Dennis Schroder’s Brooklyn Nets debut featured terrific scoring and passing, but it wasn’t enough to win over the fans. His angry reaction to being smacked in the face by Victor Wembanyama had the audience shouting his name.
Schroder had 15 points and 12 assists, Cam Thomas added 25 points, and Brooklyn defeated the San Antonio Spurs 123-103 on Saturday night, spoiling Wembanyama’s return to the stadium where he was the first choice in the NBA draft.
Schroder recorded the most assists in his debut for the Nets since James Harden had 14 against Orlando on January 16, 2021. The chanting erupted after he screamed at an official when there was no penalty called when Wembanyama unintentionally bumped him with his elbow while trying a shot, then wrapped up Wembanyama for a foul to halt play so he could complain more.
“I’m glad we got the win, I think that’s the most important, but of course the appreciation was there and I love that the fans did it,” Schroder said after the game. “Big-time for me.”
Nic Claxton added 20 points and 11 rebounds for the Nets, who ended their three-game losing run.
Wembanyama scored 21 points, but the 7-foot-3 Frenchman only secured four rebounds, compared to one in his previous game against Orlando.
It was his first outing at Barclays Center since the Spurs selected him with the first choice in June. He led first-year players in scoring (20.3), rebounds (10.1), and thefts (1.2) entering the game, as well as all NBA players in blocks (3.1), but he will have to settle for individual success this season.
The Spurs have lost seven straight games and are 10-43, worst in the Western Conference, and the 20-year-old Wembanyama claimed coach Gregg Popovich has spoken with him about the difficulty of getting through a taxing section of the schedule before the All-Star break next weekend.
“He told me a little bit about it and so it’s not more complicated than that, it’s just hard to do,” Wembanyama went on to say.
On Thursday, the Nets acquired Schroder from Toronto in exchange for Spencer Dinwiddie, who was dismissed and signed with the Los Angeles Lakers on Saturday after clearing waivers and becoming a free agency.
Dinwiddie was the Nets’ starting point guard, but Schroder came off the bench and had an immediate impact despite having little practice time with his new squad.
“He’s won games and played in high-level games, so for him to be out here on the floor and lead our group tonight, pretty impressive,” Jacque Vaughn, the Nets head coach, said.
Ben Simmons continued in the starting lineup at point guard, scoring 13 points on 6-of-7 shooting.
Keldon Johnson scored 19 points for the Spurs, who are 0-3 on a nine-game journey between the All-Star break.
Wembanyama hit three-pointers on consecutive possessions to cut Brooklyn’s advantage to 69-63 with 8 1/2 minutes remaining in the third quarter, but the Nets swiftly reclaimed control. Thomas made a 3-pointer to start a 10-2 run that gave the Nets a 14-point lead, and he scored 12 points in the period before the Nets finished spectacularly, with Schroder lobbing an inbounds pass from one sideline to the opposite side of the rim for Claxton to slam down at the buzzer, making it 93-75.
The Nets led 33-30 after one quarter and dominated the second, restricting the Spurs to 18 points on 30% shooting to take a 60-48 lead into halftime.
