Atkinson ‘excited’ for debut

BOSTON — After personally handling Las Vegas Summer League duties, and then a half-dozen preseason games, Brooklyn’s Kenny Atkinson finally makes his debut as an NBA head coach Wednesday against the Celtics at TD Garden. “I’m just excited to get the preseason over with and play a real game and start getting a feel for who we are and what our team is like,’’ said Atkinson, a Huntington native. “I’m excited to see us in a real game.” Randy Foye, who appeared set to start at shooting guard, is now likely to miss Wednesday’s season opener with a mild hamstring injury. “Randy Foye in practice had a mild strain of his hamstring. I think he’ll be out,’’ Atkinson said. “We’re going to evaluate it day-to-day after that. That’s a little unfortunate. He was playing well and had a good preseason.”

Atkinson said a replacement won’t be determined until Wednesday. Joe Harris, Sean Kilpatrick and Bojan Bogdanovic are candidates. Bogdanovic started his final 22 appearances last season, but didn’t get a single start in the preseason as the Nets eased him back after a busy Olympic summer.

The 3-point-happy Nets will be tested not just by Boston’s defensive pressure on the perimeter, but on defense by Boston offseason acquisition Al Horford. Atkinson was vital in helping the big man develop a perimeter game while they were in Atlanta, and was asked how they’ll treat Horford.

“With respect. He’s Mr. Steady that guy. You know he’s going to bring it. He’s such an efficient player. It helps that I know him a little bit. I know his tendencies. But he’s such a good player that he’ll figure us out, and then, we’ll have to make an adjustment, and he’ll probably figure us out again, etc., etc,’’ said Atkinson, coy about whether he will flip-flop Brook Lopez and power forward Trevor Booker on him.

“Yeah, I think you’ll see them both play him. I think you’ll see Luis [ Scola] play him. Luis knows him pretty well from playing against him a lot in FIBA and the NBA. And you’ll see Justin [ Hamilton] on him.”