The 2023-24 NBA season has the potential to be a triumphant one for the Los Angeles Lakers. They finally appear to have a championship-caliber roster after a year and a half of purgatory.
Training camp is still several weeks away, but the regular-season schedule for the upcoming season was released on Thursday, and it is time for teams to prepare for what their respective schedules hold for them.
The Lakers will have a challenging but manageable schedule this season. Here is a breakdown of that schedule and what it entails over the next several months as they look to win their 18th NBA championship.
October and November will be difficult
This past season, the Lakers were saddled with a very difficult schedule to begin the year. They ended up losing their first five games and eight of their first 10, which led to them having virtually no chance of making the playoffs, at least according to stat geeks.
Of course, they made the postseason and advanced all the way to the Western Conference finals. However, their very poor start forced them to huff and puff late in the season to make that possible.
This year, L.A.’s first 18 games will be challenging. In that span, it will face the Denver Nuggets, Cleveland Cavaliers, Dallas Mavericks, Memphis Grizzlies, Sacramento Kings and Los Angeles Clippers. In fact, the Lakers will play the Kings twice during that time, and the Nuggets contest will take place on opening night in Colorado.
The Lakers will be at home for much of the middle portion of the schedule
Traditionally, the Lakers play a good number of their road games during the heart of their schedule. However, in the month of January, they will get a respite.
For most of the month, they will leave the state of California just once: a Jan. 13 contest versus the Utah Jazz. They will not cross state lines that month until Jan. 29 when they take on the Houston Rockets.
That will be the second game of a six-game road trip that forms the annual “Grammy Trip.”
Once they return home on Feb. 8, they will again have a favorable travel schedule. They will leave the state only twice between then and late March.
From January 1 to January 24 the Lakers will only leave California once (to Utah).
From February 22 (post All-Star Break) to March 24, the Lakers will only leave California once (to Phoenix).
That is 55 days of the 2023-24 season where the Lakers will do minimal travel.
— Lake Show Life (@TheLakeShowLife) August 17, 2023
That will give the Purple and Gold a golden opportunity to get hot and reduce the wear and tear on an aging LeBron James.
A look at the close to the schedule
On March 26, the Lakers will embark on another six-game road trip. It will start with a game against the Milwaukee Bucks, and the following contest will be versus the Grizzlies. After that, the trip will be very manageable. The remaining games will be against the Indiana Pacers, Brooklyn Nets, Toronto Raptors and Washington Wizards.
At that point, L.A. will have five games left against the Cleveland Cavaliers, Minnesota Timberwolves, Golden State Warriors, Grizzlies and New Orleans Pelicans.
This could serve as a nice tune-up ahead of the playoffs for the Purple and Gold.
Games against notable opponents
- Clippers: Nov. 1 (home), Jan. 7 (home), Jan. 23 (away), Feb. 28 (away)
- Suns: Oct. 26 (home), Nov. 10 (away), Jan. 11 (home), Feb. 25 (away)
- Nuggets: Oct. 24 (away), Feb. 8 (home), March 2 (home)
- Warriors: Jan. 27 (away), Feb. 22 (away), March 16 (home), April 9 (home)
- Boston Celtics: Dec. 25 (home), Feb. 1 (away)
