Lakers rookie Dalton Knecht hits 9 3-pointers in another outstanding perimeter performance

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Dalton Knecht could only shrug when he buried his fourth consecutive 3-pointer and sent the Los Angeles Lakers ' entire arena into a frenzy.

That was a very specific shrug by the Lakers rookie, however — the one made famous by Michael Jordan in the 1992 NBA Finals after a legendary 3-point flurry.

“Rui (Hachimura) was talking to me about (how) I need to get a 3-point celebration,” Knecht said. “I didn't know what to do, so I just gave the shrug.”

A shrug is also the increasingly accurate response to the question many NBA fans are asking after Knecht's 37-point barrage Tuesday night: Just how did Knecht fall to the Lakers with the 17th pick in last summer's draft?

Knecht torched the Utah Jazz with nine 3-pointers in the Lakers' 124-118 victory, tying the single-game rookie record. He got on a major roll in the third quarter, hitting those four consecutive 3s before adding three free throws and another triple — and yet another 3 at the start of the fourth.

“I just got in a groove,” Knecht said. “My teammates found me, and they were looking for me every time. They made it easy for me. I just had to get open and get the shot up.”

Knecht scored 21 points in the third quarter, and he had 21 consecutive points for the Lakers spanning the third and fourth. Although he didn't score again, he had staked Los Angeles to a lead that proved insurmountable with the latest demonstration of his formidable shooting skill.

“He was phenomenal tonight,” Anthony Davis said. “When you're hot like that, he's special to watch. Anytime he's shooting the ball like that, it definitely gives us energy.”

Knecht moved into the Lakers' starting lineup four games ago, and he has been outstanding in his increased role. He is averaging 24.3 points per game while going an astonishing 21 for 31 on 3-pointers.

The Lakers have spent years trying to find a catch-and-shoot option to complement Davis and LeBron James. Although the sample size is still relatively small just 14 games into the season, Knecht appears to be exactly what the Lakers have been seeking on the perimeter.

“His shot-making gets us going,” coach JJ Redick said. “It’s a real weapon for our group. Beyond just the score, it’s a weapon that energizes us.”

And when Knecht gets into the type of rhythm he found against Utah, he thrills his teammates — and even inspires fond memories for his rookie coach, who was a bit of a sharpshooter himself during his 15-year NBA career.

“It's the flow state,” Redick said. "You're not thinking. You're just perfectly in balance with the curvature of the earth, and the earth spinning on its axis a thousand miles an hour. You've let go, and the ball just feels weightless. It feels like everything is going to go in."

Knecht appears to be a key rotation player already for the Lakers, who are off to an impressive 10-4 start to the season. Los Angeles has won six straight games, its longest winning streak in nearly four years.

Knecht is also causing plenty of second-guessing in the league's front offices for letting him slip to the Lakers at No. 17.

At the time, the reasoning was thought to be twofold: Knecht is already 23 years old after playing five seasons of college basketball, and he also wasn't considered much of a defender.

Those concerns feel increasingly foolish with each impressive game by the late-blooming wingman who spent two years in junior college and two more at Northern Colorado before transferring to Tennessee for a fifth collegiate season.

Knecht was an All-American for the Volunteers, winning SEC Player of the Year honors while averaging 21.7 points per game. He caught the basketball world's attention — even in the Lakers' locker room, where James and Davis watched his games and Austin Reaves became a text friend well before the Lakers drafted him.

“I did not think he was going to fall to us,” James said. “I thought it would be impossible. I have no idea how that happened, but I’m very grateful and very happy that he’s here. I knew exactly what we was getting when he fell to 17.”

