Dennis Schroeder beats Rajon Rondo at his own game
Filling in again for the injured Jeff Teague, Schroder scored a career-high 22 points in an impressive road win over Rondo and the Mavericks.
Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports
When Atlanta Hawks point guard Dennis Schroder came into the league, the popular comparison was Rajon Rondo. Like Rondo, Schroder is quick and long with playmaking ability. Also like Rondo, Schroder isn't a great shooter from long range.
With Jeff Teague sidelined again due to a strained left hamstring, Schroder got the chance to go head-to-head with Rondo on Monday night in Dallas. Rondo and the Dallas Mavericks have gotten plenty of headlines of late thanks to the blockbuster trade that brought the enigmatic point guard to Dallas, but it was Schroder who stole the show on Monday. Schroder finished with a career-high 22 points in a 105-102 victory that wasn't as close as the final score indicated. The second-year point guard shot 9-of-15 from the field and added six assists, although he coughed the ball up five times and went 4-of-8 from the free throw line.
Still, the fact that Schroder got to the line eight times is a plus in itself, because it highlighted a willingness to get to the basket all game long. Here’s Schroder’s shot chart:
Over half of Schroder’s shots came near the basket and he converted those at a high level. The second-year point guard has done a great job getting to the rim all season, as nearly 47 percent of his shots have come in the restricted area, per NBA.com.
While Schroder was busy attacking the rim, most of Rondo’s shots came from the perimeter. Only three of Rondo’s 15 shots came near the hoop, per NBA.com, and 10 of them came outside the paint. He made just three of those 10 attempts and didn’t attempt a single free throw, which is how he finished with just 13 points on 15 shots.
Rondo racked up 11 assists on the night, but five of those came in the fourth quarter after the Hawks had already built up a huge lea, and three of them came in the final minute when the Mavericks caught fire from three-point range.
The Hawks' impressive victory was their third straight without Teague and fourth consecutive overall. The last three wins were on the road against three title hopefuls in the Mavericks, Houston Rockets and Cleveland Cavaliers, while the fourth victory was over the Chicago Bulls, another title contender. Atlanta is 20-7 and just a game behind the Toronto Raptors for first in the Eastern Conference. The Hawks have been excellent on both ends of the floor this season, and they pose matchup problems thanks to their ability to space the floor and move the ball.
With Schroder showing positive development, Atlanta becomes even more dangerous because they now have two speedy point guards capable of getting into the lane and effectively causing havoc. Mike Budenholzer is effectively turning the Hawks into Spurs East, and they’re looking more and more like a legitimate contender with each passing day.
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