Kessler, Lillard and Garland lead three West Coast routs on NBA opening night

All three of Wednesday's late NBA openers were blowouts. The Lakers beat Golden State by 22, Portland beat Phoenix by 41 and the Clippers beat Sacramento by 25, closing an 11-game opening night that started with eight finals in the early window.

Lakers 127, Warriors 105. Walker Kessler scored 26 on 12-of-12 shooting in his Lakers debut, the second-most makes without a miss in team history behind Wilt Chamberlain, according to the Associated Press. Luka Doncic had 28 points, eight rebounds and seven assists in three quarters and banked in a half-court shot at the first-half buzzer. Austin Reaves scored 23, and Stephen Curry had 23 for Golden State. Full recap.

Trail Blazers 124, Suns 83. Damian Lillard scored 25 with six 3-pointers in his first regular-season game back in Portland, 542 days after his last NBA game, per the NBA. Ja Morant had 14 points and eight assists in his Blazers debut. Portland opened on a 21-0 run, led 72-39 at halftime and built the lead to 52. Devin Booker scored 23 for Phoenix. Full recap.

Clippers 121, Kings 96. Darius Garland scored 30 and the Clippers never trailed in their first opener without Kawhi Leonard since 2019. Brook Lopez had 17 points and 11 rebounds off the bench, and rookie Keaton Wagler added 15. Zach LaVine scored 28 for Sacramento, and Domantas Sabonis had 14 points and 18 rebounds. Full recap.

The early games are in our early-window roundup, including Anthony Edwards' 45 points against Giannis Antetokounmpo's Heat and Kevin Durant and Jabari Smith Jr. scoring 30 apiece in Houston's win over Dallas.

Up next: the Lakers host the Clippers on Friday. Portland visits Sacramento and Golden State hosts Memphis the same night, and Phoenix hosts Golden State on Saturday.