Warriors Lose Opener 127-105 as Lakers Dominate the Paint
Golden State's three-point shooting disappeared and Walker Kessler couldn't miss as the Lakers ran away with it in the second half.
Final score: Lakers 127, Warriors 105. The game was decided in two phases — Walker Kessler going a perfect 12-for-12 from the floor for 26 points and nine boards, and the Warriors going cold from deep, hitting just 8 of 36 threes (22%). When your inside guy can't miss and your outside shot won't fall, that's a long night. Credit the effort — Golden State actually won the fourth quarter 37-25 once reserves got rolling — but by then the hole was too deep to climb out of.
How it got away
This one started as an honest fight. Stephen Curry got loose early, and a 13-10 Warriors lead in the first quarter even swelled to a 21-19 edge on a Curry jumper. But watch what happened next — Luka Doncic and the Lakers answered every push with a bucket. Georges Niang's shot tied it at 31 late in the first, and Golden State even nosed back ahead 33-31 on free throws — but Jake LaRavia's three-pointer right after put the Lakers up for good, 34-33, and the Warriors never led again. That's the first teaching point tonight: you can't trade buckets with a team getting easy dunks at the rim. Kessler converted seven separate dunks or layups off lobs and cuts in the opening half alone, and a defense that keeps conceding those will eventually get buried.
The dagger before the break was Doncic's 49-foot bank shot at the buzzer to end the second quarter, pushing the lead to 52-66. Give the kid the degree of difficulty, but give the coaching staff the film session too — a team shouldn't be surrendering looks like that with 1.4 seconds left.
The third quarter was more of the same, Lakers scoring in bunches while Golden State's offense sputtered outside the paint. By the time the fourth quarter started, Los Angeles had built a 35-point cushion — the game's largest lead — and led for 84% of the night compared to Golden State's 9%. That tells you most of what you need to know about who controlled tempo and spacing.
The stat lines
Curry led the Warriors with 23 points on 7-of-15 shooting, including 2-of-7 from three — not the clip you want from your best shooter, but he kept battling. Draymond Green didn't score much (2 points) but set the table with eight assists, even if four turnovers came with it. Gui Santos pitched in 12 points and led the team with five rebounds, and Brandon Williams added 14 off the bench.
For the Lakers, Doncic's 28 points and seven assists ran the show, Austin Reaves scored 23, and Kessler's near-perfect night in the paint was the story underneath it all.
The numbers tell the tale: Lakers shot 57% from the field to Golden State's 41%, out-scored the Warriors 66-56 in the paint, and out-ran them 21-17 on fast breaks. Golden State got to the line well (21-of-27) and out-rebounded nobody — Los Angeles won the boards 43-36. That three-point number — 8-of-36 — is the one I'd circle on the film. You live and die with the three in this league, and tonight it was mostly death.
What's next
Golden State is back at it Friday, October 23 at 10:00 PM ET against the Memphis Grizzlies — a quick turnaround to clean up the perimeter shooting and tighten up defensively around the rim before the schedule gets any tougher.