Coming off of a disheartening three-game losing streak, the Los Angeles Lakers moved rookie guard Dalton Knecht back to the starting lineup. The Lakers had just lost to the Orlando Magic, Denver Nuggets, and Phoenix Suns in a row. The loss to the Magic was just by one point, but the Lakers were completely blown out by the Nuggets and Suns when Knecht left the starting lineup, and they collapsed in the second half of both games.
Knecht originally made his way into the starting lineup because of the injury to Rui Hachimura that kept the forward out for multiple games. During that time, Knecht emerged as a true scoring threat for the Lakers. He scored 27 points in a win over the New Orleans Pelicans, before going off for 37 points in the following win over the Utah Jazz. Knecht tied a rookie record for more three-pointers made in a single game, as he set his own personal best in scoring.
Before the Lakers lost consecutive games with Knecht out of the starting lineup, head coach JJ Redick noted that the team considered keeping the rookie in the lineup. After those back-to-back losses, the Lakers officially moved Cam Reddish back to the bench in favor of Knecht.
The move paid off in the first game since the change. With Knecht back starting, the Lakers rolled to a 119-101 win over the San Antonio Spurs. The Lakers scored more points in the second half than the first, and Knecht led the team with 20 points.
“I’m very proud of our group,” Redick said after the game, via Dan Woike of the Los Angeles Times. “The response was great. And it’s funny because it’s literally what I talked about with them before the game. It’s just you got to let go of the past. You got to let go of the recent past and you got to get on to the next thing. And like they’ve done already on several occasions, they’ve responded.”
The Lakers are now 4-2 when Knecht starts after dropping Friday night's game to the Oklahoma City Thunder.
