Walker Kessler after six blocks against the Clippers: ‘It’s just aggression,’ and next comes his first trip back to Utah

Walker Kessler blocked six shots, stole three passes and scored 22 points in the Los Angeles Lakers‘ 125-117 win over the LA Clippers on Friday, and the 7-foot-2 center put the credit on the whole group’s mindset. “It’s just aggression and just making plays,” he said afterward, describing a defense that has opened the season with far more edge than the one that finished 20th in defensive rating a year ago.

It was the second straight big night for the Lakers’ summer prize. Kessler went 10-for-14 from the field in 34:53, added eight rebounds and three assists, committed only one turnover and finished a team-best plus-18. The Lakers are 2-0, and Lakers On SI noted it is the franchise’s best start in 14 seasons.

“Just trying to be relentless.”@LakersReporter caught up with Walker Kessler after putting up 6 blocks and 3 steals in another Lakers win. 😤

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Where the defense is coming from

Kessler did not single himself out. He pointed to the wings around him, recalling a sequence in which Matisse Thybulle got a hand on a lob over the top and Ziaire Williams sprinted in to scoop up the loose ball. “It’s just fun to watch and fun to compete with,” he said of that group.

The box score backs him up. The Lakers forced 25 Clippers turnovers and finished with 13 steals and nine blocks, while Thybulle (13 points, two steals) and Williams (14 points on 5-for-7 shooting, two steals) were both plus-nine or better. Darius Garland scored 26 for the Clippers but turned the ball over nine times.

Last season Los Angeles ranked 29th in the league in field-goal percentage allowed in the restricted area, the hole the front office tried to fill when it landed Kessler from Utah in July in a sign-and-trade worth a reported four years and $130 million, with Utah collecting a pair of future firsts plus two pick swaps. JJ Redick praised Kessler after Friday’s game and predicted he will keep improving, and that his age and fit next to the team’s two stars were part of the appeal.

Two games, two statements

Kessler opened his Lakers career by making all 12 of his shots for 26 points in the 127-105 win over Golden State on Wednesday, October 21. Through two games he is averaging 24.0 points, 8.5 rebounds and 4.0 blocks while shooting 84.6% from the field, numbers well above his best Utah season, when he averaged 11.1 points, 12.2 rebounds and 2.4 blocks in 2024-25. The Friday box score is in the Game Center.

Austin Reaves led the Lakers with 28 points and nine assists, and Luka Dončić added 23 points and seven assists, though the Lakers’ 21 turnovers, 11 of them by Dončić, kept the Clippers within reach late.

What comes next

The schedule hands Kessler an early homecoming. The Lakers visit the Utah Jazz on Sunday, October 25, at 5:00 pm ET, his first game in Salt Lake City since the trade, against the franchise that drafted him with the 22nd pick in 2022 and kept him for four seasons. Preview and live score: Lakers at Jazz Game Center.