The spotlight will be on rookie Dalton Knecht again on Thursday night when he takes the court for the Los Angeles Lakers against the Orlando Magic.
Knecht’s impressive 3-point shooting has already made an impact in his young NBA career. In just 14 games, the 6-foot-6 sharpshooter tied an NBA rookie record by hitting nine 3-pointers in Tuesday’s 124-118 win over the Utah Jazz.
Knecht went 9-for-12 (75%) from behind the arc in that game, and he is 21-for-31 (67.8%) in his last four games. His performance has shown that he’s exactly the type of shooter the Lakers were looking for to complement LeBron James and Anthony Davis.
“I just caught fire, and I just kept letting everything fly,” Knecht said in an interview on Spectrum SportsNet. “My teammates kept looking for me and running plays. Shout-out to them and (coach) JJ (Redick) for letting me go out there and keep letting that thing fly.”
Knecht’s hot streak has come at the same time as the Lakers’ six-game winning streak. The Lakers are also undefeated at home this season, with a perfect 7-0 record, joining Cleveland and Orlando as the only teams with no home losses.
While Davis leads the Lakers with an average of 30.7 points and 11.4 rebounds per game, Knecht’s career-high 37 points on Tuesday have raised his season average to 11.3 points per game and 24.3 over his last four games.
“It’s special to watch; it’s fun,” James said about Knecht’s shooting. “When a guy gets hot like that, you feel like you can throw anything into the ocean. It’s going in for sure.”
The Magic will play in the Los Angeles area for the second night in a row after losing 104-93 to the Clippers on Wednesday. The loss ended their six-game winning streak, which came while Paolo Banchero was out with an oblique injury. During that streak, Orlando managed to hold their opponents under 100 points in every game, but the Clippers broke that pattern by scoring more than 100.
Second-year guard Anthony Black is starting to make a bigger impact, with five double-digit scoring games in his last eight outings. He led the team with 17 points against the Clippers and had a season-high 20 points in a 109-99 win over the Phoenix Suns on Monday.
Black averaged just 4.6 points last season but is now up to 9.0 points per game. Over his last eight games, he’s averaging 11.3 points and also has 17 assists in his last two games.
“From a year ago to now, his maturity has gone to a different level,” Magic coach Jamahl Mosley said about Black. “Where he can go, I think it’s just gonna be continued leadership and vocal presence on the court with this group, and just continue to command the floor.”
Franz Wagner, the recent Eastern Conference Player of the Week, leads Orlando with 22.3 points per game, and Jalen Suggs is averaging 15. Without the contributions of Banchero (8.8 rebounds per game in five games) and Wendell Carter Jr. (8.8 rebounds per game in six games), Goga Bitadze has stepped up to lead the team with 6.4 rebounds per game.
Carter missed his ninth straight game on Wednesday due to a left foot injury but could be back for the game against the Lakers. He was listed as questionable before being ruled out Wednesday.
