Getty Dennis Schroder of the Los Angeles Lakers.
Los Angeles Lakers guard Dennis Schroder had a message for Draymond Green after two separate spats with the Golden State Warriors veteran led to his ejection from Game 6.
Schroder received a pair of technical fouls for his altercations with Green in the closeout game. The second came in the third quarter and was questionable, with the two going back and forth and Green shoving the ball in Schroder’s face.
Dennis Schroder received his 2nd technical foul and was ejected for this.
The Lakers were able to hold off the Warriors without Schroder, coasting to a 122-101 win. He celebrated the victory with a postgame Instagram post, putting up photos of Green putting the ball in his face.
“WESTERN CONFERENCE FINALS!!!” Schroder posted as the caption. “One of the biggest competitors there is [Draymond Green]. A lot of respect for you. HOF.”
Dennis Schroder Went Viral for Clowning Draymond Green in Game 4
Nice enough from Schroder but maybe there was just a little bit of shade behind the seemingly complimentary statement. The two had gone back and forth all series and Schroder went viral for clowning Green after a crunch-time turnover in Game 4.
ESPN’s Dave McMenamin explained the origin of the beef between Schroder and Green during an appearance on the “Brian Windhorst & The Hoop Collective” podcast.
Watch Schroder’s face at the end of this Draymond turnover lol
“Schroder is trying to run a pick-and-roll with AD, has a weird angle, tries to throw it behind the back to AD, and it goes out of bounds,” McMenamin said. “Right where it went out of bounds is where Rich Paul sits on the baseline, and Draymond Green was defending the action. And Draymond Green screams demonstratively to Rich Paul, ‘Get this fool off the court,’ talking about Dennis Schroder for making that play.
He continued: “Revenge was swift, and he got him with that cunning look. You wanna call me a fool, well who just turned it over in the biggest moment of the game?’”
Schroder did his job as a pest but also did a terrific job as the primary defender on Warriors superstar Stephen Curry. His efforts led to Lakers coach Darvin Ham inserting him into the starting lineup for Game 6.
Lakers Face Denver Nuggets in Western Conference Finals
The Lakers did not want to head back to the Bay Area for Game 7 and took care of business against the Warriors, leaning on their defense.
“It was great to be able to play one of our most efficient games, one of our best games of the series, and it started because of the defensive matchup we had,” LeBron James said. “We defended at a high level, and when we do that, we can be extremely good. I thought we were locked in for as close to 48 minutes as possible tonight.”
With the Warriors behind them, the Lakers will turn their attention to the Denver Nuggets. The top-seeded Nuggets are led by two-time MVP Nikola Jokic, who averaged a triple-double in Denver’s series against the Phoenix Suns.
Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals is scheduled for Tuesday in Denver. The Lakers are slight underdogs in the series, coming in at +120 to advance to the NBA Finals.