Reporting note: this article draws on philstar.com; LodiScore provides the summary and editorial framing.
Lakers Warriors result built on Kessler's perfect debut
Walker Kessler scored 26 points on 12-for-12 shooting and grabbed nine rebounds in his first game for the Los Angeles Lakers, who beat the Golden State Warriors 127-105 on Wednesday night. The Lakers Warriors result was a 22-point win, and the report framed it as the start of life in Los Angeles after LeBron James.
Kessler did not miss. Twelve attempts, twelve makes, nine rebounds — a line that redraws a floor the way a load-bearing wall redraws a room, holding possessions together and asking a defense to guard the same space twice. The report did not break down where those attempts came from or how Golden State chose to defend him.
Perfect shooting nights are rare enough that they tend to define a box score, and this one arrived in a debut. The nine rebounds sit alongside the scoring as the part of his night that kept Los Angeles's possessions alive.
Doncic scores 28 across three quarters
Luka Doncic scored 28 points in three quarters, and Austin Reaves added 23. Those three lines — Kessler's 26, Doncic's 28, Reaves' 23 — are the scoring the report detailed for Los Angeles on a night the Lakers reached 127.
Doncic's work was complete inside three quarters, which left the fourth to be played out with the margin already built. The report gave no further detail on his shooting numbers, rebounds or assists.
Stephen Curry opens his 18th season with 23 points
Curry's 23 points came in the first game of his 18th NBA season. Golden State finished with 105, and Curry was the only Warriors scorer the report named.
No Golden State player was credited with a line approaching Kessler's efficiency, and the report offered no detail on how the Warriors defended the paint or where their own scoring came from beyond Curry.
Around the rest of the NBA slate
- Atlanta beat Orlando 132-125
- Washington topped Milwaukee 128-116
- Minnesota routed Miami 131-106
- Charlotte defeated Brooklyn 110-103
- Toronto walloped Chicago 135-92
- Indiana nipped New Orleans 123-120
- Memphis tripped Utah 123-103
- Houston bombed Dallas 128-110
- Portland shellacked Phoenix 124-83
- LA Clippers mauled Sacramento 121-96
ESPN on Disney+ launches in the Philippines with this game
The Lakers-Warriors game was the centerpiece of Disney+ Philippines' Super Sports Week coverage, held Oct. 19-25, which officially launched ESPN on Disney+ in the country. The platform's new brand campaign is titled "Ito ang Homecourt Mo!"
ESPN on Disney+ includes event coverage, on-demand replays, studio shows, documentaries and original programming. The Christmas Day slate includes a rematch of last year's NBA Finals between the San Antonio Spurs and New York Knicks, plus the Lakers against the Philadelphia 76ers, with LeBron James facing his former team, according to the report.
Coverage of the Western Conference Finals will be available on Disney+, while the Eastern Conference Finals and NBA Finals will be available on demand.
The original report appears at philstar.com.
