LeBron James on Dalton Knecht's career-high 19 points: 'Looked like he was back at Tennessee'

Vintage Dalton Knecht showed up for the Los Angeles Lakers Wednesday night against the Memphis Grizzlies at crypto.com Arena. The Knecht that starred during his one-and-done season at Tennessee was the one Lebron James saw it firsthand.

“We leaned on Dalton Knecht, that’s what we did,” James said after Knecht scored a career-high 19 points off the bench to lead the Lakers to a 128-123 win over the. Grizzlies. 

“AD (Anthony Davis) got in foul trouble and our first-round pick hit a hot streak, you know? Looked like he was back at Tennessee. We leaned on him.”

"We leaned on Dalton Knecht; that’s what we did… He looked like he was back at Tennessee."

– LeBron James pic.twitter.com/yifFJ0KaZO

— Vol Report (@AllVolReport) November 14, 2024

Knecht scored his 19 points in 31 minutes off the bench, going 7-for-8 from the field, including a perfect 5-for-5 from the 3-point line. He added two rebounds, three assists and a steal while he was a team-high plus-17 on the court for LA.

“I thought he was the catalyst for our comeback,” first-year Lakers coach JJ Redick said after the game. “It wasn’t just AD being in foul trouble and time and score; it was also just the energy. 

“We, for whatever reason, we were having trouble getting stops and had some turnovers, didn’t execute, and we kind of lost our life a little bit.”

The Lakers were down nine late in the third quarter when Knecht hit back-to-back threes. He added another pull-up three early in the fourth quarter. 

“(I) thought those back-to-back ones were huge,” Redick said. “Got the crowd into it, got our bench into it, gave us it gave us a new life.”

The Lakers selected Knecht with the 17th overall pick in the first round of the NBA Draft. Redick in September described Knecht as being in “the 1% of shooters.”

“Dalton Knecht, to me, I told him this the other day, he is in the 1% of shooters,” Redick said on the Lowe Post Podcast with Zach Lowe. “He’s in the 1%.” 

“We leaned on Dalton Knecht … he looked like he was back at Tennessee.” — LeBron James

19 PTS
7-8 FG
5-5 3FG
2 REB
3 AST pic.twitter.com/vrQ9WT3VRz

— Tennessee Basketball (@Vol_Hoops) November 14, 2024

Knecht starred in his one season at Tennessee last season, leading the Vols to the Elite Eight while averaging 21.7 points per game — he shot 45.8% from the floor and 39.7% from the 3-point line —  and 25.5 points in SEC games. He was the SEC Player of the Year and a consensus first team All American after transferring from Northern Colorado. 

He scored a career-high 40 points against Kentucky in his final game at Food City Center. He scored 30 or more points in eight games, 20 or more points in 19 games and 10 or more points in 32 of Tennessee’s 36 games.

Knecht scored 35 in his final appearance in the preseason, going on a run of 20 straight points for the Lakers, including 13 in overtime, in a 128-122 win over the Suns in Phoenix. 

He finished 10-for-18 from the field in the preseason finale, including 8-for-13 at the 3-point line, and grabbed seven rebounds to go with his 35 points in 32 minutes off the bench.

Knecht is now averaging 7.3 points 1.8 rebounds and 1.3 assists in 18.2 minutes per game, making one start over his first 11 NBA games. 

His previous career high was 18 points scored in a 134-110 loss at Cleveland on October 30. He had 10 against Sacramento on October 26.

Knecht had struggled of late, going 4-for-19 from the filed and 2-for-14 from the 3-point line over his previous three games. 

“He was fantastic (Wednesday),” Redick said. “Not just shooting the ball. We’ve we’ve been challenging him lately to just be tougher, be more in tune with our game plan. Not going to say it was perfect, but baby steps. I mean, he was great tonight.”