Dalton Knecht had himself a night in the Los Angeles Lakers preseason game against the Phoenix Suns, and there wasn't much for him to say. After the game, TNT reporter Jared Greenburg asked Knecht about his performance, and he only had four words.
“I was just hooping,” Knecht said.
Knecht finished the game with 35 points and shot 8-of-13 from three. At one point, Knecht scored 20 straight points for the Lakers in the fourth quarter and overtime. All while Knecht was hitting shot after shot, his teammates were up, excited, and jumping for him, including Anthony Davis and LeBron James.
35 points.
13 in overtime.
W.Way to go, rook 🫡 pic.twitter.com/7bObW4hd1h
— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) October 18, 2024
After the game, Knecht shared what Davis and James said before his finish.
“Bron and AD said ‘It's time,' so it was time to take over,” Knecht said.
Dalton Knecht takes over in Lakers' preseason game vs. Suns
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Both the Lakers and Suns played their starters for most of the game, and then most of the reserves came in with about 5 minutes left in the game. That's when Dalton Knecht turned up his game, knocking down several three-pointers to keep the Lakers in the game.
Head coach JJ Redick has always had high praise for Knecht, and even shared a story about a conversation he and Reggie Miller had about him.
“Reggie [Miller] and I were talking before the game and he was like, ‘It’s high praise to say he’s in the top 1% of shooters …’ Well, nah, he’s in the top 1%. … That was supernatural what he just did,” Redick said.
With the way that Knecht played, the Lakers would have to find a way to find rotational minutes for him, especially with his ability to get hot at any time. There's a good chance he'll get those minutes, and it'll be up to him to keep them, but with the Lakers not having many legit shooters on the team, he should be safe. Knecht had been shaky with his shooting up to this point, so it's good to see a few go down for him.