After a slow start to the season, Los Angeles Lakers rookie Dalton Knecht has really started to come on strong in recent games.
Saturday night’s win over the New Orleans Pelicans was the best performance of Knecht’s season as he scored a career-high 27 points on 10-of-17 shooting and 2-of-4 from deep to go along with seven rebounds, two assists and two steals.
When the Lakers were struggling and lacking energy, Knecht had a big stretch with 11 points in the third quarter to almost single-handedly bring his team back.
While some people may be surprised about how good Knecht has been for L.A., LeBron James is not one of those people.
“That he’s been a pro for a while,” James said of what this recent stretch shows about Knecht. “I talked about it last year, so it’s no surprise to me… No surprise to me.”
James went on to further expand on what Knecht has brought to the Lakers and why he believes he’ll be a big piece for them moving forward.
“His shooting, his finishes. He can get is off versus anybody. He’s 6’8-6’9 and he’s got a quick trigger, so it doesn’t take long for him to get them up. He’s sneaky athletic as well so his ability, when he starts getting those 3s to go and then he’s putting the ball on the ground and finishing at the rim as well, we saw that a couple times tonight. It was big-time for us, especially with Rui being out, Cam being out. We had a lot of bodies out as well just like they had.”
It’s clear that Knecht has gotten extremely comfortable over the last few games and has gained the trust of James and his teammates. His role with the Lakers should only increase moving forward as a result.
Dalton Knecht credits JJ Redick & teammates for trusting him
After another recent strong performance of his, Dalton Knecht credited JJ Redick and his Lakers teammates for trusting him to take shots despite struggling earlier in the year.
“It’s been good. I trust my shot and I work on it every single day,” Knecht added. “My teammates know that and they want me to keep shooting the ball every single game. They always look for me and JJ has got confidence in me, always calling my number and having plays for me. So I’m just going out there, staying confident and not only just trying to shoot the ball but find my teammates and play defense and grab rebounds.”
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