Walker Kessler's perfect shooting night lifts Lakers past Warriors in season opener

The Los Angeles Lakers opened their first season without LeBron James in nearly a decade with a 127-105 win over the Golden State Warriors on Wednesday night at Crypto.com Arena, a game defined less by the final margin than by a single, nearly flawless shooting line: center Walker Kessler made all 12 of his field-goal attempts and scored 26 points in his debut for the team that traded two future first-round picks to acquire him.

Luka Doncic led all scorers with 28 points, adding eight rebounds, seven assists and three steals in 30 minutes before sitting out the fourth quarter, according to his official NBA.com game log. Austin Reaves scored 23 points on just 11 shots in his first game since signing a four-year, $185 million contract to stay with the Lakers. Stephen Curry led the Warriors with 23 points, but the rest of Golden State's roster struggled to keep pace in a game the Lakers controlled for all but the first six minutes.

The numbers

Los Angeles trailed briefly before a 27-4 run spanning the final minutes of the first quarter and the start of the second broke the game open, pushing the lead to as many as 20 points, per the Fox Sports box score. The Lakers led 66-52 at halftime, then outscored Golden State 36-16 in the third to take a 102-68 lead into the fourth.

Kessler's performance was the headline figure. His 12 consecutive made field goals were the second-most in franchise history, according to the Associated Press recap carried by CBS Sports, and his final stat line — 26 points on 12-of-12 shooting, 9 rebounds, 2 blocks in 30 minutes — is confirmed on his NBA.com player page. The Lakers shot 57 percent from the field as a team and outrebounded Golden State 43-36, according to ESPN's box score, while the Warriors made just 41 percent of their shots and got only two points from Draymond Green, who did finish with eight assists.

• Final score: Lakers 127, Warriors 105
• Walker Kessler (LAL): 26 points, 12-of-12 FG, 9 rebounds, 2 blocks
• Luka Doncic (LAL): 28 points, 8 rebounds, 7 assists, 3 steals
• Austin Reaves (LAL): 23 points on 11 shots
• Stephen Curry (GSW): 23 points

A retooled roster's first test

The game was the first of the post-LeBron James era in Los Angeles; James left the Lakers in free agency this offseason. It was also the first real payoff for a roster the Lakers rebuilt almost entirely around Doncic, who became the franchise's centerpiece after the February 2025 trade that sent him from Dallas to Los Angeles. Reaves re-signed in the offseason rather than test free agency, and the front office's biggest swing was trading two unprotected future first-round picks and two first-round pick swaps to Utah for Kessler, then signing him to a four-year, $130 million deal, according to reporting from Bleacher Report.

That price tag carried real risk. Kessler, a 24-year-old former first-round pick out of Auburn, played only five games for Utah last season after surgery to repair a torn labrum in his left shoulder, and Wednesday's opener was his first regular-season appearance in nearly a year.

A short-handed Golden State searches for answers

Golden State played the opener without several rotation regulars, including Brandin Podziemski, Jimmy Butler, Kristaps Porzingis and Moses Moody, leaving Curry to carry the scoring load with late support from reserves Brandon Williams (14 points) and Gui Santos (12 points). Rookie Yaxel Lendeborg, the No. 11 overall pick in this year's draft, scored 12 points in his first regular-season NBA game.

For the Lakers, the win offered an early answer to the question that has hung over the roster since James' departure: whether the defense and rebounding would hold up with a lineup built around perimeter scorers. Kessler's rim protection and work on the glass were central to that effort, and the Lakers' 43-36 rebounding edge came despite Doncic logging zero offensive boards.

What's next

Both teams are back in action at home on Friday. The Lakers host the Los Angeles Clippers, while the Warriors host the Memphis Grizzlies, each looking to open the young season 1-1 — Golden State attempting to shake off a lopsided loss, Los Angeles trying to build on a debut that gave its new $130 million center, and the roster around him, an emphatic first night.