Austin Reaves scored 28 points, Walker Kessler blocked six shots, and the Lakers survived their own generosity to beat the Clippers 125-117 on Friday, Oct. 23. The Associated Press recap has them at 2-0. ESPN’s box score has them at 21 turnovers. Two wins are welcome. The turnovers should keep the celebration brief.
I will take a win carried by Reaves and Kessler while Luka Doncic struggles. I would also make sure nobody mistakes the result for permission to keep throwing possessions away. Doncic’s 11 turnovers and Reaves’ six left very little room for ordinary shooting.
The Lakers supplied extraordinary shooting instead. According to ESPN’s final box score, Reaves made 10 of 13 field-goal attempts, including three of five from deep. Kessler went 10 of 14. Between them, that is 50 points on 27 shots, calculated from ESPN’s totals. A lot of the evening’s bad decisions disappeared beneath those makes.
Reaves also handed out nine assists, per ESPN. His value Friday was that he could score efficiently and help somebody else finish a possession. The Lakers needed both jobs done. Doncic finished with 23 points and seven assists, but shot eight of 21 and two of eight from three. Reaves gave them another productive route through a night when their leading creator’s shot and ball security were both unreliable.
Friday supplied the immediate payoff for keeping Reaves involved in creating offense. Give him real decisions, and the offense has somewhere else to go when Doncic is having a difficult night. Reaves’ mistakes still count, and his six turnovers keep this from being a lesson about handing him every possession instead.
Kessler’s contribution reached beyond the scoring. ESPN lists eight rebounds, three assists and three steals alongside those six blocks. I care most about that last defensive column. That is the combination I want from him: make the easy shots and make the other team’s shots harder.
That is a better basis for judging him than demanding another perfect shooting line. Our look at his 12-for-12 debut argued that the finishing role mattered more than perfection. Friday, he missed four shots and still gave the Lakers an excellent night. Nobody needs to mourn the end of a shooting streak when the replacement comes with six blocked shots.
The same box score shows help beyond Reaves and Kessler: 14 points from Ziaire Williams and 13 apiece from Matisse Thybulle and Quentin Grimes. Grimes added eight rebounds and four assists. Those are meaningful contributions on a night when the Lakers needed more than a rescue act from their biggest name.
Doncic’s Turnovers Cannot Become the Cost of Doing Business
The AP calls Doncic’s 11 turnovers a career high. That should be the uncomfortable part of an otherwise welcome result. An ambitious pass that gives a teammate a layup is worth trying. An offense that needs this much shooting to cover its empty possessions is asking for trouble.
There is no need to invent a single explanation for every mistake. The correction I want is simpler: when the first opening closes, keep a teammate available for a normal pass and let the possession continue. A reset should feel acceptable. The ball does not need to reach the perfect destination on the first attempt, especially with Reaves able to make the next decision.
We made the argument for assigning turnover responsibility honestly during the preseason. Friday’s distribution makes that assignment straightforward. Doncic and Reaves combined for 17 of the Lakers’ 21 turnovers, calculated from ESPN’s box score. The correction starts with the guards who have the ball, even after one of them scores 28.
The Clippers were hardly careful themselves. ESPN records 26 total turnovers for them, while the AP recap notes that those mistakes helped keep them from overcoming the Lakers. Darius Garland scored 26 and Brook Lopez added 22, per both sources. Los Angeles won a game in which the other side also supplied plenty of empty trips. I would be wary of expecting that exchange to keep working in the Lakers’ favor.
The quarter scores tell the story of how much room the Lakers created and then surrendered. ESPN has the teams tied at 64 at halftime. The Lakers won the third quarter 39-26, building a 13-point cushion, before the Clippers took the fourth 27-22. That final period did not erase the win. It did keep the evening from becoming comfortable.
For all the sloppiness, I like how many players contributed. Kessler did not need to make every shot. Reaves did not need Doncic to have a good shooting night. Grimes contributed on the glass as well as the scoreboard. Looking at the current Lakers roster and depth chart, I want the guards to find those teammates before a difficult pass becomes the only remaining choice.
The Lakers visit Utah on Sunday, according to the AP recap. Enjoy the two wins and the fact that Reaves and Kessler could carry this one. Then give them a cleaner game to work with. They earned something better than another evening spent covering for lost possessions.