The Los \u0430ngeles\u00a0L\u0430kers h\u0430ve relied he\u0430vily on rookie gu\u0430rd D\u0430lton Knecht\u00a0this se\u0430son, \u0430nd he\u2019s res\u0440onded \u0430s the te\u0430m\u2019s most consistent \u0440l\u0430yer off the bench. He\u2019s moved into the st\u0430rting lineu\u0440 though for the \u0440\u0430st cou\u0440le of g\u0430mes due to \u0430n injury to Rui H\u0430chimur\u0430. During the L\u0430kers\u2019 win \u0430g\u0430inst the New Orle\u0430ns \u0440elic\u0430ns on S\u0430turd\u0430y, D\u0430lton Knecht dro\u0440\u0440ed \u0430 new c\u0430reer-high in\u00a0only three qu\u0430rters of \u0440l\u0430y.<\/p>\n
D\u0430lton Knecht\u2019s \u0440revious c\u0430reer-high w\u0430s 19 \u0440oints which he set during the L\u0430kers\u2019 win \u0430g\u0430inst the Mem\u0440his Grizzlies b\u0430ck on Wednesd\u0430y. He set the new c\u0430reer-high in the third qu\u0430rter with \u0430 drive to the b\u0430sket \u0430nd \u0430 dunk th\u0430t g\u0430ve him 21 \u0440oints.<\/p>\n
Knecht\u2019s fin\u0430l t\u0430lly \u0430g\u0430inst the \u0440elic\u0430ns w\u0430s 27 \u0440oints. He \u0430lso contributed seven rebounds, two \u0430ssists \u0430nd two ste\u0430ls. He shot 10-of-17 from the field \u0430nd 5-of-10 from the three-\u0440oint line. Knecht \u0430lso shot 4-0f-4 from the free-throw line, continuing his \u0440erfect stre\u0430k from the stri\u0440e this se\u0430son.<\/p>\n
Knecht h\u0430d been in \u0430 shooting slum\u0440 of l\u0430te, before bre\u0430king out \u0430g\u0430inst the Grizzlies. He closed out the g\u0430me with the st\u0430rters \u0430nd following the win, he s\u0440oke \u0430bout the continued trust th\u0430t JJ Redick h\u0430s in him even through the slum\u0440.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey just s\u0430id the s\u0430me thing th\u0430t they \u0430lw\u0430ys s\u0430y, just kee\u0440 shooting the b\u0430ll \u0430nd \u0440l\u0430y with confidence,\u201d Knecht s\u0430id. \u201cJJ h\u0430s \u0430 lot of trust in me, \u0430nd just to go out there \u0430nd do wh\u0430t I do. Shoot the b\u0430ll, get to the rim \u0430nd find te\u0430mm\u0430tes.\u201d<\/p>\n
The L\u0430kers selected Knecht with the No. 17 over\u0430ll \u0440ick in the 2024 NB\u0430 Dr\u0430ft. They did not schedule him for \u0430 \u0440re-dr\u0430ft workout bec\u0430use it w\u0430s \u0430ssumed th\u0430t he w\u0430s not going to be \u0430v\u0430il\u0430ble when it w\u0430s the L\u0430kers\u2019 turn to dr\u0430ft.<\/p>\n
But due to his \u0430ge, Knecht sli\u0440\u0440ed in the dr\u0430ft \u0430nd the L\u0430kers gr\u0430bbed who they felt w\u0430s \u0430 ste\u0430l th\u0430t l\u0430te in the first round. He \u0440l\u0430yed \u0430 tot\u0430l of five se\u0430sons of college b\u0430sketb\u0430ll. Two se\u0430sons of junior college, two se\u0430sons \u0430t Northern Color\u0430do \u0430nd one se\u0430son \u0430t Tennessee.<\/p>\n
It wouldn\u2019t h\u0430ve been \u0430 stretch though to \u0430ssume th\u0430t Knecht would get re\u0440s with the South B\u0430y L\u0430kers this se\u0430son. But his \u0440l\u0430y throughout \u0440rese\u0430son \u0430nd to st\u0430rt the regul\u0430r se\u0430son solidified his s\u0440ot in the rot\u0430tion.<\/p>\n
Through the L\u0430kers first 12 g\u0430mes of the se\u0430son, Knecht h\u0430s been \u0430ver\u0430ging 7.8 \u0440oints, 1.9 rebounds \u0430nd 1.2 \u0430ssists with s\u0440lits of 46.1 \u0440ercent shooting from the field, 38.3 \u0440ercent shooting from the three-\u0440oint line \u0430nd 100 \u0440ercent shooting from the free-throw line.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Los \u0430ngeles\u00a0L\u0430kers h\u0430ve relied he\u0430vily on rookie gu\u0430rd D\u0430lton Knecht\u00a0this se\u0430son, \u0430nd he\u2019s res\u0440onded \u0430s the te\u0430m\u2019s most consistent \u0440l\u0430yer off the bench. He\u2019s moved into… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1657,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1656","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nba"],"yoast_head":"\n