Four weeks have passed since the German basketball team’s World Cup triumph in Manila. DBB captain Dennis Schröder has now made his debut for his new employer in a preparatory game in the NBA
“It felt great to be out there with my new teammates, getting to know them while playing,” Schröder said after the 112-99 win over the Sacramento Kings.
The 30-year-old from Braunschweig was traded from the Los Angeles Lakers to Canada this summer. In his first outing, Schröder was part of the starting five and recorded six points as well as five rebounds and assists in just over 17 minutes of action. However, Schröder also collected five fouls in this short time. Shooting guard Gary Trent Jr. was the top shooter for the only Canadian NBA franchise (22, three threes). Austrian Jakob Pöltl started at centre and scored four points and grabbed five rebounds in 19 minutes.
Kings top man De’Aaron Fox had a bad night and missed all his shots from the field (six), thus only scoring two points from free throws and three assists. Bulgarian forward Sasha Vezenkov was the best scorer for the Californians with twelve points.
“Great” training camp in Vancouver
Schröder had flown to Canada last week to start his preparation. “The training camp in Vancouver was great,” said the point guard looking back. The team continues on Sunday with the second of four tests against the Cairns Taipans from Australia. Toronto will then face the Minnesota Timberwolves at home on 25 October to start the season.
A dozen points for Durant and Booker
A dozen points were scored by superstars Kevin Durant and Devin Booker as the Phoenix Suns got their preseason off to a winning start with a 130-126 overtime victory over the Detroit Pistons. Without Ja Morant, the Memphis Grizzlies defeated the Indiana Pacers 127-122, also after overtime, with Jaren Jackson Jr. (18 points) leading the way. The Utah Jazz (Lauri Markkanen with ten points and eight rebounds) defeated the Los Angeles Clippers with Kawhi Leonard (eleven) and Paul George (eight) 101:96.