The Lakers vs Warriors recap has two sides. Walker Kessler finally made his Los Angeles Lakers debut on Tuesday night in Las Vegas, and in his 16 minutes the Lakers were plus-15. Without him in the second half, the Lakers turned the ball over again and again and lost 101-89 to the Golden State Warriors at T-Mobile Arena after leading by as many as 20. Luka Doncic did not play. “He’s not injured, just getting the night off,” JJ Redick said, according to the Los Angeles Times.
The Lakers are now 2-2 in the preseason, with both losses coming against Golden State. They play the Denver Nuggets on Friday at Crypto.com Arena in their preseason finale, and they open the regular season at home against the Warriors on October 21.
Lakers vs Warriors Recap: The Score by Quarter
According to ESPN’s box score, the game was tied 29-29 after one quarter and 63-50 at halftime after a 34-21 second quarter. The Warriors won the third quarter 22-13 and the fourth 29-13. That means Golden State outscored Los Angeles 51-26 after halftime. The Lakers’ largest lead was 20, and the Warriors took an 84-78 lead with 8:12 left, according to Yahoo Sports, as both teams went to their reserves late.
- Turnovers: the Lakers committed 29, according to both ESPN and NBA.com. Golden State scored 26 points off them, per ESPN. The Warriors had 20 steals.
- Shooting: the Lakers shot 33-of-76 from the field and 9-of-34 from three. Golden State shot 33-of-84 and 14-of-50.
- Rebounds: Los Angeles won the glass 45-40. That is a reversal from the October 6 game, when Golden State won it 44-35.
- Free throws: ESPN lists the Lakers at 14-of-17 and NBA.com lists 14-of-18. We are flagging that difference rather than choosing one.
Walker Kessler’s Debut
Kessler had 11 points on 4-of-6 shooting, nine rebounds, a block and a steal in 16 minutes, all in the first half. ESPN and NBA.com both show those numbers. The plus-minus tells the rest of the story. ESPN reports the Lakers outscored Golden State by 15 with Kessler on the floor and were outscored by 27 in the 32 minutes he sat.
“I think he’s a great fit for our team,” Redick said, per ESPN. “Thought he did a nice job of running the floor, crashing, had some terrific rebounds in traffic, protected the rim. Just really, really good first half from him.”
Austin Reaves pointed to what Kessler’s rolling to the rim did for the shooters. “I mean he created probably four or five really good looks for us from 3 by just rolling hard,” Reaves said, according to ESPN. “Nobody’s going to give him credit for it, but him putting pressure on the rim and roll opportunities are going to make the [opposing] big guy sink … and we’re going to get wide-open 3s.”
Kessler had missed the first three preseason games after jamming a finger early in training camp. Before the game, Infanity TV posted his own update on the finger:
Redick also talked about how far along Kessler was before the game: JJ Redick: Walker Kessler Practiced, All the Live Stuff.
Austin Reaves Carries the Offense
With Doncic resting, Reaves had the ball more and scored 28 points on 10-of-18 shooting, including 4-of-7 from three and 4-of-4 at the line, in 25 minutes. He added seven assists and four rebounds. He also had seven turnovers, which the Los Angeles Times connected to his larger role handling the ball without Doncic.
The Starting Five
Yesterday’s question was who would start alongside Reaves and Kessler. With Doncic out, Redick started Jake LaRavia, Matisse Thybulle and Quentin Grimes, according to ESPN’s box score.
- Quentin Grimes: nine points on 4-of-7 shooting and six assists in 26 minutes, but three turnovers.
- Jake LaRavia: four points on 1-of-4 shooting in 26 minutes, plus-7. After a 54.5% start from three, he went 1-of-2.
- Matisse Thybulle: four points on 2-of-7 shooting, plus-8 in 21 minutes.
- Sandro Mamukelashvili: came off the bench with 10 points, 2-of-3 from three, seven rebounds, plus-6 in 21 minutes.
Because Doncic was resting, this lineup was not the one Redick will use with everyone healthy. It still showed which players the coaches trusted to start.
Where It Fell Apart
ESPN reported that the Lakers committed 18 turnovers in the second half. The backup guards were a big part of that. Bronny James had four turnovers and was minus-18 in 11 minutes, according to the ESPN box score, and Chris Manon also had four in the box score, though ESPN’s story counts three of them in the second half. Jaden Hardy scored 10 points but shot 3-of-9 and had three turnovers. Arthur Kaluma went 0-of-7.
Redick did not overreact. “Some of those turnovers were just us being unorganized,” he said, per Yahoo Sports. “We’re two weeks into camp. We’ll continue to build that group up and they’ve got to do a better job of being organized with the offense.”
Turnovers have been a problem all preseason. The Lakers came into the game averaging 23.7 a night, according to the Los Angeles Times, and this was their worst total yet.
The Warriors’ Side
Stephen Curry played 23 minutes and scored 11 points on 3-of-9 shooting. Brandin Podziemski and Yaxel Lendeborg each scored 17, and Charles Bassey had 12 rebounds and three blocks. De’Anthony Melton had six steals off the bench, per ESPN. Golden State is now 2-0 against the Lakers this preseason.
What’s Next
- Friday vs Denver: the last preseason game. It is the Lakers’ last chance to see Doncic, Reaves and Kessler together before the opener.
- Collin Sexton and Ziaire Williams: neither played Tuesday. Their status for Friday is unconfirmed.
- Ball security: Redick’s message was organization. Fewer than 20 turnovers on Friday would be a good sign.
Unconfirmed
- Whether Doncic, Kessler, Sexton and Williams all play Friday.
- The opening-night starting five. Tuesday’s group was shaped by Doncic resting.
- The Lakers’ free-throw total, which differs between ESPN and NBA.com.
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