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Lakers still have plenty to clean up with 2 preseason games left

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Price, K. (2026, October 12). Lakers still have plenty to clean up with 2 preseason games left. New York Post. https://nypost.com/2026/10/12/sports/lakers-still-have-plenty-to-clean-up-during-preseason/

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New York Post · collected 2026-10-12 · by Khobi Price

Quick Summary

The Los Angeles Lakers continue to focus on player health and readiness as their preseason wraps up ahead of the Oct. 21 regular season opener against the Golden State Warriors. Walker Kessler, signed in free agency, might debut Tuesday after recovering from an injury, while Collin Sexton and Ziaire Williams remain questionable due to leg and foot issues respectively. Despite these concerns, the team needs to address ball security and defensive rebounding before the season starts; their 22.3% turnover rate ranks poorly among NBA teams, with turnovers especially high during untested lineup combinations.
Written by AI on 2026-10-12, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

Walker Kessler, a 7-foot-2 center acquired by the Los Angeles Lakers in a sign-and-trade deal with the Utah Jazz in July, made his long-awaited preseason debut against the Golden State Warriors on October 14 in Las Vegas. Kessler had been sidelined due to a jammed left pinky finger but was cleared for action after progressing through practice drills over the weekend. In his first game back, Kessler played 16 minutes and recorded 11 points, nine rebounds (including two offensive boards), one block, and one steal in the Lakers' 101-89 loss to the Warriors. Coach JJ Redick emphasized Kessler's importance to the team's strategy, highlighting his relentless effort on both ends of the floor. The Lakers have another preseason game against the Denver Nuggets scheduled for October 20 before starting their regular season on October 21 against the Warriors in Los Angeles.

Written for “Lakers Preseason Games” on 2026-11-03, grounded in this article and the 3 other(s) covering the same event.

Story

📰 Lakers Preseason Games
Sports · 4 article(s) covering the same event. See how they differ ↓

Compared with similar articles

This article reads unscored and hedges 12% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
New York Post
Hedges 0 of 8 claims Outlet record 66/100
New York Post
Hedges 4 of 42 claims Outlet record 66/100
“The articles describe different aspects of Walker Kessler's journey back from injury, with Article A focusing on his mindset and motivation after a lost season, while Article B discusses his potential return in the preseason games.”
New York Post
Hedges 0 of 22 claims Outlet record 66/100
New York Post
Hedges 1 of 22 claims Outlet record 66/100
“Article A discusses Walker Kessler's potential debut in a preseason game against the Warriors, while Article B covers an actual match-up and reaction during that game involving Lendeborg guarding Kessler instead of Luka Doncic. These describe different stages or aspects of the event.”
New York Post
Hedges 2 of 17 claims Outlet record 66/100
“The articles discuss different aspects of the Lakers' situation during their preseason and roster decisions, not the same specific incident.”
New York Post
Hedges 0 of 16 claims Outlet record 66/100
“While both articles mention Walker Kessler's potential debut, they refer to different times - Article A discusses his possible debut in a game on Tuesday night against the Warriors, while Article B refers to the same possibility but provides updates and context for the remaining preseason games.”
New York Post
Hedges 2 of 24 claims Outlet record 66/100
“The articles discuss different points in time regarding the Lakers' preparations for the regular season, with Article A referring to potential debuts and practices around October 10-12, while Article B focuses on improvements before the preseason ends on October 13.”
New York Post
Hedges 0 of 22 claims Outlet record 66/100
“While both articles mention Walker Kessler's performance, Article A discusses his potential debut and health updates before preseason games, while Article B specifically covers Kessler's actual game against the Warriors on Tuesday and subsequent game against the Nuggets.”
New York Post
Hedges 0 of 17 claims Outlet record 66/100
“While both articles mention Walker Kessler's potential debut, they refer to different times and outcomes — Article A indicates uncertainty about his participation in Tuesday's game, while Article B suggests he may play against the Warriors on a later Tuesday.”
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
24
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
12%
3 of 24 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
not political
takes no side on a contested political question
Publisher signals
66/100
New York Post's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
4
Sports
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-10-12 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

New York Post · 16396 article(s) · 35 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 35 correction(s)

Who wrote this

Khobi Price
64 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
🔮 Luka Dončić, who had already scored 41 points by that point, had been out of the game for 45 seconds, with the Lakers and Redick believing the end-of-bench players would put the finishing touches on securing the victory.
🔮 The questions the Lakers had to face as they returned to Southern California after a one-game trip to the Bay Area revolved around how this new group would respond to early-season adversity.
🔮 The early-season success might’ve masked the reality of where the Lakers are at in their team-building journey.
🔮 Each week, the California Post will power rank the NBA’s 30 teams.
🔮 The game couldn’t have started better for the Lakers, who were fueled by a signature Luka Doncic scoring early scoring flurry Friday night in Chase Center.
🔮 The Lakers will be without one of their starting wings when they kick off NBA Cup Group Play action against the Warriors on Friday night at Chase Center.
🔮 It’s unlikely Doncic and Reaves will come even close to being the highest-scoring duo in a season.
🔮 When the Lakers would need to play or rely on players they normally don’t, for whatever the circumstances it may be for that given game. And against the Clippers, which was the second night of the back-to-back set after Tuesday’s home loss to the Trail Blazers, the circumstances were being without superstar guard Luka Doncic (back tightness) and Ziaire Williams (left foot soreness).
🔮 And he would’ve liked to return to the franchise.
🔮 The Lakers couldn’t stop Portland from anywhere on the court: The Blazers shot 59% from the field and 50% on 3s.
Also by Khobi Price
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 64 articles by Khobi Price →

