Analyzing the Lakers' 2025-26 schedule
The Lakers' schedule this season will have some really challenging stretches. However, there are also some portions of the schedule that are favorable at the right times, and that is something they can take advantage of as they look to become a legitimate championship contender.
Let's start with the initial weeks of L.A.'s schedule.
The first month or so isn't easy, but it's manageable
The Lakers are still in the process of developing chemistry with Luka Doncic after he arrived in early February. Therefore, a manageable first few weeks of the schedule would really help.
They have a challenging game to start the regular season versus the Golden State Warriors at home on Oct. 21. After that, their next 15 games or so are something they should be able to handle while still being moderately challenged enough to grow as a unit.
During that time, they will play the Minnesota Timberwolves, the team that knocked them out of the first round of playoffs in five games, on Oct. 24 and Oct. 29. Other than that, the only other truly challenging team they will face in the first month of the season is the defending NBA champion Oklahoma City Thunder.
On the other hand, nine of L.A.'s first 14 games will be on the road. That includes their first extended road trip of the season.
The Lakers have three long road trips this season
On Nov. 8, the Lakers start a five-game road trip with a contest versus the Atlanta Hawks. Over the following week, they will also play the Charlotte Hornets, Thunder, New Orleans Pelicans and Milwaukee Bucks before returning home for a game against the Utah Jazz on Nov. 18.
After that, the Lakers' schedule is pretty manageable until their annual Grammy road trip, which begins this season on Jan. 20, 2026. The first game of that trip will be against the Denver Nuggets. This season's Grammy trip will last eight games and also include contests versus the Los Angeles Clippers, Dallas Mavericks, Cleveland Cavaliers and New York Knicks.
Then in March, Los Angeles will have its third and final extended road trip. This one will have six games, and it will start with twin games against the Houston Rockets, as well as matchups with the Orlando Magic and the rising Detroit Pistons.
There will be a long stretch of predominantly home games
After the Lakers return from their Grammy trip, they will be home for almost every game until that six-game trip in March. In fact, they will only have three road games during that stretch against the Phoenix Suns, Warriors and Nuggets. That means they will barely be crossing time zones for about a month and a half.
They will, however, have several tough games during that time, including two against the Warriors and Nuggets and one against the Thunder, Timberwolves and Knicks. At least fatigue shouldn't be an issue for that portion of the schedule.
The final games of the schedule are a mixed bag
The Lakers will have nine games remaining after their six-game road trip in March. They will play the Thunder twice and have one game each against the Warriors, Mavericks and Cavaliers during that stretch.
But other than that, they will have some relatively easy games, including their final two of the season, which will be the Suns and Jazz at home. That should give them a relatively soft landing as they prepare for the postseason.
How many back-to-back games will the Lakers have?
In recent years, the NBA has done a decent job of cutting back on how many back-to-back games every team has had throughout a season. This year, L.A. will have 14 sets of back-to-back games, which is just as many as it had last season.
Last season, the Lakers had six sets of back-to-back games in March and April, and they played a stretch of 10 games in 15 days, which included four sets of back-to-back games and three such sets in a row.
This season, they will have three back-to-back sets in March and one in April.
This article originally appeared on LeBron Wire: Analyzing the Lakers' 2025-26 schedule
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
4 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Blockbuster three-team trade idea swaps Knicks, Bucks All-Stars
Blockbuster three-team trade idea swaps Knicks, Bucks All-Stars originally appeared on The Sporting News The NBA is known for some of the most absurd trades that can come out of nowhere. Look no further than February's stunner that sent Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers, to the horror of Dallas Mavericks fans. It leaves you wondering when the next blockbuster could come, and what teams it could involve. All eyes are currently on the Milwaukee Bucks, where one of the best players in the world, Giannis Antetokounmpo, has been involved in trade rumors since they lost in the first round to the eventual Eastern Conference champion Indiana Pacers. While there is currently no indication that the Bucks would trade their franchise cornerstone, this is the NBA, where anything is possible. A recent trade proposal from Sports Illustrated would shake things up around the association, to say the least, and it involves the Bucks, New York Knicks, and the New Orleans Pelicans. Bucks Acquire: Zion Williamson, Kelly Olynyk, Pacome Dadiet, Tyler Kolek, and five first-round picks Pelicans Acquire: Karl Anthony Towns Knicks Acquire: Giannis Antetokounmpo The headliner of this mock trade is obviously the Greek Freak to the Knicks, where he instantly creates a championship favorite in New York. A duo of Jalen Brunson and Antetokounmpo would strike fear in the rest of the Eastern Conference and possibly even the reigning champion Oklahoma City Thunder. The Pelicans can finally move on from their former No. 1 overall pick, Zion Williamson, who has flashed potential as a former All-Star but has been unable to consistently stay on the court throughout his career in New Orleans. Swapping him out for Towns, who has proven himself to be a star, makes them better and provides a building block to construct a playoff contender around. Milwaukee, meanwhile, which is still paying off its draft pick debts to the Portland Trail Blazers from the Damian Lillard trade, can get a kick start on its rebuild. Williamson is a wildcard, but if he can stay healthy, he has the potential to be a top-15 player in the league. Five first-round picks don't hurt either, and they can develop two youngsters with potential in former Knicks draft picks Dadiet and Kolek. If this deal were to become a reality, it would all hinge on Milwaukee's willingness to trade its former Finals MVP, and the Knicks, for certain, are holding out hope that they do.
