LOS ANGELES––Dalton Knecht scored a career-high 37 points to lead the Los Angeles Lakers (10-4) to a 124-118 victory in the NBA Cup over the Utah Jazz Tuesday night before 18,997 at Crypto.com Arena. Los Angeles extended its winning streak to six games and remains undefeated at home (7-0). The Lakers have not won six consecutive games since 2021.
Knecht tied the NBA's single-game rookie record with nine 3-pointers and Lakers coach JJ Redick had high praise for the rookie postgame.
“Yeah, you watch a guy in shooting drills, in small group games and in pickup for a few weeks, it’s obvious that he’s a shot maker and he was phenomenal tonight," he said. "I thought, you know, they tried to run that zone and he kind of shot them out of it. But that was all D’Lo (D’Angelo Russell). We had talked during a free throw to just get to this, and you know DK (Dalton Knecht) is going to be open. D’Lo hit him two or three times in a row. Bron (LeBron James) checked into the game, D’Lo sets the flare screen for him for that fourth or fifth one in that run. I don’t know what his stats were offensively, but D’Lo was great tonight [with] orchestrating defensively and his activity. The guy had a low man blocked shot against John Collins. Like that stuff does not go overlooked. He was great tonight. But I’m happy for Dalton. As a shooter, it was fun to watch a guy who can get hot like that.”
The Lakers are a 1/2 game back of the top seed in the Western Conference.
The Lakers led 57-44 at the half.
Dalton Knecht erupted in the third quarter for 21 points, connecting on five consecutive threes and at one point did the Michael Jordan shrug during his hot streak.
“Rui [Hachimura] was talking to me about how I need to get a 3-point celebration, so I didn’t know what to do, so I just gave the shrug," Knecht said. "“I didn’t know I scored 21 points in a row, but I just got in a groove. My teammates found me, and they were looking for me every time we got on offense. JJ [Redick] was calling plays for me, so they made it really easy for me. I just had to get open and get a shot up.”
Anthony Davis scored 26 points and 12 assists, and LeBron James scored 26 and 12 assists. Austin Reaves chipped in 17 points.
Lauri Markkanen scored 25 points for Utah, which has lost its last three games. Keyonte George scored 18 points, and Collin Sexton scored 19 points.
Up Next:
The Jazz will end their four-game road trip on Thursday when they travel to San Antonio.
Los Angeles will host Orlando on Thursday.