Thunder point guard Dennis Schroder reminded everyone that he is still capable of lighting up the scoreboard. After some recent struggles, Schroder bounced back in a big way on Monday night.
Schroder led the Thunder with 24 points off of the bench to a 98-89 win over the Utah Jazz. The first-year Thunder player also had seven rebounds and shot 10-of-18 from the field.
With Paul George struggling as of late to shoot, Schroder picked up the Thunder in his place and turned in an efficient performance after having some struggles of his own.
In 10 games since the All-Star break, Schroder is shooting just 34.6 percent from the field, including 22.8 percent from 3-point range. Prior to the break, he was converting on 42.6 percent of his shots and 36 percent from deep.
Schroder was aggressive on Monday night and George believed that was the key in the Thunder sweeping the season series against the Jazz.
I think him being aggressive but I think us knowing that he had the hot hand and a lot of times he had a mismatch so we wanted him to be aggressive. We wanted him to be a scorer and he did that. He got himself into a good rhythm and he can score the ball. He can put the ball up with the best of us so it’s great that he picked us up when we needed him.
Schroder has filled in as the third-leading scorer for the Thunder this season. His addition has been huge for the team when either George or Russell Westbrook are struggling.
Schroder said recently that he just needs some confidence in order to break out of his slump and Monday’s performance could be the first that he starts to turn things around.
While George could be dealing with a lingering shoulder injury, that has opened the door for Schroder to step in for the team. The Thunder will surely be hoping all three players can get it going as the playoffs approach.
The Thunder are fourth in the Western Conference at 41-26.