Yahoo
4 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Scrimmage report: Palisades passing duo is ready to light up City Section football
There's no need to scout Palisades' football team this fall. Everyone knows the passing duo of quarterback Jack Thomas and receiver Demare Dezeurn is going to be electric. Dezeurn, who ran a 10.32 100 meters as a sophomore last season at Bishop Alemany, made his Palisades debut in a scrimmage on Thursday. Several times he was used as a decoy, opening the door for receiver Harrison Carter to show his stuff. Palisades kept Dezeurn under wraps. "We're not showing anything today," Thomas said. Palisades opens against Washington Prep on Thursday. The team still doesn't have a campus field because of repairs being made after the Palisades fire. Santa Monica College will be the site for several home games. Thomas is already predicting the Dolphins will play Birmingham to decide the City Section Open Division championship. Dezeurn still needs to be cleared by the City Section to play next week. Chaminade faced Santa Margarita in a scrimmage on Thursday, and Eagles coach David Machuca said he was very happy with the play of his team's offensive line considering that Santa Margarita's strength could be its defensive line. Chaminade faces Oaks Christian in an opener next week, with Santa Margarita playing Mission Viejo. The Sierra Canyon-Corona Centennial scrimmage matched two top 10 teams and exposed issues both teams will need to improve on. Sierra Canyon still has a competition going at quarterback, and that's the position likely to decide how far the Trailblazers might advance in the Division 1 playoffs. Their defensive line is one of the best in the Southland. Centennial had trouble running the ball, something that needs to improve since the Huskies have a three-game stretch against Servite, Santa Margarita and Mater Dei in nonleague games. Birmingham's powerful soccer program has supplied three kickers to the football program, giving coach Jim Rose options with special teams. Kicking field goals will definitely be an option. Making adjustments for multi-sport athletes, such as letting them leave early for a club practice, is something coaches must do if they want to attract the best athletes in school. Sign up for the L.A. Times SoCal high school sports newsletter to get scores, stories and a behind-the-scenes look at what makes prep sports so popular. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Yahoo
4 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Why the NCAA didn't force Michigan to vacate wins as part of its punishment for the Connor Stalions scandal
There was no serious consideration for the NCAA to vacate any wins from Michigan's 2023 national title season. The NCAA said Friday that Michigan didn't lose any wins as part of its punishment for its advance scouting scheme because the saga didn't involve any ineligible athletes and because the NCAA had immediately alerted the Big Ten about what Michigan was doing. Michigan was fined tens of millions of dollars, former coach Jim Harbaugh was given a 10-year show-cause penalty and Connor Stalions got an eight-year show-cause penalty from the NCAA on Friday. The NCAA highlighted the lengths that Stalions went to steal teams' signs via in-person scouting and that 'aspects of the record suggest that there may have been broader acceptance of the scheme throughout the program. At minimum, there was a willful intent not to learn more about Stalions' methods.' However, the NCAA did not take the step of vacating any wins or even giving Michigan a postseason ban. The NCAA even said in the infractions report that a postseason ban was 'required' in Michigan's case and that a multi-year ban would be appropriate. However, the NCAA said that 'a postseason ban would unfairly penalize student-athletes for the actions of coaches and staff who are no longer associated with the Michigan football program' and 'thus, a more appropriate penalty is an offsetting financial penalty.' After the NCAA notified the Big Ten of Stalions' scouting in October of 2023, the Big Ten suspended Harbaugh for the final three games of the season less than a month later. Michigan, which went 15-0 on the way to the national title, won all three of those games and even beat Penn State and Ohio State without Harbaugh on the sidelines. There once was a precedent, however, for the NCAA to vacate wins for incidents that do not involve player eligibility. The NCAA forced Penn State to vacate all wins from 1998 through 2011 as part of its punishment for the Jerry Sandusky sex abuse scandal and the Nittany Lions faced a postseason ban. But in 2015, as part of a settlement with Pennsylvania state officials, the NCAA restored Penn State's vacated wins. The most recent team to have wins vacated is Arizona State. The Sun Devils had two wins vacated from the 2022 season under coach Herm Edwards and eight in 2021. Kentucky had nine regular-season wins and a bowl game vacated in 2021.
