A 25-point, nine-assist effort from Dennis Schroder in his first career playoff start was the lone bright spot for the Atlanta Hawks in their series opener Sunday afternoon.
Dennis Schroder quickly proved he has the ability to dominate on any stage for the Atlanta Hawks Sunday afternoon.
After posting averages of 17.9 points, 6.3 assists and 3.1 rebounds per game on 45.1 percent shooting from the field in his first season as the starting point guard for the Hawks, he was even more impressive in his first career playoff start.
Schroder was perhaps the lone bright spot for Atlanta during a 114-107 loss to the Wizards Sunday afternoon.
John Wall dominated, as he logged a playoff career-high 32 points, 14 assists and four rebounds, but Schroder nearly matched his output.
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The 23-year-old point guard totaled 25 points, marking the fourth time he has scored 20 or more points in post season play, along with nine assists, three rebounds and a steal.
Atlanta Hawks
The scoring and assist totals marked team highs, as he accounted of half of the total assists for Atlanta in the contest.
Schroder was entrusted to hold the ball for a total of 7.6 minutes during his 36 minutes on the court, nearly one more minute than he averaged during the regular season.
Atlanta wanted the ball in Schroder’s hands simply because he was able to create numerous scoring chances for the team.
The 6-foot-1 point guard managed to generate a total of 21 points as a result of his passing, as he managed to set up Kent Bazemore for a pair of 3-pointers and a long-range shot from rookie Taurean Prince.
Between the passing and shooting of Schroder, he accounted for 42.9 percent of the total points scored by the Hawks Sunday afternoon, a huge boost for a team that ranked 27th in offensive efficiency during the 2016-17 campaign.
Schroder shot 8-of-16 from the field, as he managed to convert four shots within four feet of the rim, and knocked down 3-of-5 attempts from 3-point range.
Even though he was experiencing soreness in his right foot towards the end of the regular season and was listed as probable for the series opener, Schroder still managed to post a true shooting percentage of 67.1 percent, well above the 53.3 percent he posted in the regular season, even with Wall, an All-Star each of the past four seasons, defending him.
Atlanta deferred to Schroder as the primary scoring option as the rest of the starting lineup struggled to produce points.
Tim Hardaway Jr. was inserted as Schroder’s backcourt mate in an attempt to give the Hawks starting unit a long range threat, but the tactic didn’t work as he scored seven points on 2-of-11 shooting and missed all six of his attempts from 3-point range.
All-Star forward Paul Millsap scored 19 points but did most of his damage at the free throw line. Nine of his points came off free throws, as he went to the line a total of 11 times, but he struggled to create enough separation from Markieff Morris to be a consistent offensive factor.
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Millsap attempted just eight shots, 6.1 fewer than his average during the regular season and scored only seven points in the second half.
With the rest of the team struggling, Schroder became the primary scoring option, as he led the Hawks in field goals made, 3-point field goals made and converted each of his six free throw attempts.
The 25 points from Schroder were 9.8 more, while his shooting was 11.7 percent better than he posted against four regular season appearances and he shot 11.7 percent better from the field during four regular season appearances against Washington.
The Wizards went 30-11 at the Verizon Center during the regular season, one of just five teams to win 30 or more home games this year, making the upset bid from Atlanta even more challenging.
In his fourth consecutive year in the playoffs, Schroder took command of the offense in his first career postseason start.
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All Atlanta needs is a few more players to find their shooting touch in Game 2.