Zeller sends LeBron to locker room for stitches

CLEVELAND — The Nets’ Tyler Zeller had an eventful night Wednesday. He got his first start of the season, hit the first 3pointer of his career and even sent LeBron James to the locker room for stitches.

The Nets were without big man Trevor Booker, who started the prior three games at center, but was forced out of Sunday’s loss to the Warriors with a sprained left ankle. Instead of going back to Timofey Mozgov, who started the first 14 games, coach Kenny Atkinson went with Zeller.

Zeller had seven points and seven rebounds in 21:29 mostly solid minutes, his plus-2 the best of the Nets’ starting five. He had one turnover, that coming on a collision with James 2:12 into the second half.

“I got head-butted by Zeller. He went down the lane it was my rotation I was able to strip the ball clean and his head hit my face,” James said. “I was just on the training staff trying to hurry them up so I could get back on the court.”

When Zeller wasn’t in, the Nets used Quincy Acy (19:19) and rookie Jarrett Allen (18:35), who finished a team-best plus-10 and was held to 15-20 minutes by Atkinson. Mozgov did not play.

“I thought Jarrett Allen came in and gave us a nice boost, good energy off the bench,” said Atkinson, who is still inclined to go small.

The Nets offered no updates on D’Angelo Russell, who had arthroscopic surgery on Nov. 17 to remove loose bodies from his left knee. But multiple specialists gave The Post timelines that could have Russell back by Christmas, as long as there are no undisclosed complications.

Dr. Armin Tehrany, founder of Manhattan Orthopedic Care, estimated the injury could keep Russell out another 2-3 weeks. Dr. James Gladstone, cochief of sports medicine at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, felt the guard could be back in four. Atkinson declined to offer a timeline.

Jeremy Lin is out for the season after rupturing his patellar tendon in the opener. He made a postgame cameo Friday wear- ing a brace, but said he’s not leery about sitting on the bench for fear that a player could fall on his leg. He told is fans on Chinese social media platform Weibo that he’s finally able to bend his knee.

“I’m getting well and can bend my knee now and I can walk normally,” said Lin, demonstrating for his fans. “The recovery is very good. I wear the knee brace every day. So going anywhere, either eating out or working out is very easy now.”