Kessler Looked Ready, Reaves Scored 28 — Then the Lakers Lost a 20-Point Lead
GOATIFYFor roughly half a game in Las Vegas, the Los Angeles Lakers got the preview they wanted. Walker Kessler finally appeared in purple and gold, Austin Reaves controlled the offense, and Los Angeles built a lead that reached 20 points against Golden State. The final score told a different story: the Warriors won 101-89 after the Lakers' attack unraveled when the rotations changed.
Kessler produced 11 points and nine rebounds in fewer than 16 minutes, while Reaves supplied 28 points and seven assists. Yet the Lakers surrendered 26 points off turnovers and scored only 26 in the entire second half. The performance gave JJ Redick two encouraging building blocks and an urgent warning about the possessions connecting them.
Kessler's 16 minutes showed why Los Angeles invested in the paint
Kessler had missed the Lakers' first three preseason games with a jammed finger, so this was the first chance to see the team's major summer addition in a competitive setting. The seven-footer did not need a full night to make his value visible. He scored 11 points on four-of-six shooting, grabbed nine rebounds, and added a block, a steal and an assist in 15:55. His first Lakers basket came after he moved into space for a pass from Reaves. Later, his work around the rim generated a putback dunk and additional second-chance opportunities.
Those details matter more than the temptation to project a full-season stat line from one half. The Lakers did not acquire Kessler to become a high-volume perimeter scorer. They wanted a center who can run to the rim, finish passes, contest shots and make opponents think twice before driving. In his first outing, he demonstrated the practical version of that role: move with urgency, arrive at the glass, occupy the middle and create simple targets for ball handlers.
The financial stakes make the experiment especially consequential. Los Angeles brought Kessler from Utah in a sign-and-trade reported at four years and $130 million, with significant future draft assets going the other way. A brief exhibition cannot settle whether that price was justified. It can show whether the intended basketball fit exists. The early connection with Reaves was encouraging, particularly because Luka Dončić was resting rather than injured and has yet to play meaningful preseason minutes alongside the new center.
Redick's decision to keep Kessler out of the second half also limits the conclusion. His team looked substantially different after the starting center sat, but the substitution coincided with other rotation changes. The takeaway is not that Kessler alone guarantees wins. It is that the Lakers finally saw their preferred interior foundation on the floor, and now must find out how reliably it holds up over longer stretches against varied lineups.
Reaves' 28 points revealed both the ceiling and the turnover problem
With Dončić taking a planned rest day, Reaves carried the Lakers' main scoring and playmaking burden. He finished with 28 points, seven assists and four rebounds in just over 25 minutes, shooting 10-for-18 overall and 4-for-7 from three. Those are excellent efficiency numbers for a guard asked to create offense, especially with several potential rotation pieces unavailable. By halftime he had already supplied 23 points and six assists as Los Angeles established a 63-50 advantage.
The best part of his night was not an isolated difficult jumper. It was the connection with Kessler. Reaves could turn a drive or pick-and-roll into an easy finish by forcing the defense to account for a moving seven-footer. Kessler's rolls also opened passing lanes and helped teammates find room. This is the kind of interaction the Lakers hope will become even more potent when Dončić, another elite creator, is part of the same lineup. A healthy center who runs the floor gives the guards a straightforward option when perimeter pressure rises.
But the scorecard contains a sharp counterweight: Reaves committed seven turnovers. A player can be the most productive scorer on the court and still contribute to the breakdown of possession quality. Some mistakes are inevitable when one guard absorbs a disproportionate share of the creative load; seven in limited minutes is still a number Los Angeles cannot casually dismiss. The distinction matters because the offense was strong enough to produce a large lead before the turnovers and lineup instability became decisive.
The goal is not to make Reaves less ambitious. His shot-making and willingness to probe defenses are central strengths, not problems to remove. The goal is to make the passing windows clearer, protect the ball under pressure and ensure the offense has a second organizer when he sits. Dončić's eventual return should change the distribution of those responsibilities. Until then, Reaves' night is a clear example of how individual efficiency and team execution can tell opposite stories within the same game.
