Dalton Knecht stats tonight: Lakers rookie gets limited minutes in blowout win vs Wizards (Jan. 21)

Dalton Knecht is in the middle of an up-and-down rookie season, struggling as of late after showing promise in the first month. He and the LA Lakers secured their third win in four games by defeating the lowly Washington Wizards on Tuesday night.

Knecht didn’t get on the court until three minutes into the second quarter, where he quickly grabbed a rebound but missed a 3-point attempt. At the 4:20 mark, his layup attempt was blocked by fellow rookie Alex Sarr, and he was pulled from the game shortly after.

In the first half, Knecht only managed to grab two rebounds, with no other notable stats.

Anthony Davis and LeBron James led the way in the first half, contributing 19 and 14 points, respectively, as the Lakers built a 59-49 lead. James also tallied seven assists and five rebounds, while Davis recorded eight rebounds and two blocks.

Jordan Poole led the Wizards with 12 points in the first half.

The Lakers dominated the second half, outscoring the Wizards 22-11 in the fourth quarter. Despite the game being largely under control, Lakers coach J.J. Redick kept his starters in until midway through the final period.

Dalton Knecht returned to the floor during this stretch and managed to sink a 3-pointer. Below are his full stats.

PLAYER	MIN	PTS	REB	AST	FGM	FGA	FG%	3PM	3PA	3P%	FTM	FTA	FT%	OREB	DREB	STL	BLK	TO	PF	=+/-
Dalton Knecht	08:04	3	2	0	1	4	25.0	1	2	50.0	0	0	0.0	0	2	0	0	0	0	8

James finished with a triple-double of 21 points, 13 assists and 10 rebounds, while Davis had 29 points and 16 boards.

Austin Reaves had 16 points and eight assists, while Dorian Finney-Smith had 16 points — his highest output since being traded to the Lakers.

Dalton Knecht slips out of NBA's Rookie of the Year ladder

Dalton Knecht, once ranked as high as third in the NBA.com Rookie of the Year ladder back in November, has seen his position steadily decline.

He has dropped in every subsequent edition and has been absent from the rankings since Dec. 19.

Knecht initially earned his third-place spot in the rankings — trailing only Jared McCain and Jaylen Wells — after an impressive nine-game stretch in November, during which he averaged 18.9 points, 4.9 rebounds and 4.0 made 3-pointers per game.

That run also featured a standout performance where he scored a career-high 37 points on 12-for-16 shooting.

However, since that time, his production has dipped significantly, averaging just 6.7 points per game on 39.4% shooting, including a troubling 19.2% from 3-point range.

In the weeks following his hot streak, Dalton Knecht dropped steadily in the rankings — falling to fourth, then fifth, sixth, ninth and eventually out of the top 10 entirely.

The most recent Rookie of the Year ladder is now led by Alex Sarr, followed by Yves Missi and Jaylen Wells.