Dennis Schröder really let it rip tonight in a duel with league star Steph Curry and his Golden State Warriors: The German world champion in the Brooklyn Nets squad gave his team a 128 with an extremely strong performance of 31 points – 17 of them in the final quarter: 120 comeback win after they were already down by 18 points.
The Brooklyn Nets began their away game in San Francisco with a severely decimated lineup: Ben Simmons, Noah Clowney, Dorian Finney-Smith and Nick Claxton were all unavailable to coach Jordi Fernandez. That’s why it happened as it had to happen and the New Yorkers temporarily fell behind by 18 points in their duel on the opposite coast.
It was solely thanks to the masterful performance of the German world champion captain, Dennis Schröder, who was traded to the Brooklyn Nets last February, that the away team secured victory. With 31 points – 17 of them in the final quarter – he put in a truly brilliant performance and even scored more points that evening than the opposing league star Steph Curry, who left the floor with 28 points.
Criticism from coach Fernandez becomes the decisive driving force
After missing Sunday’s game against Sacramento due to an ankle injury, Schröder only returned to the floor last night – and promptly had to endure criticism from his coach: “We were six or eight points behind, he had one move thought it up and I messed it up. [Fernandez] took a time out, yelled at me and said, ‘You have to be better,’ and I think everyone had the energy after that,” the German later revealed.
In fact, things went much better after that. With 11:10 minutes left in the final quarter, the German hit the decisive three-pointer that tied the game again at 92:92. According to the DBB guard, the secret to success after the break was “to be aggressive, to hit my free throws, to just be me. My teammates protected me well and I had free rein.”
Photo: AFP