A 20-point advantage disappeared when the Lakers stopped finishing possessions
At their peak early in the third quarter, the Lakers led by 20. By the final horn, they had lost by 12. Golden State outscored Los Angeles 51-26 after halftime, while the Lakers managed only 13 points in each of the last two quarters. That is too dramatic a swing to explain with one cold shooting spell. The Warriors gained momentum by repeatedly ending Lakers possessions before a good shot was available.
Los Angeles finished with 29 turnovers in the detailed postgame account, and Golden State converted giveaways into 26 points. Other recaps counted 30; the precise total varies slightly by source, but the tactical conclusion does not. Turnovers allowed the Warriors to run, prevented the Lakers from testing their half-court offense and forced defenders to scramble back rather than get organized. The Lakers also went just 9-for-34 from deep. Missing open shots is one problem; giving the ball away before the shot is taken compounds it.
The third quarter provided the pivot. After Los Angeles reached its largest lead, Golden State answered with a 14-0 run. The Lakers' offense then sputtered through a six-for-20 quarter from the field. The Warriors entered the fourth down only four, turning what had looked like a comfortable exhibition into a game decided by reserve units and basic possession management. Brandin Podziemski helped change the scoreboard, while Gui Santos and Gary Payton II added pressure and scoring during the comeback.
Preseason substitutions make the result less predictive than a regular-season collapse with full-strength lineups. Redick was testing combinations and limiting minutes, and several of his main players were unavailable. Still, the second-half numbers identify a concrete task for practice: stronger spacing, cleaner entry passes, and a reliable way to settle the team when the first action breaks down. A twenty-point lead is not secure when the offense repeatedly forfeits its chance to shoot.
The real test comes when both teams meet again on opening night
The Lakers do not have to wait long for a more meaningful version of this matchup. Their final preseason game is against Denver on October 16, and the regular season begins at home against Golden State on October 21. Those dates give Redick a short runway to evaluate the same issues under different conditions. The most important unanswered question is how Dončić, Reaves and Kessler function together rather than in partial combinations. The Las Vegas game showed a promising guard-center partnership, but not the complete lineup the team has been assembling.
Availability is part of that puzzle. Dončić's absence against the Warriors was described as rest, not an injury. Collin Sexton, Ziaire Williams, Cameron Carr and Adou Thiero were also unavailable, leaving Redick fewer realistic rotation combinations to examine. As players return, he will need to balance their health with the desire to develop on-court rhythm. The solution is not simply to run starters for more minutes in an exhibition. It is to give the most likely regular-season units enough coordinated possessions to recognize their responsibilities.
Golden State has its own useful information from the comeback. Its reserves demonstrated that pressure, activity and opportunistic transition play can reverse a game even after a poor start. Stephen Curry's presence remains a major organizing force, while younger contributors such as Podziemski and Yaxel Lendeborg are being evaluated for the minutes that connect veteran-heavy lineups. The October 21 game should provide a clearer comparison once both coaches narrow their rotations and the stakes rise.
For Los Angeles, the encouraging and troubling parts of Tuesday should be held together. Kessler looked like a credible interior anchor; Reaves looked capable of carrying an efficient scoring load. The bench and ball security did not yet look dependable enough to protect the advantage those players created. That combination is not a verdict on the season. It is a specific preseason diagnosis, and the next two games offer the Lakers a chance to show they have understood it.
The Lakers' 101-89 loss is best read as two simultaneous previews. In one, Walker Kessler gives Los Angeles a genuine rim presence and Austin Reaves makes the offense flow. In the other, turnovers and disjointed reserve minutes erase even a 20-point cushion. Both are real observations, and neither is a verdict on the season.
Denver on October 16 offers another rehearsal; Golden State on October 21 brings the same opponent back with regular-season consequences. If the Lakers preserve the ball while integrating Dončić and Kessler, the encouraging first half in Las Vegas may prove more important than the final score.
