JJ Redick says Dalton Knecht put on a show in win over Suns

After Dalton Knecht’s remarkable showing against the Suns, JJ Redick had lots of praise for the Lakers rookie.

If Dalton Knecht was making his case for rotation minutes in moments and flashes this preseason, then Thursday was as loud a statement as he could make.

Knecht had as memorable an outing as one can have in a preseason game, scoring 30 points in the second half and 20 straight points between the fourth quarter and overtime to lead the Lakers to a comeback win over the Suns in Phoenix.

That included a the game-tying 3-pointer at the end a regulation, a flurry of them in overtime — including one as he was falling out of bounds to beat the shot clock — and a layup through a foul to cap off his night.

Even if it came in an exhibition game largely against reserves, it was the latest in a growing series of notable moments from Knecht. And head coach JJ Redick is taking notice.

“It was an incredible performance,” Redick said. “[TNT analyst] Reggie [Miller] and I were talking about it before the game and he was like, ‘It was high praise to say he’s in the 1% of shooters’ and I’m like ‘Nah, he’s in the 1% of shooters.’ The thing about him is just the mentality. It’s been very obvious in pick-up before the season, in training camp, thus far in games. He’s got no fear. He’s not afraid of the moment. That was a show that he put on.”

If anyone knows what it’s like to catch fire as a shooter, it’s Redick. As Knecht continued knocking down shots through the fourth quarter and into the extra session, the Lakers kept getting the ball in his hands.

“I did a project in my statistics class on the Hot Hand Theory and for a long time,” Redick said, “the Hot Hand Theory was debunked and then it got redebunked (sp). It’s a very real thing. Every player’s that been in the zone like that, in the flow state, knows ‘Just give me the basketball.’ It’s not even that you make every shot, it just feels supernatural when you’re in that state. And that was supernatural what he just did.”

While Knecht is still a rookie and a lot of his statistical production, particularly in recent games, has come against non-starters and end-of-bench players, Knecht is still certainly making a compelling case for rotation minutes.

With news that Jarred Vanderbilt officially won’t be back for the start of the season, Knecht likely figures into the Lakers rotation early. From there, he’ll have to earn more minutes, but if he keeps showing out as he’s done in the preseason and on Thursday, it’ll be hard to keep him off the court.

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