LOS ANGELES – After Lakers guard Dalton Knecht tied an NBA rookie record with nine 3-pointers en route to 37 points in a 124-118 win over the Utah Jazz on Tuesday, LeBron James wanted to clarify how Knecht ended up in LA

It wasn’t so much the Lakers’ stellar scouting department that identified the 6-foot-1, 215-pound wing as the ideal candidate to select with the No. 17 pick after an All-American senior season at the University of Tennessee.

It was all the other teams that passed him.

“They didn’t ‘find’ DK,” said James (26 points, 12 assists). “The other 16 teams messed up. Did anyone see him? S… They just didn’t make it up. You don’t ‘find’ SEC player of the year.”

And the Jazz couldn’t seem to find any effective defense to stop Knecht, who exploded for 21 points in the final 3:29 of the third quarter and doubled the Lakers’ lead from 11 to 22 heading into the fourth.

Knecht hit four consecutive 3s — the first three came courtesy of assists from D’Angelo Russell — and with each shot, the crowd in the Crypto.com Arena grew louder and louder.

With seemingly everyone in the building anticipating his next attempt, Knecht made Utah’s Cody Williams bite on a move and fouled him outside the three-point line, setting up three free throws. He made all three.

To cap off the flurry, he hit another 3 — again on Russell’s cue — with 26.3 seconds left in the third, finishing a perfect 6-for-6 for the quarter.

He finished the game 12-for-16 from the field, including 9-for-12 from 3, with five rebounds and a steal.

“I’m not worried about Dalton at all in terms of making the moment,” said Lakers coach JJ Redick, who has hit nine threes in a game just once in 940 career games — Knecht did it at 14 as a pro.” He is fearless. …it’s a real weapon for our group that goes beyond just the score. It is a weapon that gives us energy.’

Knecht, who tied Keyonte George (February 15, 2024), Yogi Ferrell (February 3, 2017) and Rodrigue Beaubois (March 27, 2010) for the most threes in a game for a rookie, mimicked a famous gesture by Michael Jordan in the NBA final of 1992 – nine years before he was even born – to bask in his success.

“Rui (Hachimura) talked to me about needing a three-point celebration,” Knecht said. ‘I didn’t know what to do. So I just shrugged.”

Knecht became the fourth Lakers player in team history to hit at least nine threes, joining Russell, James (who did it twice) and Kobe Bryant (who did it four times).

The Lakers extended their winning streak to six games and improved to 2-0 in NBA Cup group play.

“We’re pushing him to shoot the basketball,” Anthony Davis (26 points, 14 rebounds) said of Knecht. “He can do more than just shoot. But he’s very good at shooting the basketball. We get mad at him when he doesn’t shoot.”

Since starting three games ago for Hachimura, who is dealing with an ankle injury, Knecht has averaged 26 points on 63.6% from the field and 61.5% from 3.

“I know he’s capable of doing that,” Austin Reaves said. “And honestly, I expect him to do it several more times this year.”