Dennis Schroder posted 17 points in his return to the court Friday night, prompting an overall positive response from Oklahoma City Thunder head coach Billy Donovan.
“I thought he played really well. I felt like he had a pretty good rhythm, just the flow of the way we were playing,” Donovan said.
“From a conditioning standpoint, I wanted to give him maybe another four or five minutes there in that third quarter and then let him rest from there, but I felt like he got some really good work in tonight. And I thought he looked and played well.”
The 25 minutes Schroder played in the 107-103 overtime loss to the Los Angeles Clippers was just five minutes less than his season average.
He’s trying to get back into rhythm after missing two weeks, when he left the bubble to be home for the birth of his second child and then was quarantined for four days upon return.
“I feel great. Being away for six games is always tough, but I kept myself ready,” he said.
Now, the rotations need to get back in sync.
With Chris Paul and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander practicing as solo point guards more often, there has been a sort of mishmosh order of the rotation, especially during games in which Donovan was giving bench players more minutes than they will get in the playoffs.
Over these next days of practice, the Thunder will be able to again play with two of Paul, Gilgeous-Alexander and Schroder on the floor together at all times.
“We haven’t really had a lot of that since we had the training camp. Once games have started, we’ve been a team that’s had some missing pieces,” Donovan said.
“We need to keep getting better and get prepared. I think the more that those guys can develop that bond, that chemistry, that rhythm together, that’s what we want to try to help them accomplish before we get ready to play.”
There’s little time left. Oklahoma City had a day off Saturday, and will have two days of practice before the series against the Houston Rockets starts Tuesday.
Schroder got back against the Clippers in the nick of time.
“It was the last game, so it’s go time,” he said.