Anthony Davis reveals how Dalton Knecht frustrates Lakers players.
Dalton Knecht has had an impressive start to his NBA career but there are times when he frustrates and upsets his Los Angeles Lakers teammates. After the Lakers’ 104-99 over the New Orleans Pelicans at Smoothie King Center on Saturday, Anthony Davis stated that everyone on the team wants Knecht to shoot whenever he can.
“Every time he shoots the ball, I think it’s going in,” Davis said. “That’s why we get so frustrated and upset when he doesn’t shoot. He’s a great player. He can defend, he can shoot, he can put it on the floor, he can pass. So, he can do it all but when he have his stretches where he gets hot, it’s a big boost for our team and we are able to feed off that energy and most of the time we make a run off of him.”
With how good of a shooter Knecht is, I’m not surprised that his teammates want him to let it fly. It’s not just his teammates who want that either, with head coach JJ Redick wanting Knecht to shoot first and pass later. The 23-year-old did just that against the Pelicans, finishing with 27 points (10-17 FG), seven rebounds, two assists, and two steals, and he played a big part in his team getting the win.
The Lakers were down double digits at halftime and Knecht helped turn things around in spectacular fashion. The rookie scored 11 points in the third quarter and his last basket of the period gave the Lakers their first lead since the first quarter.
Davis and LeBron James took over after Knecht’s scoring outburst to get the Lakers over the line and make it five wins in a row. They have now improved to 9-4 on the season and are fourth in the standings in the West.
Many considered Knecht to be the steal of the 2024 NBA Draft, as the Lakers selected him with the 17th pick, and he is proving them right. He has averaged 20.0 points in his last three games while shooting 63.9% from the field and 63.2% from beyond the arc. While that efficiency isn’t sustainable, he has shown he has what it takes to be a very good player in the NBA.
Davis wasn’t the only one singing Knecht’s praises after the game. LeBron James was also impressed by Knecht after his big night.
“He’s been a pro for a while. I talked about it last year so it’s no surprise to me. His shooting, his finishes, he can get it off versus anybody,” James said. “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 threes, to go and then he’s putting the ball on the ground and finishing at the rim as well, we saw that a couple of times tonight. It was big time for us, especially with Rui being out and Cam being out. We had a lot of bodies out as well, just like they had.”
James and Davis needed someone to step up in Rui Hachimura and Cam Reddish’s absence and Knecht did just that. It’s unclear if either Hachimura or Reddish will be back for the Lakers’ next game against the Utah Jazz at Crypto.com Arena on Tuesday at 10:30 PM ET. If they do miss out yet again, the Lakers would be confident that Knecht would rise to the challenge again.