When the NBA schedule is released, one of the first things fans want to know is what the marquee games of the season will be. For fans of other teams, the games that are usually circled are usually against the Lakers as they are one of the most storied franchises in all of sports.
But what are the games to look forward to as a Lakers fan? With a couple of schedule leaks coming out today, we already know of three games that will be watched by the whole NBA community.
According to the OC Register’s Kevin Ding, the Lakers will open up their season with a game against the Clippers. For the first time in franchise history, the Clippers will begin the year as the defending Pacific Division champions, and will look to start off the year by taking on the Lakers in Staples Center.
The first game of the year will be a nice barometer to see where the Lakers stand, and how much they’ll have to grow as the season progresses. The Clippers may have gotten better with a few of their off-season pickups, but will not go into this season un-flawed. A shot at taking down the Clippers will be a great opening night test.
On November 7, the Lakers travel to Houston to take on the Rockets — the team’s first meeting with Dwight Howard since he spurned them in free agency. The exodus from Los Angeles left the fans in Los Angeles bitter about his short stint in the purple and gold and should draw plenty of eyes.
The game against the Rockets will be on a Thursday night, so it’ll likely be featured on the second of a TNT double-header. If things go as planned with Kobe Bryant’s recovery from his ruptured Achilles, Bean should be on the floor for what will be an interesting game.
The other game that was leaked today is the Lakers Christmas game. Watching the Lakers on Christmas has become an NBA holiday tradition, and this year’s game should be a good one.
The Lakers will host the defending NBA champion Miami Heat in what will likely be ABC’s prime time slot. The Lakers are no strangers to the Christmas game as they beat the Knicks in a good one last season — so a game with LeBron James and company coming to town should be one of the most talked about games of the next NBA season.
When the NBA releases the complete schedule, we’ll put together a comprehensive list of the must watch games of the 2013-14 season, but games against Howard and the Rockets and James with the Heat is a fantastic start.
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