Walker Kessler scored 26 points on 12-for-12 shooting and grabbed nine rebounds in his Lakers debut. Los Angeles beat the Golden State Warriors 127-105 on Wednesday night in both teams' season opener, per the Associated Press and ESPN. Yahoo Sports said Kessler "wreaked havoc all night in the paint." Its headline framed the game as the start of the post-LeBron James era for a Lakers team led by Luka Doncic.
Kessler shot 12-for-12 from the field and 2-for-4 at the line. He also blocked two shots and finished +24 in 30 minutes. Sportsnet's highlight package had Doncic with 28 points and seven assists. The box score adds eight rebounds and three steals for him, plus nine made free throws without a miss. It also shows six turnovers and 7-for-18 shooting, so he was efficient only at the line and from three (5-for-12). Austin Reaves had 23 points on 10-for-10 free throws, so the Lakers got a strong third scorer.
The game was decided in the second and third quarters. Golden State of Mind's Sean Keane wrote that the Warriors "looked pretty good" for the first 20 minutes. Will Richard's dunk made it 49-48. Los Angeles then closed the half on a 17-4 run that included two personal fouls and a technical, and led 66-52 at the break. The Lakers outscored Golden State 36-16 in the third and led by as many as 35. Silver Screen and Roll counted 103 points through three quarters, while our line score has 102.
The Lakers shot 46-for-81 (57%). Silver Screen and Roll reported 58.2%, a small difference from our box score. The Warriors shot 41% and went 8-for-36 from three. They committed 16 turnovers, which Silver Screen and Roll said led to 25 Lakers points. Los Angeles also won the paint 66-56. Stephen Curry scored 23 points in 21 minutes but was -22. Richard was one of the few Warriors with a good shooting night, going 4-for-5 for eight points, and four of his five rebounds were offensive.
One detail differs between outlets. Silver Screen and Roll dated the game Tuesday, but our archive and the wire reports have it on Wednesday, Oct. 21.
The Lakers are 1-0 and top the Pacific. The Warriors are 0-1 and third. The result runs against the two teams' earlier meeting, which Golden State won 101-89 on Oct. 13 in a game that didn't count in the standings. Both clubs play again Friday: Los Angeles hosts the Clippers, and Golden State hosts Memphis.
| Team | W | L | PCT | GB | Home | Away | Strk | Diff |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 0 | 1.000 | – | 1-0 | 0-0 | W1 | +22 | |
| 1 | 0 | 1.000 | – | 1-0 | 0-0 | W1 | +25 | |
| 0 | 1 | .000 | 1 | 0-0 | 0-1 | L1 | -22 | |
| 0 | 1 | .000 | 1 | 0-0 | 0-1 | L1 | -41 | |
| 0 | 1 | .000 | 1 | 0-0 | 0-1 | L1 | -25 |
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