Dalton Knecht has career game for Lakers in comeback win against Memphis

On November 14, 2024By Littum

Dalton Knecht left his feet too soon.

The Los Angeles Lakers guard passed to Rui Hachimura, landed and gathered. The former Tennessee basketball superstar recovered the ball and left his feet again.

Knecht hit the third quarter 3-pointer. Then he made another and roared for a career-high 19 points in the The Lakers’ comeback victory of 128-123 against the Memphis Grizzlies Wednesday in Los Angeles.

“We leaned on Dalton Knecht,” Lakers star LeBron James said on ESPN. “That’s what we did. (Anthony Davis) got into foul trouble and our first-round pick hit a hot streak. He looked like he was back at Tennessee. We leaned on him and I just tried to sprinkle in a few games here and there.”

Knecht, who had an iconic run at Tennessee last season, was 5-for-5 on 3-pointers and 7-for-8 shooting in 31 minutes. He had career bests in 3-pointers, field goals and minutes.

Dalton Knecht had a career-high 19 points for the Lakers vs. the Grizzlies

Knecht averaged 6.1 points in 16.9 minutes per game. match that started on Wednesday. He played early against the Grizzlies. He knocked down a 3-pointer in the first quarter.

The No. 17 pick in the 2024 NBA Draft made another one in the second, then hit a baseline jumper to eclipse his season average. He made another mid-range jumper in the third quarter before starting a flurry of 3-pointers to fuel the comeback.

How Dalton Knecht sparked the Lakers’ comeback against Memphis

Knecht had 10 points late in the third quarter when James joined Davis on the bench, the former for a fast break and the latter in foul trouble.

Knecht immediately made the 3-pointer thanks to Hachimura’s help to pull the Lakers within 92-86. He dribbled right into the next one, which cut Memphis’ lead to 92-89. The Lakers cut the lead to five before James, who had a triple-double, returned at the start of the fourth quarter.

The UT product hit another 3-pointer over Memphis’ Santi Aldama early in the fourth. He followed that up by getting in transition and throwing a lob to Christian Koloko for a game-tying dunk.

When Davis returned, the Lakers were led by one, and Knecht was a major reason.

Dalton Knecht was the Lakers’ first-round pick out of Tennessee basketball

Knecht won SEC Player of the Year and was a consensus first-team All-American in his only season at Tennessee. He averaged 21.7 points after transferring from Northern Colorado while averaging 25.5 points in SEC play.

Knecht had 13 games with 25 points, eight games with 30 points, six games with 35 points and one game with 40 points. A Tennessee player had scored 35 or more 50 times in history before Knecht. The Thornton, Colo., native finished with 780 points, the second most in a season by a Vol ever.

Mike Wilson covers University of Tennessee athletics. Email him at [email protected] and follow him on Twitter @By Mike Wilson. If you enjoy Mike’s coverage, consider a digital subscription which gives you access to it all.