Lakers face key test against Warriors with regular season around the corner

LAS VEGAS — The Lakers and Warriors are seeing a lot of each other throughout October.

One week after playing a preseason exhibition in San Francisco, which the Warriors dominated as the Lakers sat most of their rotation players, the two are matching up again Tuesday night at T-Mobile Arena.

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It’s the second of four games between the Lakers and Warriors during the month.

Walker Kessler could make his highly-anticipated preseason debut for the Lakers on Tuesday against the Warriors. NBAE via Getty Images

They play their regular-season openers against each other on Oct. 21 in Los Angeles, and then open NBA Cup Group Play on Oct. 30 at Chase Center.

What are the key storylines The California Post will be monitoring tonight?

Kessler’s debut

Walker Kessler has yet to make his preseason debut because of a left pinky finger injury.

The Lakers marquee free agency acquisition’s status remains up in the air after both teams had their shootarounds Tuesday morning at T-Mobile Arena.

Kessler returned to live drills in practice on Sunday, and has made it clear he wants to be on the floor.

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Whether he will be remains to be seen.

But what is clear is that the Lakers miss his presence inside of the paint as a rim protector, rebounder and roll man in the pick and rolls with star guards Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves.

Steph Curry will get more playing time against the Lakers in Las Vegas. Getty Images

Curry’s minutes

Warriors star guard Steph Curry will get extended playing time against the Lakers after being on the floor for 13-14 first-half minutes in the three previous exhibitions he played in.

Coach Steve Kerr said Curry will play in the second half against the Lakers, likely playing between 20-22 minutes.

The team has been careful with Curry’s preseason workload after he missed 39 regular season games last season because of runner’s knee.

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How his body responds to the uptick in playing time will be important with a week left until the start of the regular season.

The Lakers and Warriors are looking to clean up their turnovers. Getty Images

Turnovers

The Lakers and Warriors have both struggled with taking…

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Publish date : 2026-10-13 20:35:00

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