Part of being a rookie in any professional sport is having to adjust when teams figure out what is working well and what isn’t for that player. Los Angeles Lakers rookie Dalton Knecht is experiencing that now after a hot start to the 2024-25 campaign.
Knecht finished in double figures in seven out of a nine-game stretch, including four games with 20 or more points, a 37-point night and five games with at least four 3-pointers made. Now, after that scorching stretch, teams are starting to adjust.
The Lakers rookie has 12 points on 1-for-10 from beyond the arc combined in his last two games — both starts — with defenses now showing him the respect of an elite spot-up shooter. Knecht isn’t concerned, though, as he knows it’s simply time to adjust, via Spectrum SportsNet:
“Yeah, for sure. They’re not letting me get any open looks and they’re starting to respect me. It’s all good. Now I’ll get to show them that I can play off the dribble and get to my floater game and midrange.”
Knecht’s struggles have coincided with the Lakers starting to fall apart on that end of the floor despite having one of the league’s most efficient scoring attacks earlier this season. And Knecht had a simple approach for how L.A. can fix that:
“I think it starts with our defense and getting out and running, I think that’s what we do best. I think that’s what we gotta do, But at the end of the day, I’m not sure. That’s the coach’s job so whatever he wants us to do, I’ll listen. Just go there and do what the coach says.”
It didn’t take long for Knecht to become one of the Lakers’ most important pieces in the early stretch of the season. Just 21 games in and he is a full-time starter who ebbs and flows with the team’s offense.
So him getting back on track and adjusting to the way defenses are now playing against him could directly correlate with the Lakers as a whole getting back on track offensively.
Anthony Davis discusses inconsistency from Lakers
It has been a rollercoaster of a start to the season for the Lakers. They started 3-0, then had a 1-4 stretch. They followed that up with six straight wins, but are now 2-5 in the seven games since. That has left Anthony Davis and company with a 12-9 record and the No. 8 seed in a crowded Western Conference.
The Lakers have been inconsistent all season long. They have had some nights where they look ready to step on the gas and go on a run. They’ve also had nights where they barely look interested in playing, like Monday night against the Minnesota Timberwolves when they scored 80 points for the game.
Davis, who finished with only 12 points, spoke about this inconsistency from L.A. through 21 games and what has been so frustrating about it.
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