Dalton Knecht Stats Tonight: How did Lakers first round pick fare vs Suns (Oct. 28)
Dalton Knecht played in his fourth consecutive game for the LA Lakers on Monday against the Phoenix Suns. Unlike his previous outings, Knecht had a slow start. He wasn't as impactful beyond the box scores, either. The rookie struggled in his seven second-quarter minutes with the lineup he usually plays with, including LeBron James, D'Angelo Russell, Jaxson Hayes and Rui Hachimura.
The Lakers lost Knecht and Co.'s minutes by a wide margin, contributing to LA giving up an 18-point lead. The Lakers ended the second quarter 25-14, going into halftime with a two-point deficit.
Knecht re-entered the game in the second half but only played four minutes. JJ Redick trusted his veterans more in a close game after a relatively off night from his impressive rookie player. Knecht remained scoreless.
Here are Dalton Knecht's stats:
JJ Redick outlines what part of Dalton Knecht's game he's most excited about
Lakers coach JJ Redick has been high on rookie Dalton Knecht since draft night. The Lakers' first-round pick was bound to be one of Redick's favorites, considering his shooting skills and offensive build.
The kind of plays he runs for him sums up why Redick can help a player like Knecht turn into a top-tier role player. However, that's not the only thing that has encouraged Redick about Knecht. The rookie coach has been excited to see him stepping up his efforts defensively, which is crucial for any player in his debut season.
"That's where I think we're most encouraged," Redick said about Knecht's defense before Monday's game.
"Again, he's gonna make some mistakes and that's okay. He wants to be coached. He wants to be great. But for me, I challenged him when we were four weeks out from training camp and we were doing a lot of small-group games and I just said, 'Hey, you're not gonna be a lockdown defender. I need your competitive spirit on that end to be higher.' And it was higher the next day."
Knecht has played his heart out defensively in his first few games of the year. He has gone up against the premier perimeter players like Devin Booker and Kevin Durant already, and while he's often lost those battles, it has been marginal.