Dennis Schroder MUST be a factor in Game 6

We mentioned the poor performance Dennis Schroder had a little bit earlier, but this simply cannot happen from him. 0 points, 0-9 from the floor, 4 rebounds, 1 assists and a plus-minus of -17 in 26 minutes on the floor. 

For a guy who wants over $80M per year, this is simply not going to cut it in Game 5 of a huge playoff series. Whether it is in the first-round or the NBA Finals, performances like these cannot happen in the playoffs when you are considered one of the better players on your team, especially when a guy like Anthony Davis is out. 

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The one time the Lakers actually needed Dennis Schroder to show up and have a decent performance, he choked and had one of the worst performances of his career. The good news for Los Angeles is that he cannot have a worse performance in Game 6, but nonetheless, he needs to be a factor in Game 6 if the Lakers are to extend this series to a Game 7 in Phoenix.

In Games 2 and 3, Dennis Schroder was fantastic, scoring 24 points and 20 points respectively, and did so by driving down the lane to the basket for easy layups. The Lakers won both of these games when Schroder was scoring, but if he is going to have performances like he did in Game 5, then there is no chance this team wins Game 6 at home. 

Schroder needs to be better and should be mad at himself because while he directly did not cause his team to lose, his 0 points and 0-9 shooting definitely did not help the cause. The Lakers still may have lost if Schroder would have scored 14-15 points in Game 5, but nonetheless, they have no shot of winning unless he scores in double-figures.