The Lakers are not wasting time making their point.
With Luka Doncic, Austin Reaves and Walker Kessler all producing again, Los Angeles beat the Clippers 125-117 on Friday night to open the season 2-0 and keep building early momentum around its revamped core.
Reaves was the cleanest scorer of the night for the Lakers, piling up 28 points and nine assists while hitting 10 of 13 shots. His efficiency mattered because Doncic had to grind through a rough shooting night and still helped keep the offense moving.
Doncic finished with 23 points, six rebounds and seven assists, but he also turned it over 11 times while going 8 of 21 from the field. Even with the mistakes, he kept generating looks for others, and Los Angeles kept finding answers in a balanced attack.
Kessler was right there with them, and maybe even gave the Lakers their biggest two-way jolt. He put up 22 points, grabbed eight rebounds and blocked six shots, shooting 10 of 14 from the floor. At 7-foot-2, he was a steady finish at the rim and a real problem in the paint on the other end.
That outing came only two days after Kessler’s historic Lakers debut against the Golden State Warriors, when he scored 26 points without missing a field goal.
Through two games, Doncic, Reaves and Kessler have combined for 150 points, a strong early sign of what this group can do offensively.
The game was tight through two quarters, with the teams tied 64-64 at halftime. Then the Lakers took over in the third, outscoring the Clippers 39-26 to build a cushion they carried into the fourth.
Los Angeles shot 58% from the field and had 29 assists, numbers that fit the flow of an offense that kept moving and kept pressuring the Clippers.
Darius Garland scored 26 points to lead the Clippers, and Brook Lopez added 22 off the bench.
There are still issues to clean up, especially the turnovers, but the early returns are hard to miss. Reaves has become a dependable scoring partner next to Doncic, Kessler is giving Los Angeles a real interior force, and the Lakers already look like a team with a clear offensive identity.
With LeBron James now playing in Philadelphia, the Lakers are moving into a new era built around Doncic and a reshaped supporting cast.
After two straight wins, that trio is giving Los Angeles plenty to feel good about.
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Clippers Let Lakers Control Night Behind A Performance Fans Will Hate
The Clippers spent much of the night watching the Lakers set the terms in a 125-117 loss, a result that had more to do with Los Angeles control than a late push. Austin Reaves was at the center of it, repeatedly bending the game with his playmaking and shot-making while the Lakers got enough help from the rest of the rotation to keep the pressure on.
Walker Kessler also loomed large, giving the Lakers a defensive backbone with rim protection and activity that made life harder for the Clippers around the basket. Matisse Thybulle, Ziaire Williams and Quentin Grimes each added useful minutes as the Lakers built a performance that felt balanced, efficient and frustratingly complete from the Clippers side. [Read more 🡒]
Clippers Scandal Just Put Steve Ballmer Back In The Spotlight
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For the Clippers, the fallout extends well beyond the original deal-making around Leonard, who was later traded to the Toronto Raptors before these punishments were announced. Leonard was fined, his uncle was banned from NBA business, and Ballmer now has to operate under a one-year suspension that keeps him away from contact with the team, leaving the franchise to absorb the practical and public hit from a scandal that has lingered for years. [Read more 🡒]
Kawhi Leonard Just Reopened A Clippers Scandal Fans Havent Forgotten
Kawhi Leonard had a lighthearted moment in Toronto on Sunday night, even if the backdrop was anything but light for Clippers fans. During the Raptors' win over the Wizards, Leonard was met by a courtside heckler who brought up the Aspiration scandal, a reminder of the cap-circumvention mess that once tied his name to Los Angeles and still lingers around the franchise.
Leonard has long been able to separate himself from that chapter, taking only a minor fine while the Clippers absorbed the real fallout and he moved on to Toronto. But any time his name gets dragged back into the scandal, it reopens an old wound for the organization and keeps the focus on how much damage that episode did, even as Leonard has tried to put it behind him. [Read more 🡒]