Germany’s Dennis Schroder. -MARLO CUETO/INQUIRER.net
MANILA, Philippines—Germany gutted out an 81-79 victory over Latvia in the 2023 Fiba World Cup quarterfinals on Wednesday despite its star Dennis Schroder playing his “worst game” in his career.
Schroder entered the quarterfinal averaging 19.8 points per game but facing Latvia’s defense, the NBA veteran was held to just nine points on an abysmal 4-of-26 shooting from the field.
“This is probably the worst game I ever played in my career,” said Schroder, who played for the Los Angeles Lakers last NBA season and signed a two-year deal with the Toronto Raptors a month ago, at Mall of Asia Arena.
In good times, and bad. 🥹
Dennis Schroder was showered with love despite his ice-cold performance. That's what teammates are about. ❤️
📊 4/26 FG | 0/8 3PM | 4 TO | -10 EFF#FIBAWC x #WinForAll pic.twitter.com/BMlYMcjPh9
— FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 🏆 (@FIBAWC) September 6, 2023
Fortunately for Schroder and Germany, other players picked up the slack to ward off the Latvians’ comeback run from 10 points down in the game’s final three minutes.
“But I mean, we’re still in the semifinals. Shoutout to all these guys in the locker room who helped me win this game,” said Schroder, who fired blanks from the three-point line going 0-of-8.
“That’s the reason why we’re together. We’re a special team.”
Germany against Latvia in the Fiba World Cup quarterfinal. -MARLO CUETO/INQUIRER.net
Franz Wagner topscored for Germany with 16 points and eight rebounds while his brother Mo had 12 points and four rebounds. Andreas Obst and Johannes Thiemann were the other Germans who hit double-digits with 13 and 10, respectively.
Schroder hopes to bounce back when Germany takes on Team USA in the semifinal on Friday.