Dalton Knecht, Anthony Davis lead LeBron-less Lakers to preseason victory over Suns
The “dress rehearsal” the Lakers hoped to have in their preseason game against the Phoenix Suns on Thursday night didn’t come to fruition.
And it’s unlikely it will happen in their preseason finale against the Golden State Warriors on Friday night in San Francisco, either.
LeBron James and Rui Hachimura sat out of the Lakers’ 128-122 overtime win over the Suns at the Footprint Center, leaving the Lakers without two of their regular starters in their penultimate exhibition.
And first-round draft pick Dalton Knecht made the most of the extra playing time, scoring 35 points, including 30 in the second half/overtime to lift the Lakers to their second win in five preseason games.
Anthony Davis played extended minutes and had his best game of the preseason: 35 points, 10 rebounds and four assists in 34 minutes, playing all four quarters for the first time. He shot 14 of 28 from the field, including a 4-for-9 showing from 3-point range – with all of his perimeter baskets coming in the first quarter.
As part of his second-half scoring flurry, Knecht hit a 28-foot stepback 3-pointer over 7-foot-3 Bol Bol to tie the score at 113-all with 4.8 seconds left in regulation.
He scored another 13 points in overtime, sending the veteran players on the Lakers’ bench into a frenzy with each basket, including a layup to give the Lakers a 126-122 lead with 55 seconds left.
Knecht scored or assisted on the Lakers’ final 22 points. He shot 10 for 18 from the field, including 8 for 13 from behind the arc, to go with seven rebounds and two blocked shots.
The scoring totals for Knecht and Davis are tied for the most by any players this preseason, according to ESPN.
It appears James’ preseason is over, giving the 39-year-old star a week of rest before Tuesday’s regular-season opener against the Minnesota Timberwolves at Crypto.com Arena.
James, who is entering his 22nd NBA season, won’t play against the Warriors, according to multiple media reports.
TNT’s Jared Greenberg was the first to report James’ planned absence on Friday.
“Just rest – DNP-old,” Lakers coach JJ Redick quipped ahead of Thursday’s game about James sitting out against the Suns. “Taking it out of [San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich’s] book.”
James will finish the preseason with averages of 12 points (46.9% shooting – 57.1% from 3-point range), 4.3 rebounds and 3.7 assists in 18.5 minutes across three games – Oct. 6 against the Suns in Palm Desert, Oct. 10 against the Bucks in Milwaukee and Tuesday vs. the Warriors in Las Vegas. The game against the Warriors was the only one in which James played after halftime.
The Lakers originally hoped to play their normal rotation extended minutes on Thursday, the first night of a back-to-back, but those plans changed when James and Hachimura (calf tightness) didn’t suit up.
Austin Reaves, Gabe Vincent and Max Christie were also on minutes restrictions.
“You have to look at all of the factors and you don’t often get to live in an idealized world in this league, and that’s OK,” Redick said pregame. “Given all the factors, with LeBron, given that a couple of guys, it’s not that they’ve had injuries, but they’re banged up. Or in Gabe’s case, he dealt with an injury all last season, so we’ve been cautious with him throughout preseason. That’s what we’ve done.
“You don’t get to live out things exactly the way you want in this league very often, and that’s fine. We did have a dress rehearsal, game day, shootaround, film session, all of that [Thursday]. And we’ll do the same for our pregame. It’s just the first time we’ve done that all preseason. So, we’ve still gotten to do some stuff we’ve wanted to do.”
Reaves finished with 18 points and eight rebounds in 22 minutes.
Devin Booker led the Suns with 22 points, while Kevin Durant finished with 19 points, eight rebounds and eight assists.