Getty Lakers stars Dennis Schroder and Anthony Davis
After the Los Angeles Lakers defeated the Minnesota Timberwolves on April 11 at Crypto.com Arena in the 7-8 play-in game, Anthony Davis had high praise for Dennis Schroder.
“He’s invaluable,” Davis said about Schroder. “He brings everything every night. He wants to win. When he first came back, he said that he didn’t like his first tenure here with the Lakers. He feels like he didn’t do what he was supposed to. So he wanted to come back and just be all about winning and he’s showing it.”
Schroder was incredible versus the Timberwolves. The veteran put up 21 points while shooting 5-of-12 from the field, 3-of-4 from beyond the arc and 8-of-8 from the free-throw line. Schroder hit a 3-pointer right in front of the Timberwolves’ bench with 1.1 seconds left in regulation to give the Lakers a 3-point lead. Everyone in the stadium thought Schroder’s shot would be the game-winner.
However, Davis fouled Timberwolves star Mike Conley on a 3-point shot attempt with 0.1 seconds remaining. Conley made all three shots from the charity stripe to send the game into overtime. Fortunately for Davis, the Lakers outscored the Timberwolves 10-4 in overtime and won by a final score of 108-102.
Anthony Davis on Dennis Schroder: ‘He Means a Lot to Our Team’
Davis told reporters that Schroder means a lot to the Lakers, who will face the Memphis Grizzlies in the first round of the 2023 playoffs. Los Angeles went 2-1 against Memphis during the regular season.
“Diving on the floor. Big hustle plays. Obviously, big shots like he had tonight. Big plays defensively, offensively. He does it all for us,” Davis said. “He brings that energy off the bench. Pushing the pace. Always communicating with us about what he sees on the floor. Always bringing that positive energy. So he means a lot to our team.”
Schroder averaged 12.6 points, 2.5 rebounds and 4.5 assists for the Lakers during the regular season. He will have to play at a high level for the purple and gold to upset the Grizzlies.
The Lakers Are in the Playoffs After a 2-10 Start
The Lakers began the season 2-10. They had a 0.3% chance of making the postseason and most experts didn’t believe Los Angeles could turn its season around. However, after making a bevy of moves at the trade deadline in February, the Lakers went on a run and now they’re in the playoffs.
The LakeShow acquired D’Angelo Russell, Malik Beasley, Jarred Vanderbilt and Mo Bamba at the trade deadline and parted ways with Russell Westbrook, Patrick Beverley, Thomas Bryant, Juan Toscano-Anderson and Damian Jones. The Lakers also traded Kendrick Nunn to the Washington Wizards for Rui Hachimura in January.
“It took everything out of us to get to where we are and it took more out of us tonight,” Davis said. “But we’ve got a couple of days before we go to Memphis to start preparing for them. It’s been a battle. It’s been an up-and-down season for us, but now is the time to show who we are and we showed it tonight.”