The Los Angeles Lakers have had surprising success by starting rookie Dalton Knecht after an injury to Rui Hachimura. Joining LeBron James, Anthony Davis and Austin Reaves, Knecht has seen an accelerated development process. He already has a 37-point game under his belt and he tied a rookie NBA record with nine threes in that game.

And one of the reasons for his rapid success is his chemistry on and off the floor with Reaves. The two were dating before Knecht’s time with the Lakers, and the stats show it. The pair has a net rating of 7.9 in the four games since Knecht moved into the starting lineup, which is the best of any Lakers two-man pairing that has played at least 60 minutes in the four games.

Part of what makes Knecht feel like he can shoot at will and play his game is his relationship with Reaves, knowing he’s sharing the court with someone who has confidence in him.

“Austin, as I’ve said several times, he texted me throughout my time at Tennessee, so now that he’s there, I can ask him any question and he’s always there to help me. Me and him shoot every day after training ends. When you have a guy like that who has been in the league and does things like me, a guy who always has confidence in me and wants me to shoot the ball, that’s always good.”

Reaves, meanwhile, enjoyed seeing Knecht welcomed into the NBA’s 37-point game moment. And he spoke about his thoughts on their relationship.

“It was phenomenal. I was benched in the fourth and honestly I thought I was going to stay on the bench in the fourth…

“But no, like I said out there on the radio, if you saw him in college, you know what he’s capable of. When he sees some of his first shots coming in, he can go into that mode where he’s unconscious. I kind of expect it from him, because I’ve watched him a lot. So we will continue to encourage him to do what he does.”

Reaves went into detail about the advice he would give Knecht moving forward, but he didn’t have much to say about where the young forward is yet.

“Honestly, I don’t think he needs any advice,” Reaves said. ‘As I said yesterday: he is a murderer. You challenge him with something and he accepts whatever challenge you throw at him. It could be anything, it could be a better guard, whatever it is, he’s up for the challenge.

“There were several times where JJ was like, ‘Are you ready to shoot?’ And he said, ‘I’m always ready to shoot.’ So he has a really good mentality for the way he plays the game and like I said, he could have nights like he was tonight and go unconscious and win games for us. That’s pretty much what I expect from him.”

The relationship between Knecht and Reaves should only grow the more the two play together. They both fit strongly alongside James and Davis and complement each other perfectly offensively.

Anthony Davis: Dalton Knecht has notified the league

Knecht is shooting 46.4% from three-point range this year, but over the past four games he has been unconscious shooting 67.7% from deep. Many felt like the Lakers got a steal when Knecht fell to them in the draft and it appears to be a fact as Davis believes the rookie has put the league on notice with what he is capable of.

“I mean, we all knew what he could do,” Davis added. “He’s more of an experienced player than a lot of rookies just because of his long college career. We knew he could play. I just saw him play in Tennessee and we saw him play here a few times before the games, so we knew what he could do. It’s obviously a different translation when you get into the league, but he seemed to adapt.

“His confidence is very high, even coming to camp and summer league. He was phenomenal. Hopefully he can keep it up. He always talks about how he doesn’t get any bad decisions, but he definitely gets some mistakes. I know he definitely put the league on notice. Not just shooting the ball, but the way he plays in general.”

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