The Los Angeles Lakers made it to the NBA playoffs. Victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves has long been in doubt. In the end, Dennis Schröder comes out on top.
Thanks to Dennis Schröder, the Los Angeles Lakers still won a play-in duel with the Minnesota Timberwolves that they thought was almost lost and are in the NBA playoffs.
After being 15 points behind in the second half, the record champions with the German national basketball team captain and superstar LeBron James still won 108:102 after extra time.
Much praise for Schroeder
With the win, the Lakers will now face the Memphis Grizzlies in the first round of the playoffs starting Sunday (local time). “Playoffs. All the cards are reshuffled,” said Schröder of the German Press Agency. With a three from the corner, he put the Lakers ahead 1.4 seconds before the end of regulation time and made a strong game with a total of 21 points. “He wants to win. He means a lot to our team,” praised Lakers star Anthony Davis.
The Lakers already looked like the winner after Schroeder hit a three-point shot to make it 98-95 with 1.4 seconds left in regulation time. But 0.1 seconds before the final siren, Mike Conley converted three free throws for extra time. Previously, the guests had remained six minutes without a basket.
In the extra season, the Lakers also prevailed thanks to four more points from Schröder, who ended up with 21 points. Best pitcher for Los Angeles was James with 30 points, Anthony Davis scored 24 points.
Lakers coach Darvin Ham then praised Schröder for his strong performance in the highest tones. “His attitude, his confidence: that’s incredible, extraordinary,” Ham said. (dpa)