On Wed, Oct 21, the Los Angeles Lakers played the opening game of their 2026-27 NBA schedule in hosting the Golden State Warriors in a season-opening rematch from last year. The Lakers were happy to see Luka Doncic back on the floor along with Austin Reaves after his 2025-26 season ended on a sour note with a hamstring injury that kept him out for the entire playoff run for the Purple & Gold. Doncic returned with a new roster surrounding him that included center Walker Kessler, wing players Matisse Thybulle, Ziaire Williams and Quentin Grimes and others. With the Warriors coming into town with Stephen Curry, Draymond Green and a roster of young players, the Lakers sought to win this season opener after losing to Golden State exactly one year ago to this date.
The game started with both teams trading baskets as Kessler and Doncic led the scoring early on for L.A. Curry scored 14 of the first 17 points for the Warriors and the first quarter ended with the Lakers holding a one-point lead following a three-pointer made by Jake LaRavia. The second quarter began with the Purple & Gold taking more control of the lead as the team made some good passes in transition that led to breakaway baskets. Near the end of the half, Doncic messed around with Warriors rookie forward Yaxel Lendeborg with some smack talk and other gimmicks. Lendeborg was doing well to contain Doncic when defending him, but he eventually got called for a technical foul as the Lakers were stretching out their lead to double-digits. To top it all off, Luka had a magical moment as he heaved a shot from half-court that went in off the backboard before the buzzer. Doncic had a masterful first half with 23 points and with Kessler scoring on plenty of dunks, the Lakers were up by 14 points.
In the third quarter, the Purple & Gold pulled away as Kessler continued making short baskets around the rim and the cold spell for Golden State continued. Reaves helped lead the way in scoring in this quarter as the lead for the LakeShow pushed over 30 points. The Lakers outscored the Warriors 36-16 in the quarter and had eclipsed over 100 points. With their 34-point lead, Doncic sat the entire fourth quarter with benchwamers coming in for both teams. The scrubs in the game included Bronny James(who made a float shot) Jaden Hardy and Chris Mañon for Los Angeles, with the final score being 127-105 in favor of the home team.
The Lakers won just their second home opener in ten years and were led by a powerful trio of scoring from Doncic, Reaves and Kessler. Doncic scored 28 points and grabbed eight rebounds along with dishing out seven assists. Meanwhile, Kessler scored 26 points and made all 12 of his field goal attempts, with his made shots being the most without a miss in a game in franchise history since Wilt Chamberlain in 1969. Kessler also grabbed nine rebounds and blocked two shots. Reaves rallied 23 points and made all ten of his free throw attempts. Grimes and Jake LaRavia also scored ten points each, with LaRavia scoring one of his baskets shooting a ball on his back foot that he caught from Doncic, who threw it down the court in spectacular fashion. The transition game for Los Angeles was incredible as they scored on 28 assist, many of which were on downcourt plays. Golden State had Curry led in scoring, even though he fizzled out fast after having a productive first quarter.
The next game for the Lakers will be a home game against the Los Angeles Clippers on Fri, Oct 23 and then their first road game of the season will occur on Sun, Oct 25 against the Utah Jazz. Kessler will make his return to the place where he played his first few seasons of pro ball and look to show Jazz fans what they are missing out on. A back-and-back will occur on Oct 27-28 against the Portland Trail Blazers(home) and Clippers(at the Intuit Dome) before another game against the Warriors in San Francisco on Fri, Oct 30 happens. With one game down and 81 to go in the 2026-27 regular season, the Los Angeles Lakers got off to a sensational start to a new era in their long storied franchise history.
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