Los Angeles Lakers forward Dalton Knecht, the No. 17 pick in the 2024 NBA Draft, entered Thursday's game against the Phoenix Suns shooting 10 for 37 (27%) from 3-point range in the preseason. This was mildly disappointing, given that he shot 39.7% from deep at Tennessee last season and his coach -- JJ Redick, himself one of the best shooters in the history of the sport -- had said that Knecht is "in the 1%" as a shooter in an interview on "The Lowe Post" last month.
In Phoenix, Knecht went off -- from 3-point range and from everywhere else. He scored 35 points, including 18 straight in a five-and-a-half-minute stretch that began late in the fourth quarter, leading the Lakers to a 128-122 overtime win. He shot 10 for 18 from the field and 8 for 13 from downtown. He made a deep 3 over Bol Bol to tie the game at the end of regulation. He made an off-balance, end-of-shot-clock corner 3 out of a baseline out-of-bounds play in overtime. With a minute left in the extra frame, he blocked a shot on one end and converted an and-1 on the other. Knecht scored Los Angeles' first 13 points of OT and then assisted its final basket.
"It was an incredible performance," Redick told reporters, via the Los Angeles Times' Dan Woike. "Reggie [Miller] and I were talking about it before the game and he was like, 'It's high praise to say he's in the 1% of shooters.' And I'm like, 'Nah, he's in the 1% of shooters.' The thing about him is just the mentality. It's been very obvious in pickup before the season, in training camp, thus far in games. He's got no fear. He's not afraid of the moment. That was a show that he put on."
Redick continued, laughing: "And my assistants tried to tell me not to put him back in the game with four minutes to go, so I'm going to get them. I'm going to get them afterwards, I'll tell you that."
There was room for Knecht to step up because LeBron James (rest, or, as Redick joked, channeling Gregg Popovich, "DNP-old") and Rui Hachimura (calf) were out of the lineup and the Lakers limited Austin Reaves to 22 minutes because of a sore ankle. Anthony Davis scored 35 points -- and made four 3s in the first seven minutes! -- but was on the bench when Knecht took over, having subbed out for the night with more than six minutes remaining in the fourth quarter.
Knecht: "I caught the hot hand and I was just playing basketball at the end of the day. I was just going out there shooting and my teammates were looking for me."
— Spectrum SportsNet (@SpectrumSN) October 18, 2024
Mike Trudell caught up with the rookie after his 35-point performance. pic.twitter.com/KFv8EfA3Ew
While Knecht won't often have the opportunity to take 18 shots when the real games begin, Los Angeles has to hope that this outburst is still meaningful. If he can consistently find buckets in a variety of ways -- off the catch, off movement, off the dribble, in transition -- and hold up defensively, he will help Redick diversify the offense and combat the team's long-running spacing issue. The Lakers drafted the 23-year-old in part because they believed he could be in the rotation immediately. One preseason game does not prove them right, but this one was extremely encouraging.
Los Angeles' preseason finale is Friday against the Golden State Warriors.
