LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles Lakers did not tiptoe into life after LeBron James. They kicked the door down.
In the franchise’s first game since James left for the Philadelphia 76ers in free agency, the Lakers routed the Golden State Warriors 127-105 on Wednesday night at Crypto.com Arena, opening the 2026-27 season with a performance that looked less like a rebuild and more like a declaration.
Luka Doncic, now unmistakably the face of the franchise, set the tone before tipoff — taking out a full-page ad in the Los Angeles Times that morning with a simple message: “Tonight we start our run for a championship.” Then he backed it up: 28 points, eight rebounds, seven assists and three steals in just three quarters of work.
Luka Doncic led the Lakers with 28 points in the season opener against Golden State. (Photo: AP)
The opening possession told the story of the night. Doncic drove past Draymond Green and lofted a lob to Walker Kessler, the Lakers’ marquee offseason acquisition, for an alley-oop dunk. It was the first of 10 dunks for the 7-foot-2 center, who authored a debut for the franchise record books: 26 points on a perfect 12-for-12 shooting, nine rebounds and two blocks. Kessler joined Wilt Chamberlain — who went 14-for-14 in March 1969 — as the only Lakers ever to shoot perfectly on at least 12 attempts, and his 10 dunks were the most by a Laker since Shaquille O’Neal in 2003.
Golden State actually started faster. Stephen Curry, beginning his 18th season, scored 16 of the Warriors’ first 21 points, and the visitors led 34-33 after one quarter. Then the game tilted — and got personal.
Doncic spent the first half in a running verbal duel with Warriors rookie Yaxel Lendeborg, the No. 11 pick, who drew a technical foul late in the second quarter. Doncic’s answer was 23 first-half points, capped by a banked half-court shot at the buzzer that sent the Lakers into halftime up 66-52 and the crowd into delirium.
The third quarter was a demolition: 36-16. A Reaves 3-pointer pushed the lead to 90-61, the margin reached 102-68 by the end of the period, and both Doncic and Curry watched the entire fourth quarter from the bench. Austin Reaves finished with 23 points, six assists and a perfect 10-for-10 night at the line, while Jake LaRavia and Quentin Grimes added 10 apiece for a Lakers team that shot 57 percent from the field with nine new faces on the roster.
Curry led Golden State with 23 points — 20 of them before halftime — followed by Brandon Williams (14) and 12 each from Gui Santos and Lendeborg. The Warriors were shorthanded: Jimmy Butler, Kristaps Porzingis and Moses Moody were all out, along with Brandin Podziemski and Charles Bassey.
One game proves nothing, and the Lakers know it. But on the first night of the post-LeBron era, the new order in Los Angeles looked fast, deep and emphatic — and its new king looked entirely comfortable on the throne.
Source: Reuters / Associated Press (NBA, October 21, 2026)
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