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Dalton Knecht’s historic 3-point performance fuels Lakers’ win against Jazz

Lakers rookie Dalton Knecht takes a 3-point shot during the first half of their NBA Cup Group Play game against the Utah Jazz on Tuesday night at Crypto.com Arena. Knecht tied an NBA rookie record by making nine 3-point shots on his way to 37 points in a 124-118 win. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)

LeBron James, second from left, and the rest of the Lakers’ bench celebrates after rookie teammate Dalton Knecht (not pictured) makes his fourth consecutive 3-point shot during the second half of their NBA Cup Group Play game against the Utah Jazz on Tuesday night at Crypto.com Arena. Knecht tied an NBA rookie record by making nine 3-point shots on his way to 37 points in a 124-118 win. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)

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LOS ANGELES — Lakers rookie Dalton Knecht was already on a hot streak entering Tuesday night’s home game against the Utah Jazz.

But he took it to another level in the Lakers’ 124-118 NBA Cup Group Play victory, putting on a historic performance that earned a standing ovation from the announced crowd of 18,997 at Crypto.com Arena.

Knecht scored a career-high 37 points, tying an NBA rookie record by making nine 3-pointers on 12 attempts.

“Real life ’ooter’ – it was special to watch,” Lakers star LeBron James said. “It’s fun. When you’re playing the game the right way and it’s coming into the flow and when a guy gets hot like that and you feel like you can just throw anything into the ocean and it’s going in.”

Knecht’s last 3-pointer – a 26-footer off the catch on a pass from James (26 points, 12 assists) that put him at 36 points for the game – tied him with Rodrigue Beaubois (March 27, 2010), Yogi Ferrell (Feb. 3, 2017) and Keyonte George (Feb. 15) for the rookie single-game record.

“He’s a real ’ooter, for sure,” Lakers star Anthony Davis said of Knecht. “He’s the best ’ooter on the team. I give my crown away. I give my crown away.”

Knecht split a pair of free throws a little over one minute later for his 37th point – tied for the eighth-most scored by a Lakers rookie in franchise history.

He received a standing ovation as he subbed out and walked toward the bench with 8:40 left in the fourth quarter after scoring 22 points during a stretch of just under six minutes across the third and fourth quarters.

“It was great hearing Crypto get up like that every time I touched the ball,” said Knecht, who is 14 for 17 from behind the arc in his last two home games and 21 of 31 in his past four games overall. “It was, I don’t know if they were standing or whatever, they was just going crazy, especially after I made it. It was a real great feeling.”

Knecht received another standing ovation when he re-entered the game with 6:11 left, but he only took one more shot – a 3-point attempt with 1:49 left that hit the front of the rim.

The 23-year-old wing out of Tennessee is the fourth Laker to make at least nine 3-point shots in a game, something done by Kobe Bryant (four times) and Knecht’s current teammates James (twice) and D’Angelo Russell (once).

Knecht did most of his damage late in the third, making four straight 3-pointers and a trio of free throws in the final 3½ minutes of the quarter to extend the Lakers’ lead from 79-68 to 97-75 heading into the fourth.

After his fourth 3-pointer of the aforementioned stretch – and his fifth of the third – Knecht hit “The Shrug,” mimicking the celebration Chicago Bulls great Michael Jordan made famous during Game 1 of the 1992 NBA Finals after hitting six 3-pointers in the first half.

“(Teammate) Rui [Hachimura] was talking to me about I need to get a 3-point celebration,” Knecht said. “So I didn’t know what to do. So I just gave The Shrug.”

The Jazz (3-11) stuck around despite Knecht’s hot shooting, cutting their deficit to seven late with their 43-point fourth quarter, but the Lakers were able to close out the win.

With their sixth consecutive victory, the Lakers improved to 10-4 overall and 7-0 at home, their best home start since 2001. The six-game win streak is their longest since February 2021, shortly after their championship run in the Florida bubble.

Davis finished with 26 points, 14 rebounds, six assists and two steals. Austin Reaves had 17 points and five assists.

Russell finished with eight points and six assists, with Lakers coach JJ Redick crediting him for helping get Knecht going.

“D-Lo hit him two or three times in a row, ’Bron checked in the game, D-Lo sets the flare screen for him for that, I think that fourth or the fifth one in that run,” Redick said. “I don’t know what his stats are offensively, but D-Lo was great. Orchestrating. Defensively, his activity. Guy had a low-man blocked shot against John Collins. That stuff does not go overlooked.”

Lauri Markkanen recorded 25 points and eight rebounds for Utah. George scored 10 of his 18 points in the fourth quarter, and Collin Sexton added nine of his 19 in the fourth.

The Lakers improved to 2-0 in NBA Cup Group Play and are undefeated in tournament games dating to last season, when they won the inaugural event.