Rookie Dalton Knecht registered his second 30-point game on Friday to help lead the short-handed Los Angeles Lakers in a loss on the road against the Denver Nuggets.
Knecht produced 32 points, two rebounds and one assist in the 131-126 loss at Ball Arena. He finished by shooting 13-of-27 from the field, including 5-of-13 from 3-point range, in 36 minutes as the Lakers dropped their fourth straight game.
The 17th pick is now one of eight rookies in franchise history with multiple 30-point games, joining the likes of Magic Johnson, Kyle Kuzma, Eddie Jones and D’Angelo Russell. He and Jones are the only players to accomplish that feat without committing a turnover.
Your Yahoo privacy setting is blocking social media and third-party content
You can Allow your personal information to be shared and sold.
Something went wrong. Try again.
Knecht played every minute of the fourth quarter, recording 11 points to help lead the Lakers without LeBron James, Luka Dončić, Rui Hachimura, Dorian Finney-Smith, Gabe Vincent and Jaxson Hayes. He survived a scary-looking fall late in the game, and said afterward that he is OK.
The performance continued a hot run of late for Knecht. He has scored in double figures in six out of his last seven appearances, averaging 16.1 points, four rebounds and 1.4 assists on 42% shooting from 3-point range over that span, including two starts.
Knecht is averaging 9.6 points and three rebounds on 36.6% shooting from 3-point range in 62 games this season with the Lakers. He is fifth in the rookie class in total scoring (595) and has the highest-scoring game by a first-year player after recording 37 points on Nov. 19.
This article originally appeared on Rookie Wire: Lakers news: Dalton Knecht registers 2nd 30-point game vs. Nuggets