Dalton Knecht Offers Lakers Silver Lining in Blowout Loss

Los Angeles suffered a 24-point loss to the Cavaliers. But its rookie offered a silver lining.

Oct 28, 2024; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; Los Angeles Lakers guard Dalton Knecht (4) against the Phoenix Suns at Footprint Center. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images / Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

In an otherwise positive Lakers season so far, Wednesday’s game versus the Cleveland Cavaliers was anything but.

From start to finish, Cleveland dominated, riding its front court of Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen, as well as star Donovan Mitchell to an eventual 24-point win. The team scored 42 points in the opening frame, and did a good job of keeping its eyes forward until the end.

One positive was superstar LeBron James’ bounce-back game: 26 points, six rebounds and three assists. But the ultimate silver lining for the Lakers came in the form of first round draftee Dalton Knecht.

For the second time this season, Knecht led the Lakers’ bench in scoring, this time seeing his best-ever regular season performance in the purple and gold. He scored 18 points on 6-for-12 shooting, adding three rebounds and one assist. He finished third in scoring on the team, only behind the its superstar duo in James and Anthony Davis.

At 23, Knecht is one of the older players in the entire 2024 NBA Draft class. But good performances this early in any career are highly encouraging. 

Even more, Knecht was able to get his 18 points shooting just 2-for-7 from beyond the arc — an area he’ll show definite improvement in given his track record. Across 436 total 3-point attempts in his final two collegiate seasons, Knecht converted 39% of those, a very strong number given the pure volume.

On the season, Knecht is now averaging 8.2 points, 1.2 rebounds and assists per game, shooting 45% overall and 35% from beyond the arc. Despite those numbers not being out of this world, that would rank him highly among rookies given the class’s lackluster start.

Los Angeles will look to stay above .500 against the Toronto Raptors on Friday, Nov. 1.

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