Maxi Kleber’s buzzer “redemption”

” I have to watch it again! “, respond Maxi Kléber with a big smile, while a local TV commentator remarks that it will not be difficult for him to find the images of his “buzzer beater”, converted on the floor of the Lakers this night.

There were just under seven seconds left when Theo Pinson delivered the throw-in for the Mavs, heading for Kyrie Irving. The latter, with his team trailing by two points, dribbled past in the desperate search for space between Dennis Schroder and Wenyen Gabriel.

Before stopping, to change his mind about his desire to shoot and reverse the game towards his teammate. And when Maxi Kleber got the leather, there was about a second left to play. Not really the time to think, or to put very stable supports.

“ When he made the pass, I knew I had to trigger fast “Euphemizes the shooter, before adding:” It was an incredible feeling. Once I let go of the ball, I saw it in the air and I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, it has a chance of going in’. All of a sudden he walked in, and the next moment the whole team was running towards me. It was a really cool experience. »

” Knowing Ky, (I suspected that) he wanted to play for the win. With the two-man take, he had to let go of the ball. It’s a matter of trust with his teammates, and Maxi was in the right place at the right time “Describes Jason Kidd, whose hero of the evening was challenged late by Anthony Davis.

” I was reading the action (by Kyrie Irving) knowing he was probably going to take the last shot. He moved but did not fire. So when he lifted the ball, it drew me towards the circle. I was going to look for the rebound. I thought he was shooting. He made a pass to Kleber. He succeeded in shooting “, Details “AD” with a form of fatalism.

The support and trust of Kyrie Irving

He absolutely wanted to avoid committing another foul on the German, like a few seconds earlier. On the previous possession, the interior of the Lakers had hit his opponent when he was already shooting at 3-pointers. His three free throws had allowed Dallas to come back to one point, before Davis returned only one out of two throws in turn. ” It sucks, to say the least “says Austin Reaves.

Maxi Kleber, who tried not to end up injured when his teammates jumped on him, claims to have never converted a shot like this. He too appreciated the confidence of his leader.

“ He told me it’s redemption. He’s a good teammate, he finds the right words for me, he’s always been there for me. I was in a bad dynamic the last few games, he told me it was time for redemption “Reports the German, speaking of his teammate who arrived in February.

Author of 10 points (2/4 on shots including 1/3 from afar) in total in the match, including 6 in the last seven seconds, the interior was only turning at 5 points on average (42% including 33%) since his return from a long convalescence.

This shot is therefore important for him, but especially for his team. ” If you look at the leaderboard, you know that every win counts, especially this one. It’s important to win two games in a row. Whether it’s beautiful or not, it doesn’t matter. I think we showed a lot of character tonight “, welcomes the unlikely hero.