Advertisement

Lakers open against Houston on Oct. 26

Share

OK, there is more to the Lakers’ schedule than playing the Miami Heat and its “Super Friends” of Dwyane Wade, LeBron James and Chris Bosh on Christmas Day at home in Los Angeles and facing their rivals, the Boston Celtics and newly signed Shaquille O’Neal, on Jan. 30 at Staples Center.

The Lakers will play 82 games, starting with the opener Oct. 26, at Staples Center against the Houston Rockets. That will be the night the Lakers will celebrate their 2009-10 championship, get their rings and then move forward in their quest to three-peat.

The Clippers will open their 2010-11 regular season Oct. 27 at Staples Center against the Portland Trail Blazers, a nationally televised game on ESPN. They will play host to the retooled Heat on Jan. 12.

The Lakers have a six-game trip from Dec. 10-19 that has a stop in Washington, where they probably will visit the White House and President Obama the day before playing the Washington Wizards. The Lakers play host to Oklahoma City, a young and talented Thunder team that took L.A. to six games in the first-round playoff series, on Jan. 17, Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

The Lakers’ longest trip of the season is seven games, from Feb. 5-16, and it includes games in Boston (Feb. 10) and Orlando (Feb. 13). The Lakers play at Miami on March 10, and finish the regular season April 13 at Sacramento.

The Clippers, with new Coach Vinny Del Negro, will finish their season April 13 at Staples Center against the Memphis Grizzlies, a nationally televised game on ESPN. The Clippers are scheduled to play six nationally televised games this season, including Thanksgiving night against Sacramento. It’ll give Clippers forward Blake Griffin a chance to display his skills for the first time. Griffin was the No. 1 overall draft pick in the 2009, but missed all of last season after having surgery for a torn medial collateral ligament in his left knee.

broderick.turner@latimes.com

Buy Lakers championship merchandise here


Clicking on Green Links will take you to a third-party e-commerce site. These sites are not operated by the Los Angeles Times. The Times Editorial staff is not involved in any way with Green Links or with these third-party sites.


Advertisement