Lakers release schedule for 2019-20 season

At long last, the Los Angeles Lakers have released their schedule for the 2019-20 season.

LeBron James, Anthony Davis and the Lakers will open up their season against Paul George, Kawhi Leonard and the LA Clippers at Staples Center on Oct. 22, as previously reported by Shams Charania of The Athletic. That game will be one of 12 games the Lakers will have broadcast on TNT next season, tied with the Warriors for most games on the network. In total, the Lakers will have 43 games broadcast on national television.

Their home opener will be against the Utah Jazz on Oct. 25. The Jazz were unable to live up to expectations last season and were swept in the first round of the NBA Playoffs, but they made a few acquisitions in the offseason including Mike Conley, Bojan Bogdanovic, Ed Davis and Jeff Green. Along with the Clippers, they’ll be a team to watch for a top-three seed in the Western Conference.

However, with the exception of the Clippers and Jazz, the Lakers will have a relatively easy start to the season. In their first two months, they’ll see just five teams that made the playoffs last season, including the Clippers, Jazz, Oklahoma City Thunder, San Antonio Spurs and Golden State Warriors. While the Thunder, Spurs and Warriors will be in the mix for a playoff spot next season, they’re not expected to on the same level competitively as the Lakers.

In other words, if the Lakers need some time to work through some things, they’ll have it. After that, though, they’ll need things to start clicking or they could be battling for a playoff spot for all 82 games.

Here is the full schedule:

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