Hardy calls out Jazz's defense during Knecht's hot night

Head coach Will Hardy publicly criticized his Utah Jazz players' defensive approach in Wednesday's 124-118 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers.

Hardy, 36, specifically took issue with how his squad defended Lakers rookie Dalton Knecht. The 17th overall pick in this year's draft torched the Jazz with a career-high 37 points on 9-of-12 shooting from beyond the arc, tying the NBA's single-game record for threes by a rookie.

"In the second half, it seemed like everybody in the gym knew that Dalton Knecht was going to shoot the next shot, with the exception of a few people," Hardy said postgame, courtesy of The Salt Lake Tribune's Andy Larsen.

"The problem was that those few people were on our team."

The 23-year-old did most of his damage in the third quarter, going a perfect 6-of-6 from distance and adding three free throws for 21 points in the frame. He was the only Laker to hit multiple threes in the entire second half; LeBron James and Austin Reaves both made a single three in the third and fourth quarters, respectively, while Anthony Davis and D'Angelo Russell each missed an attempt in the third.

Knecht's 37 points tied Dallas Mavericks superstar Luka Doncic for the second most by a player against the Jazz this season, trailing only a 49-point outburst by Sacramento Kings guard De'Aaron Fox on Saturday. All three performances have come within Utah's last four games.