One L.A. team a national draw
Lakers get league-high 31 games on national television; Clippers open against Nuggets.
NBA releases complete schedule and Lakers beat Clippers in marquee TV games 31-3.
While LeBron James and the Lakers already knew they were opening the season on the road against the Portland Trail Blazers on Oct. 18, they found out Friday they’ll make their only visit to Cleveland to face James’ former team Nov. 21.
The Clippers will begin the 2018-19 season at Staples Center against the Denver Nuggets on Oct. 17.
The NBA revealed its 82game regular-season schedule for all 30 teams Friday during a nationally televised show, and it has the Lakers playing a league-high 31 games on national television.
The Lakers will play their first regular-season game at home Oct. 20 against the Houston Rockets. James, who signed a four-year, $153.3million contract to join the Lakers, will play his first home game against Cleveland on Jan. 13.
James, a former Cavalier who faced Golden State in the NBA Finals the last four years, will face the Warriors four times this season, starting with a Christmas Day game on ABC in Oakland. All Lakers-Warriors games will be nationally televised.
The longest road trip for the Lakers is in February, when the Grammy Awards come to Staples Center. The Lakers will travel to Golden State, Indiana, Boston, Philadelphia and Atlanta over 12 days.
The longest homestand for the Lakers will be four games over nine days in January, against Golden State, Minnesota, Phoenix and Philadelphia.
The Lakers will play 13 sets of back-to-back games.
The Clippers, who were a big TV attraction when they had Chris Paul, Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan, will have just three of their games televised nationally.
The Clippers, who play four of their first six regularseason games at home, have 14 sets of back-to-back games.
The longest road trip for the Clippers is also in February, when they’ll face Detroit, Toronto, Charlotte, Indiana, Boston and Minnesota over 11 days.
The longest homestand for the Clippers is six games over 12 days in March, against Oklahoma City, Boston, Portland, Chicago, Brooklyn and Indiana.
On Jan. 12, the Clippers will host Griffin for the first time since his trade to the Detroit Pistons.
The Clippers will face Jordan, who spent all 10 years of his career with L.A. before signing with Dallas Mavericks this summer, for the first time at Staples Center on Dec. 20. Jordan will see the Clippers on Dec. 2 in Dallas.
In other games of note, Kawhi Leonard, who forced his way out of San Antonio in a trade that was highlighted by Toronto shipping DeMar DeRozan to the Spurs, will face his old team for the first time when his Raptors squad goes to Texas on Jan. 3. DeRozan, who was upset with how the Raptors handled the trade that sent him to the Spurs, will play in Toronto on Feb. 22.
The Boston Celtics, with a healthy Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward as well as a supporting cast of Jaylen Brown, Al Horford and Jayson Tatum, will host the Philadelphia 76ers and its gifted duo of Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons in the season opener Oct. 16.
The NBA also noted that back-to-back games will be at an all-time low for the fourth straight season, with teams averaging 13.3 back-to-back sets in 2018-19.
For the second straight season, no team will play four games in five days.