The Los Angeles Lakers will face the Los Angeles Clippers on the opening night of the 2019-20 NBA season and again on Christmas Day, the league announced this week.
The teams also will meet at Staples Center Jan. 28 and March 8. The Oct. 22 and March 8 games will be Clipper home games. The Dec. 25 and Jan. 28 games will be Laker home games.
This will be the 21st consecutive year the Lakers will play on Christmas. The last time the Lakers didn’t play on Christmas was in 1998 when the owners lockout of the players delayed the start of the season until February.
The Lakers have played on Christmas 45 times, second-most in NBA history, behind the New York Knicks, who have played on Christmas 53 times.
The Clippers have played on Christmas 14 times, most recently in 2016.
Recently signed Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard will face his former teammates with the defending champion Toronto Raptors for the first time Nov. 11 at Staples Center. The Clippers recently acquired perennial all-star forward Paul George will face his former teammates with the Oklahoma City Thunder for the first time Nov. 18 at Staples Center.
Recently acquired Lakers forward-center Anthony Davis will face his former teammates with the New Orleans Pelicans for the first time Nov. 27 at New Orleans.
The Lakers will play their home opener Oct. 25 versus Utah. Their home schedule also includes games against Toronto Nov. 10, the Golden State Warriors Nov. 13 and April 9 and Boston Celtics Feb. 23.
Clipper single-game tickets are on sale now at clippers.com/tickets. They are also available by calling (888) 9-AXS-TIX.
Information on Lakers single-game ticket availability will be announced in the coming weeks, a team official said.
