Los Angeles Lakers rookie Dalton Knecht has struggled to get his shot going so far this season as opposing teams are well aware of what he is capable of. But he got it going against the Memphis Grizzlies on Wednesday night, shooting a perfect 5-of-5 from deep on his way to a career-high 19 points in the Lakers’ win.
Knecht was especially crucial in the third quarter, coming in and knocking down a pair of threes to give the Lakers a much-needed boost as the Grizzlies threatened to pull away. But even with momentum going Memphis’ way, Knecht didn’t sense the need to do anything different than he normally does.
“I didn’t,” Knecht said when asked if he felt the Lakers needed more energy in the third. “I just think they came out and punched us in the mouth and I was able to help energize us and punch them back in the mouth at the end of the day. I think we just went out there and played Laker basketball at the end of the day and I got hot and they kept feeding me.”
Whether he felt it or not, the Lakers benefitted from his performance. Knecht had shot just 20% from deep over his previous four games, but he never lost confidence and neither did head coach JJ Redick nor his teammates.
“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.”
Having that level of confidence from your coaches and teammates makes getting through a shooting slump that much easier. As long as Knecht puts in the work, the rest of the Lakers know what he is capable of and continued to give him the same message.
“They just said the same thing that they always say, just keep shooting the ball and play with confidence,” Knecht said. “JJ has a lot of trust in me to go out there and do what I do, shoot the ball, get to the rim and find teammates. I got the hot hand and Bron was finding me in transition and I was just letting that thing fly.”
Getting Knecht going would be a huge boost for this Lakers team as he is the best shooter on the roster and can help open things up for the rest of the team. It helps that he is never lacking confidence in his shot and Redick and the rest of the Lakers continue to believe in him as well.
JJ Redick calls Dalton Knecht ‘catalyst’ in Lakers win over Grizzlies
And JJ Redick also had high praise for Dalton Knecht after the game, calling him the ‘catalyst’ for the Lakers’ comeback in the second half over the Grizzlies.
“I thought he was the catalyst for our comeback. It wasn’t just AD being in foul trouble and time and score; it was also just the energy. We, for whatever reason, we were having trouble getting stops and had some turnovers, didn’t execute, and we kind of lost our life a little bit and thought those, those back-to-back ones were huge. Got the crowd into it, got our bench into it, gave us it gave us a new life.
“He was fantastic. Not just shooting the ball. We’ve we’ve been challenging him lately to just be tougher, be more in tune with our game plan. Not going to say it was perfect, but baby steps. I mean, he was great tonight.”
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