The Toronto Raptors destroyed the Dallas Mavericks’ explosive start to the season, defeating them 127-116 last night. Grant Williams made the call to play gamesmanship during the match, slapping Dennis Schroder without repercussions after deftly tossing the ball at his head.
Williams had one of his worst games as a Maverick, scoring just six points on 2–7 shooting against the Raptors despite having a fantastic start to his career. The Mavs struggled to stop players like Pascal Siakam and OG Anunoby and were unable to defend the paint without Dereck Lively II, as Luka Doncic, Derrick Jones Jr., and Kyrie Irving carried the team’s scoring load.
Since the majority of their star players are competing in order to secure lucrative contracts in the summer, the Raptors are x-x this season in hopes of being competitive and making the playoffs. They have a lot to prove to Masai Ujiri and other teams in the league, as he previously hinted that he believes his stars were self-centered the previous season.
Despite his low point total of 18, Schroder did manage to dish out five assists. In addition to having a few heated exchanges with Luka Doncic and Maxi Kleber during the game, he also had some difficult moments.
Dennis Schroder and A Mavericks’ The Mavs were treating veteran Schröder differently on the court, possibly as a result of his ongoing conflict with fellow German Maxi Kleber. Before the FIBA World Cup in the summer, Schroder made some very strong remarks about Kleber, which essentially forced Kleber to remove his name from the trophy.
“Maxi was absent the previous year. That was really the message for all of us: if you didn’t commit, you won’t be back the following year either. You defend, you toss in the corner. It’s pick-and-roll time for you. You’re not the kind of player that Carmelo Anthony is. You are not required to practice your game. As you age, you become increasingly aware of your advantages.
And you blatantly try to take advantage of them in order to prolong your NBA career. It’s like, “Maxi, are you working on your game?” to me. Can’t you play for that in the NT? To be honest, that bothered me a little bit.”
Kleber was recovering from a strenuous workload during the Mavs’ 2022 Western Conference Finals run when he missed EuroBasket 2022. After being traded away by the Boston Celtics earlier in the season, Schroder ended the year on the aimless Rockets, nearly out of the league. Since then, he has increased his value and earned a two-year, $26 million contract with the Raptors this summer after having a successful season with the Lakers.
It’s unclear if Williams was defending Kleber, but both players on the court had to be aware of the bad feelings surrounding that circumstance. Despite his current toe injury, Kleber has not looked particularly impressive to start the season, averaging 3.4 points, 4.2 rebounds, and 2.0 assists. Conversely, Schroder, the Raptors’ starting point guard, has excelled in his first season, averaging 17.0 points, 2.8 rebounds, and 8.4 assists.
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