Walker Kessler scored 26 points on 12-for-12 shooting and grabbed nine rebounds during his auspicious debut for the Los Angeles Lakers in a 127-105 victory over the Golden State Warriors on Wednesday night.
Luka Doncic scored 28 points in three quarters and Austin Reaves added 23 as the Lakers began life after LeBron James with a thrashing of the Warriors, who got 23 points from Stephen Curry to begin his 18th season.
The 7-foot-2 Kessler was an immediate force around both rims for the Lakers, who traded a bounty of draft capital to Utah to fill Doncic’s desire for a top center. Kessler’s 12 shots without a miss were the second-most in Lakers history, trailing only a 14-for-14 performance by Wilt Chamberlain in March 1969.
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