Dalton Knecht Stats Tonight: How did Lakers rookie perform vs Magic after career-night? (Nov. 21)

Dalton Knecht retained his starting spot for the fourth consecutive night during Tuesday's home contest for the LA Lakers against the Orlando Magic as Rui Hachimura missed another game. Coming off a career-high 37-point night, shooting nine 3-pointers, Knecht demanded immense respect from the Magic's defense.

He entered the game knowing the Magic defense was going to be aggressive, but Knecht altered his game plan. Instead of waiting on the 3-point line for spot-up shooting chances, he helped LA's offense keep the Magic defense occupied with his movement.

Knecht also seemingly attacked closeouts and drove more to the rim to alter Orlando's schemes.

At the end of the first half, the rookie produced nine points and four rebounds in 18:02 minutes. He shot 4-of-6, including 1-of-2 from 3. Knecht was a +/- +7, the exact lead the Lakers had entering the locker room (67-60).

Dalton Knecht had another solid second half after he put up eight points while hitting timely shots at various junctures. He went 3-of-8 but hit two more 3s on five attempts in that span.

Knecht finished with another 15+ point night, tallying 17 on 7-of-14 overall shooting, including 3-of-7 from deep. He had four rebounds, one assist and three personal fouls in 39:06 minutes of action.

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Dalton Knecht reacts to Lakers' heartbreaking loss

Despite another solid effort from Dalton Knecht and invaluable contributions from LeBron James and Anthony Davis, the Lakers fell short against the Orlando Magic, losing 119-118. The Lakers held a 118-116 advantage with three seconds left when Franz Wagner nailed a game-winning 3-pointer over Cam Reddish.

That came after James and Davis combined to miss three of the team's six free throws in the clutch in the last 40 seconds. Davis missed the most crucial ones with 19 seconds left in that could have put LA up by four and the game out of Orlando's reach.

Dalton Knecht reacted to the loss, saying that he would have to watch the film, but on the surface, he felt the execution wasn't good with six minutes left, especially with the missed free throws. The Lakers went 3-of-9 overall in the fourth quarter. Austin Reaves missed two free throws, Davis three and LeBron failed to convert one.