Lopez had promised. But it also was a reunion for the Nets’ Kenny Atkinson and Jeremy Lin with the Rockets’ Mike D’Antoni’s, the coach who had been a mentor to the both of them with the Knicks.
“That’s special because we have a special bond, a special relationship in New York,’’ said Atkinson, who watched his Nets erase a 15-point hole and build a three-point lead with two minutes left, only to lose to his mentor.