When a player returns from a long absence, you never know what to expect. In TJ Warren's case, it was a season debut that 'almost felt like a dream.'
"It almost felt like a dream," Warren said postgame. "As soon as I checked in, it kinda hit me. Like, this is real. Once I got up and down, I was like, 'this is basketball.' It was just super fun to be out there and competing with the guys."
The Nets wing came off the bench in his season debut and impressed. He scored a bench-leading 10 points on 5-of-11 shooting from the field to pair with four boards in 17 minutes to help lead Brooklyn to a wire-to-wire win over the Toronto Raptors on Friday night.
"I thought really well," said Nets head coach Jacque Vaughn on Warren's debut. "I was interested in that first shot. What was it going to look like? How long? How short was it gonna be? Is it going to hit the rim? That thing was beautiful to watch. I think he enjoyed being out there. i thought overall, really good night for him."
Warren showed flashes of what he can provide to Brooklyn. He drove and finished through contact and got to his spots with ease. On the defensive end, he did a good job of utilizing his body against the Toronto Raptors' length and contributed to a series of stops in the first half.
"I love his minutes. He has a knack for finding the basketball, cutting to the rim well, offensive rebounding a couple of times, running the floor. So it's only going to get better for him as he gets more reps under him," said Kevin Durant on Warren. "I look forward to him playing out there with us. Just happy he's playing again. He loves the game."
"I was really excited for him," said Kyrie Irving on Warren postgame. "Just doing the little things after getting back from two years. Just really happy for him and proud of him."
The biggest takeaway from Warren's season debut was that he didn't worry mentally about his left foot. He felt confident playing on the floor and didn't hold any negative thoughts in his first game.
"I had no concerns mentally with my foot," Warren said. "I put in a lot of work to get back to this point. I was super, super confident and the way I was feeling, the way I was moving, I felt like I was moving pretty good. It can only get better from here but I feel great."
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