Los Angeles Lakers center Walker Kessler made a strong first impression in his preseason debut Tuesday in Las Vegas, finishing with 11 points on 4-for-6 shooting, nine rebounds, one block and one steal in a 101-89 loss to the Golden State Warriors. He played only in the first half.
“I mean, it was a lot of fun being out there again,” Kessler said. “It’s been so long. Before the game I was actually pretty nervous, to be honest. But getting out there and just playing with the guys, it was a blast.”
A long road back
Kessler had not appeared in an NBA game since Oct. 31 of last season, when he played for the Utah Jazz. That was 347 days before Tuesday. He then underwent season-ending surgery in November to repair a torn labrum in his left shoulder.
The Lakers acquired him in an offseason sign-and-trade. To do so, they committed two future unprotected first-round picks and two pick swaps, on top of a four-year, $130 million contract for the 25-year-old. He had to wait a little longer to make his debut. Early in training camp, he jammed his left pinkie finger on the backboard while trying to block a shot, and he sat out the Lakers’ first three preseason games.
Kessler said he was held out for “precautionary” reasons. By playing Tuesday, he still has two exhibition games to play, including Friday at home against the Denver Nuggets, before the regular season opens against the Warriors on Oct. 22.
Immediate impact
His presence showed up in the numbers. In the 16 minutes Kessler was on the court, the Lakers outscored the Warriors by 15. In the 32 minutes he sat, Golden State outscored L.A. by 27.
“I think I have a certain presence on the floor, but I think my teammates around me did a great job of playing defense on the perimeter,” Kessler said. “I think we shared the ball really well tonight … especially in the first half. It was a lot of fun.”
Lakers coach JJ Redick praised the effort of the five-year veteran. “I think he’s a great fit for our team,” Redick said. “Thought he did a nice job of running the floor, crashing, had some terrific rebounds in traffic, protected the rim. Just really, really good first half from him.”
Redick said he expects that level of effort whenever Kessler is in the game. “The word I’ve used with him, the challenge, is just being relentless,” Redick said. “Just in terms of the motor on both ends. Running the floor, diving, screening, crashing the glass.”
Kessler has taken that message to heart. “JJ and I talked, and that’s kind of what we came up with this year: ‘relentless,'” Kessler said. “And for me, that means just crashing every time, trying to be a presence in the paint, inside, outside, play hard, don’t take plays off, on the offensive end and defensive end. So that’s going to be my goal for this year.”
Short-handed Lakers
The Lakers were missing five players Tuesday. Luka Doncic sat for rest, and Cameron Carr, Ziaire Williams, Adou Thiero and Collin Sexton were listed as “day-to-day” with various injuries, according to Redick. That made Kessler’s presence even more important.
“It was amazing,” said Lakers forward Sandro Mamukelashvili, who scored 10 points and grabbed seven rebounds. “He’s an amazing rim protector. He’s so tough, physical. He plays hard. So it was amazing having him there. … I think he brings a lot of impact. He had a great, great first game and I’m sure he’s going to get better from here.”
Lakers guard Austin Reaves led L.A. with 28 points and seven assists. He said Kessler was key to the team’s offensive flow. “I mean he created probably four or five really good looks for us from 3 by just rolling hard,” Reaves said. “Nobody’s going to give him credit for it, but him putting pressure on the rim and roll opportunities are going to make the [opposing] big guy sink … and we’re going to get wide-open 3s. We had quite a bit of them tonight.”
Second-half struggles
With Kessler on the bench for the second half, the Lakers were outscored 51-26 and committed 18 turnovers. Backup guards Bronny James (four), Chris Manon (three) and Jaden Hardy (two) were among the main culprits.
Redick pointed to the team’s ball-handling depth. “If one of our three primary handlers are out,” Redick said, “one of those guys is going to play. It’s too taxing with full court pressure for AR and Luka to just do that solely so we’ll keep trying to get better and I know those guys, their intent is there. We’ll just keep [trying]…”
He was blunt about the second half. “It just was not a good offensive product in the second half, and I’ll look at what I can do better with that, too.”