The Los Angeles Lakers entered Friday night needing a win to earn a spot in the Western Conference Finals. While the game was taking place in their own building, the task ahead of them was a formidable one, as they needed to beat the defending champion Golden State Warriors if they wanted to secure a berth in the next round.
Tensions are always high in these sorts of environments, and at one point in the first quarter, a technical foul ended up getting assessed to Dennis Schröder, who was inserted into the starting lineup on Friday night after coming off of the bench in every game this postseason. The reason: He stood over Draymond Green while he was on the ground and taunted him.
There was some contact between Green and Schröder after LeBron James passed Green off to his teammate so he could guard Steph Curry, and while Green looked like he embellished a little, Schröder seemed very happy to stand right over him and bend down a bit while Green was getting up.
Dennis Schroder was assessed a technical foul for taunting Draymond Green. pic.twitter.com/rwfIK9rbd8
— ESPN (@espn) May 13, 2023
Schröder was smiling and laughing the whole time, and seemed like he was a little surprised when the referees hit him with a tech.