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Los Angeles Lakers guard Dalton Knecht, left, attempts to score against Utah Jazz guard Johnny Juzang during the second half of an Emirates NBA Cup basketball game, Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Etienne Laurent)

Los Angeles Lakers guard Dalton Knecht dunks during the first half of an Emirates NBA Cup basketball game agaianst the Utah Jazz, Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Etienne Laurent)

Los Angeles Lakers guard Dalton Knecht celebrates after scoring a 3-pointer during the second half of an Emirates NBA Cup basketball game against the Utah Jazz, Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Etienne Laurent)

SEATTLE (AP) — A major storm swept across the northwest U.S. Tuesday evening, battering the region with strong winds and rain and causing widespread power outages and downed trees that killed at least one person.

The Weather Prediction Center issued excessive rainfall risks through Friday and hurricane-force wind warnings were in effect as the strongest atmospheric river — a large plume of moisture — that California and the Pacific Northwest has seen this season overwhelms the region. The storm system is considered a “ bomb cyclone,” which occurs when a cyclone intensifies rapidly.

Downed trees struck homes and littered roads across northwest Washington. In Lynnwood, Washington, a woman died Tuesday night when a large tree fell on a homeless encampment, South County Fire said in a statement on X. In Seattle, a tree fell onto a vehicle, temporarily trapping a person inside, the Seattle Fire Department reported. The agency later said the individual was in stable condition.

“Trees are coming down all over the city & falling onto homes,” the fire department in Bellevue, about 10 miles (16 kilometers) east of Seattle, posted on the social platform X. "If you can, go to the lowest floor and stay away from windows. Do not go outside if you can avoid it."

Early Wednesday, over 600,000 houses in Washington State were reported to be without power on poweroutage.us. But the number of outage reports fluctuated wildly throughout the evening likely due in part to several weather and utility agencies struggling to report information on the storm because of internet outages and other technical problems. It wasn’t clear if that figure was accurate. More than 15,000 had lost power in Oregon and nearly 19,000 in California.

As of 8 p.m., the peak wind speed was in Canadian waters, where gusts of 101 mph (163 kph) were reported off the coast of Vancouver Island, according to the National Weather Service in Seattle. Along the Oregon coast, there were wind gusts as high at 79 mph (127 kph) Tuesday evening, according to the National Weather Service in Medford, Oregon, while wind speed of 77 mph (124 kph) was recorded at Mount Rainier in Washington.

Winds were expected to increase in western Washington throughout the evening, the weather service said.

The national Weather Service warned people on the West Coast about the danger of trees during high winds, posting on X, “Stay safe by avoiding exterior rooms and windows and by using caution when driving.”

In northern California, flood and high wind watches were in effect, with up to 8 inches (20 centimeters) of rain predicted for parts of the San Francisco Bay Area, North Coast and Sacramento Valley. Dangerous flash flooding, rock slides and debris flows were expected, according to the National Weather Service Weather Prediction Center.

A winter storm watch was issued for the northern Sierra Nevada above 3,500 feet (1,066 meters), where 15 inches (28 centimeters) of snow was possible over two days. Wind gusts could top 75 mph (120 kph) in mountain areas, forecasters said.

The National Weather Service issued a flood watch for parts of southwestern Oregon through Friday evening, while rough winds and seas halted a ferry route in northwestern Washington between Port Townsend and Coupeville.

A blizzard warning was issued for the majority of the Cascades in Washington, including Mount Rainier National Park, starting Tuesday afternoon, with up to a foot of snow and wind gusts up to 60 mph (97 kph), according to the weather service in Seattle. Travel across passes could be difficult if not impossible.

This photo released by Eastside Fire & Rescue shows a tree resting on the roof of a house during a major storm Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2024, in Issaquah, Wash. (Eastside Fire & Rescue via AP)

In this image made from video provided by National Weather Service Portland a powerful storm also called a 'bomb cyclone' rotates off the U.S. West Coast on Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2024. (National Weather Service Portland via AP)

This Nov. 19, 2024 satellite image provided by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration shows an atmospheric river moving in on Northern California and the Pacific Northwest. (NOAA via AP)

In this image provided by Eastside Fire & Rescue, officials survey the scene where a tree fell on a home in Issaquah, Wash., Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2024. (Eastside Fire & Rescue via AP)