Saturday night's contest between the Nets and Lakers was already missing a ton of star power before the game even started, as Los Angeles forwards LeBron James and Anthony Davis and Brooklyn guard James Harden were all sitting out with injuries. Then Kyrie Irving and Dennis Schroder decided to have a chat.
The Nets and Lakers guards were ejected from the ABC prime-time matchup after jawing back and forth early in the third quarter. The trash talk appeared to start after Irving was called for a foul and Schroder complained to a referee about Irving's constant reaching.
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Irving and Schroder were each handed technical fouls for the initial interaction, then T'd up again for refusing to quiet down.
Kyrie Irving and Dennis Schroder were both ejected after getting into it during the third quarter. pic.twitter.com/i2UEyKba3m
— ESPN (@espn) April 11, 2021
When asked by ESPN's Rachel Nichols about the conversation between Irving and Schroder, Nets coach Steve Nash said he had "no idea" what happened.
Asked Steve Nash at the quarter break for his view of the Kyrie-Dennis Schroder incident that got both point guards ejected. He said "I don't know. I have no idea what they were talking about. We've just got to play." Said the Nets' aggression has been missing all game.
— Rachel Nichols (@Rachel__Nichols) April 11, 2021
At the time of the ejections, the Lakers held a 66-62 lead. Los Angeles outscored Brooklyn 60-39 over the final 21-plus minutes and cruised to a 126-101 victory. Irving scored 18 points and grabbed four rebounds in 21 minutes, while Schroder totaled 19 points and four assists in 20 minutes.
