After an impressive Barclays Center debut, newly acquired Nets point guard Dennis Schroder will have the Brooklyn faithful behind him heading into this week’s home-and-home, back-to-back series with the league-best Boston Celtics.
“I’m glad we got the win,” Schroder said Saturday night after coming off the bench to amass 15 points and 12 assists during the Nets’ 123-103 rout of visiting San Antonio. “I think that’s the most important.”
Schroder, who arrived here in the deal that sent Spencer Dinwiddie to Toronto at last Thursday’s trade deadline, went 6-of-13 from the floor, including a 3-of-5 effort from 3-point range, in 27 solid minutes.
The 30-year-old German directed the Brooklyn offense quite capably, registering the most helpers in a Nets debut since James Harden handed out 14 on Jan. 16, 2021.
Perhaps more importantly, he won over the sellout crowd of 18,005 on the corner of Atlantic and Flatbush by complaining to the officials over an undetected elbow to the face he received from San Antonio’s super rookie Victor Wembanyama.
“The appreciation was there and I love that the fans did it,” Schroder said of the Brooklyn faithful chanting his name following the incident. “Big-time for me.”
Even bigger for the Nets (21-31), who snapped a three-game losing streak, albeit against the team with the worst record in the Western Conference.
Brooklyn also remained two games behind 10th-place Atlanta for the final spot in the Eastern Conference play-in tournament.
Nets coach Jacque Vaughn appreciated the performance, especially after Schroder finished with a plus-10 points differential on the night and earned acceptance from the fans and his new teammates almost instantly.
“He’s won games and played in high-level games, so for him to be out here on the floor and lead our group tonight, pretty impressive,” Vaughn said of the 11-year veteran, who was averaging 13.7 points and 6.1 assists through 51 games with the…
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