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Hawks' point guard oddities remain as Schroder returns in loss to Knicks
ATLANTA — The Atlanta Hawks' mini-drama at point guard took an odd turn on Tuesday night.
For the past week, backup guard Dennis Schroder's play, or lack thereof, has fallen under the microscope. The 22-year-old German product played 12 forgettable minutes against the Indiana Pacers on Dec. 28 before coach Mike Budenholzer elected to not play him in the team's two subsequent outings against the Rockets and Knicks. Third-stringer Shelvin Mack received the bulk of Schroder's minutes over that stretch. Player and roster development were referenced as reasons, but it was a curious twist for the franchise's top backcourt reserve to suddenly disappear from action.
In Tuesday night's 107-101 loss to the Knicks, however, Budenholzer went with the other end of the spectrum.
Not only did Schroder play in a game for the first time in 2016, but he received more minutes than any other Hawks point guard and closed out the final five minutes of a competitive game as starter Jeff Teague watched from the sideline.
"I just thought (Schroder) was bringing a little bit of an edge, a little bit of an energy," Budenholzer said following the team's third loss in four games. "I thought the group was playing well with him out there. It's just kind of a gut feel, so we went with it. ... Jeff played OK, but I just thought that with Dennis, like I said, we had a little bit better energy, a little bit better defense."
The third-year floor general has slightly improved his averages (10.5 points, 4.3 assists) and efficiency as the season inches toward the halfway mark, but it has not been the breakout season some expected from one of the league's most electric reserves. Though his shooting was still spotty, including a crucial missed free throw down the stretch, his performance against the Knicks on Tuesday was a veritable rebound from his previous outing: Schroder scored seven points, dished out eight assists and grabbed four rebounds in 25 minutes.
"Coach said just to be aggressive and when everybody collapses just try to find the open teammate and create open shots. I think I did it, and we still fell short. We've got to do a better job of playing for 48 minutes," Schroder said. "I just tried to be the best teammate and just try to compete every time I get out there, try to help my team win. Tried to bring the energy."
The energy was there for the well-rested guard.
Not everything went Schroder's way, though.
Budenholzer credited his young guard's defensive effort on multiple occasions, but New York's game-winning basket came on Schroder's self-admitted defensive gaffe. With 22 seconds remaining and clinging onto a two-point lead, Knicks guard Jose Calderon squeezed a pass into center Robin Lopez down low, stutter-stepped, then darted behind Schroder down the lane for a game-clinching layup just out of Al Horford's reach.
"It was a tough play for me. I tried to chase him over the block, but then he back-doored me," Schroder said. "Al almost had it, but yeah that was my fault. That can't happen."
Schroder's gain was Teague's loss, as the 2015 All-Star point guard posted an uncharacteristic box score.
Teague was the Hawks' second-leading scorer, but finished with four turnovers and zero assists. It was just the second time under Budenholzer's guidance that Teague has played an entire game without assisting on a basket — and the first came in a January 2014 game against San Antonio in which he exited early after spraining his ankle.
Teague's assist-less game aside, for Schroder to go from consecutive DNPs to the team's closing point guard in an important game is ... peculiar. This is the point in the season when lineup oddities morph into storylines, and it's likely that Schroder's rest/benching/development eventually becomes a narrative blip on the 82-game radar. Still, quite the turn of events.
Schroder returned to being a major part of operations in Atlanta as if he never left. Whether he's back in his prominent reserve role for good remains to be seen.
