Nets coach Kenny Atkinson wants to see higher assist totals out of his team, not a shocking request since point guard Jeremy Lin had just one. But Atkinson wasn’t vexed, just worried about installing a scheme more than inflating stats.

“Funny, I looked at it, and I wasn’t disappointed. He was taking what the defense was giving him,” Atkinson said of Lin, who had 21 points within the flow of the motion offense. “I will say, this offense … it’s not completely point-guard dominated. It’s not the Steve Nash Phoenix Suns. I coached with Mike [D’Antoni]. Mike was very, ‘Give the ball to the point guard, he’s making all the plays.’ It’s a little different. We’ll see, but that’s part of it. We have a lot of guys touching the ball.”

Sure, Lin’s assist numbers might have looked better if Sean Kilpatrick hadn’t missed all seven of his shots or Brook Lopez had played at all in the second half. But most of all, they might have looked better if the Nets had played more pick-and-roll, which clearly is Lin’s strong suit. But that will have to wait.

“I can probably count the number of pick-and-rolls I was in on one hand, and that’s been my strength,” Lin said. “I guess [Thursday] we didn’t necessarily need it, per se. There will be times when we will have to be more heavy pick-and-roll. I understand that, and each game has its own personality.”

Atkinson agreed it is a game-by-game call, and in the Nets’ first game with his new motion offense, it was about getting the motion offense installed.

“It’s going to depend on the game,” Atkinson said. “Sometimes you’re dumping the ball short. Sometimes you’re lulled into what the defense gives you. Again, I love Mike’s offense. I think it’s great. I’ve incorporated elements of it. But there’s also elements of San Antonio and Atlanta, and that’s more motion-based. … We’ve got to figure that out, me and [Lin]. He’ll probably be asking me, ‘Hey, can we play more pick-and-roll?’ [Thursday], no, just keep playing motion, keep moving it.

“There’s a dialogue there. We’re going to have to find that right balance because that’s an obvious strength of his, but we do want to incorporate other parts of the offense. Balance and variety. They’re both good, and sometimes it’s the team you’re playing. ‘Hey, this team, we’re going to run a ton of pick-and-rolls. This team we might play a little more motion.'”

Lopez — fourth in the NBA in points scored as the roll man in the pick-and-roll (315) — agreed that as they build chemistry, Lin will make everybody else better.

“He just opens so much just by attacking, penetrating, continuing to be a threat for everyone else,” Lopez said. “It’s just going to get better from here.”