The Los Angeles Lakers saw their three-game winning streak come to an end on Sunday night in a hard fought game against the New York Knicks. D’Angelo Russell had another excellent game offensively, while Dennis Schroder led a solid bench outing, but the Lakers struggled in the fourth quarter as the Knicks were able to push ahead and hold on despite a late L.A. run.
As for what caused the Lakers to fail to come out on top, Schroder pointed to the team simply not being as hot as they had been in the previous contests, while also giving credit to their opponents. “First of all, we didn’t make our shots like we did the last couple of games,” Schroder said. “DLo got hot, but I think offensive rebounds killed us. We’re gonna look at film tomorrow and try to get better but I mean, we got to give [the Knicks] credit too, they played really, really tough. We got to get the next one.”
The final seconds were extremely frustrating as the Schroder cut the Lakers’ deficit to two with a layup with 19.1 seconds remaining. But after failing to get a steal, the Lakers could not catch up to the ball as the Knicks quickly moved it around, running the clock all the way down to just five seconds before the Lakers were finally able to foul.
“They passed it ahead,” Schroder noted. “We tried to get a quick trap and then foul, but they skipped it over us and they took time off the clock. That’s the reason why I said we got to give them credit. They played it smart and they played well.”
Former Lakers guard Josh Hart would sink the two free throws putting an end to any hopes of a Lakers victory, and now the team must quickly turn their focus to the next opponent in the New Orleans Pelicans. The Pelicans are one of three teams tied with the Lakers for the final two Play-In Tournament spots, which makes this game even more important and Schroder understands that as well.
“Yeah, I think [the Pelicans] are right in front of us or behind us,” the Lakers point guard added. “Every game shouldn’t take a Western Conference team to be motivated. I think every game we got to be motivated and be ready. But that one, the next two, we got to get those.”
The Pelicans on Tuesday is the first half of a back-to-back for the Lakers as they will take on the Houston Rockets the following night. With how close the standings are, Schroder is on the nose about how important it is for the Lakers to pick up a pair of victories in these games.
Dennis Schroder says ‘just being me’ has led to success for himself, Lakers
Despite this most recent loss, Dennis Schroder has continued to play well for the Lakers even after returning to a reserve role with D’Angelo Russell back from injury. And Schroder believes just being himself is what has contributed to his great play.
“Just playing my game,” Schroder said. “Being aggressive and attacking the basket, trying to look for my teammates. On the defensive end, just being me. Pressuring full court.”
Not only is he playing well, but the Lakers as a team continue to improve and he believes that will remain the case if they keep playing together.
“We’re just trying to get better every single day. I think we’re trending in the right direction and doing a great job just playing off each other, playing defense at a high level. If we keep this up, we’re gonna be really good.”
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