Topics

Lakers Las Vegas Los Angeles Nuggets Warriors

Subjects

Lakers ORG · 11× Warriors ORG · 3× JJ Redick PERSON · 2× Kessler PERSON · 2× Collin Sexton’s PERSON · 1× Las Vegas GPE · 1× Los Angeles GPE · 1× Nuggets ORG · 1× Walker Kessler PERSON · 1× Ziaire Williams PERSON · 1×

Narrative

Here are non-injury/player availability factors The California Post is keeping an eye on in the last two exhibitions Ball security Preseason statistics come with an obvious caveat: It’s just the preseason. Many teams, like the Lakers, haven’t been able to use all of their rotation players in every game.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-10-12
🔮 With about a week until they start their regular season with a matchup against the Warriors on Oct. 21 at Crypto.com Arena, the Lakers’ health and player availability will continue to be the main priority during the final week of the preseason.
2026-10-12 · New York Post
Lakers still have plenty to clean up with 2 preseason games left · assertive framing

Claims (24 extracted, 3 hedged)

With about a week until they start their regular season with a matchup against the Warriors on Oct. 21 at Crypto.com Arena, the Lakers’ health and player availability will continue to be the main priority during the final week of the preseason. asserted
health → start → preseason
Walker Kessler, the franchise’s marquee free-agency acquisition, could make his preseason debut against the Warriors on Tuesday in Las Vegas after sitting out of the first three games. uncertain
Kessler → make → games
The 7-foot-2 center made his return to live play in practice on Sunday after dealing with an injury to his left pinky finger. asserted
center → make → finger
Collin Sexton’s status is uncertain for Tuesday against the Warriors and Friday’s preseason finale vs. the Nuggets in Los Angeles, with coach JJ Redick saying the 6-foot-3 guard is “probably a little bit further behind” Kessler when it comes to his return as he deals with a lower leg injury. asserted
he → say → injury
And Ziaire Williams, the 6-foot-10 forward who’s in contention for a spot in the starting lineup, is dealing with a foot contusion after having only played in the Lakers’ preseason-opening win over the Kings on Oct. 5. asserted
who → ’ → Oct.
But regardless of who is available for their final two preseason games, the Lakers have plenty to clean up before the games start to count in the standings. asserted
games → have → standings
Here are non-injury/player availability factors The California Post is keeping an eye on in the last two exhibitions Ball security Preseason statistics come with an obvious caveat: It’s just the preseason. Many teams, like the Lakers, haven’t been able to use all of their rotation players in every game. asserted
been → keep → game
And the rotation players who have suited up aren’t playing full games at this point, either playing just the first half or getting minutes in the third quarter before sitting out the entire fourth quarter, which complicates statistical takeaways. asserted
which → suit → takeaways
Most teams have yet to crack double-digit practices, and haven’t come close to installing all of their offensive sets or defensive game plans. asserted
teams → have → sets
But one thing is clear from the Lakers’ first three preseason games: They need to take better care of the basketball. asserted
They → need → basketball
The Lakers’ 22.3% turnover rate entering Monday ranked No. 28 among all teams during the preseason. asserted
rate → enter → preseason
But Jaden Hardy (3 turnovers per game), Quentin Grimes (3), Bronny James (2.7), Dalton Knecht (2) and Sandro Mamukelashvili (2) have also coughed the ball up too much, especially when factoring most players aren’t playing as many minutes. asserted
players → cough → minutes
The turnovers have piled up when unfamiliar lineups are on the floor together and aren’t as organized as they’d like to be – a reality coach JJ Redick has acknowledged. asserted
Redick → pile → floor
The Lakers have been generating the types of shots they want, especially when Doncic and/or Reaves are on the floor. But they need to help themselves by being more careful with the ball. asserted
they → generate → ball
The Lakers have gotten a good look at what life without Kessler could look like. uncertain
life → get → Kessler
The Lakers’ 61.6% defensive rebounding percentage during preseason has ranked No. 27 across the league. asserted
percentage → rank → league
Kessler patrolling the paint will be a significant boost for the Lakers’ rebounding. But he can’t be on the floor for every minute of every game during the regular season. asserted
he → patrol → season
So the last week has provided the Lakers with insight on what they need to do so they can be better on the glass when their starting center isn’t on the floor. asserted
center → provide → floor
“It’s important to have two of the bigger wings out there for rebounding purposes,” Redick said. asserted
Redick → ’ → purposes
“That was a concern I think coming into the year – trying to be a good defensive rebounding team. asserted
I → think → year
What does that look like with Walker not on the court? asserted
Walker → look → court
In film, it’s pretty apparent that we need to do a better job of boxing out. asserted
we → ’ → job
“We’ll figure that out. asserted
We → figure → that
The biggest thing is trying to make sure we have…two bigger wings out there, Luka, Adou [Thiero], whoever that may be, Mamu as a wing with non-Walker minutes.” uncertain
that → try → minutes
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