LeBron James saves the day yet again. As the Lakers finished the third quarter trailing by seven points, they needed to play near perfect in the final period to come out with a win against the Kings. And LBJ took matters into his own hands by sparking a 21-0 Lakers run and turning the tables on the visitors. But it was not the four-time champ who initially took the pressure off his team. No, it was not even Anthony Davis, who joined the ranks of legends Kobe Bryant and Jerry West with a historic feat.
Well, it was Dalton Knecht! And JJ Redick rightfully credited the rookie for hitting the shot that set the Purple and Gold franchise on the right track. When asked about James’ 16-point fourth-quarter outburst, Redick surprisingly said, “I’m gonna talk about LeBron in a second.” Then, he shifted the focus towards the 23-year-old rookie’s contribution, “We are down 7 and Dalton hits that three, cuts it to 4. So, all the I think the angst that we felt in ending that quarter that way, that was a big shot.” Yes, it was Dalton’s tough turnaround three to open the quarter that truly initiated the Lakers’ run.
Moreover, the head coach revealed that Knecht was more than prepared to handle the pressure, “Dalton was over there in his warmups just kind of casually stretching, I said ‘Hey, are you ready to make a shot?’ He said ‘I’m always ready.’” While the rookie played just over twenty minutes, his impact was massive as he scored 10 points and made two deep-range shots. And his fourth-quarter three might have been the most crucial shot of the game. Although Dalton was not as open on that shot as JJ would have liked, he remarked, “He has the ability to just hit the tough ones.”
Obviously, Knecht’s clutch gene was on full display in the preseason game against the Suns when he sent the game to overtime with a three. Then, he scored the first 13 Lakers points in the added minutes to lead his team to victory. And he sure showed another glimpse of it tonight. Meanwhile, AD continued his dominant start by becoming the first Laker since Kobe in 2005 to start the season with three straight 30-point games. Apart from them, the only two players to do it are Jerry West and Elgin Baylor. Obviously, this has instantly bumped Davis into MVP conversations. However, tonight belonged to LeBron James.
JJ Redick acknowledges LeBron James’ greatness and looks back on the First three wins
After giving Knecht his flowers, Redick smoothly shone the spotlight onto King James, “What can you say? We’ve all been very fortunate to watch his greatness for so long and the fact that he’s able to keep doing it, it’s actually insane.” Although we have seen it countless times, it still seems unfathomable whenever LBJ takes over games, that too near the age of 40. It’s an honor for everyone to witness his greatness every night.
More importantly, the Lakers are undefeated in the JJ Redick era, and the head coach was really impressed by what the team showed him in the last two days. “Basketball is a game of imperfect. And our guys, whether it’s some bad stretches, some bad breaks and the resiliency that we’ve built this week, I believe is a very good foundation for our group.” Sure enough, they made a massive comeback in both games which truly tested the Lakers’ grit and will to win. And it will surely help the squad later in the season when the games get tougher and the lights get brighter.
