With a couple of months left until the 2026-27 NBA regular season begins, the Los Angeles Lakers and every other NBA team had their entire schedules released(other than two games that could be added for teams who do not qualify for the quarterfinals/semifinals of the NBA Cup). In their first season without LeBron James, the Purple & Gold will look to run it back with Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves, with the power duo fueling the franchise now along with a new supporting cast of players surrounding them. So, with all of that in mind, some of the more significant games on the Lakers’ schedule will be listed below in this note, including premier primetime matchups(34 of them for the LakeShow) and big games against some of the most exciting teams in the association.
First Game of Season is Not on Opening Night, With Two Early Matchups Each Against Warriors, Clippers and Trail Blazers(NBA Cup Games)
The Lakers will play five preseason games before their regular season schedule begins on Wed, Oct 21 against the Golden State Warriors. Unlike last season, both of these in-state rivals will not be playing on Opening Night as this is the first time since 2017 that the Purple & Gold have not opened up the season tipping off on the first day. With that benefit from the LeBron James era now being gone, the Lakers will instead see plenty of their newest additions make their Hollywood debuts in Walker Kessler, Quentin Grimes, Collin Sexton, Sandro Mamukelashvili, Kevon Looney and others. The Lakers will face off against an old Warriors team with a 38-year old Stephen Curry, 36-year old Draymond Green and 40-year old Al Horford among the older generation of players still hooping in the NBA. But with some young stars like rookie Yaxel Lendeborg, Brandin Podziemski, LJ Cryer and others, Golden State has plenty of good young players as well. The Lakers and Warriors will see each other shortly afterwards as they both open up their NBA Cup runs in the West Group C with a game at the Chase Center on Fri, Oct 30.
The Purple & Gold will play two of their first five games against their cross-city rivals in the Los Angeles Clippers, who are dealing with a tough situation in a scandal preventing them from potentially trading Kawhi Leonard to the Toronto Raptors in exchange for Brandon Ingram, Grady Dick and a future NBA draft selection. While that tough situation unfolds, the Clippers re-signed Bradley Beal, who didn’t even play in a game last season, and they bring back some key players such as Kris Dunn, Brook Lopez, and Darius Garland while adding on new pieces such as Nick Martinelli, Baba Miller and Keaton Wagler. Other than the games against in-state opponents, the Lakers will play a road game against the Utah Jazz on Sun, Oct 25(that will be Kessler’s first game back at the Delta Center since being traded to L.A) and a home game against the Portland Trail Blazers, who they will also see for an NBA Cup Group Stage game at Crypto.com Arena on Fri, Nov 6. The other two teams in the West Group C that the Purple & Gold will play are the Sacramento Kings on Fri, Nov 20 and San Antonio Spurs on Black Friday. With that first matchup against the defending Western Conference champs, the Lakers will have to show that they are more improved to take on the juggernaut team in the middle of Texas led by the dominant Victor Wembanyama.
Other key games in the first two months of the season include a Mon, Nov 2 home date against the Miami Heat, who now have a killer trio of skilled big men in Giannis Antetokounmpo, Bam Adebayo and Bobby Portis, a Sun, Nov 8 game on the road against the Detroit Pistons, a First Round rematch against the Houston Rockets on Mon, Nov 30 at the Toyota Center, and a two-game set on the road against the Minnesota Timberwolves during the week before Christmas. That will lead to an amazing matchup slated for Dec 25 against a team with the greatest player of his generation now on them who played his past eight seasons in the City of Angels.
Christmas Day Matchup Features the Return of the King to Los Angeles, With A Set-Up Game Against Denver Preceding The Holiday Showdown
After the NBA Cup concludes and the calendar continues downwards to a major sports combo event in December, the Lakers will prepare for a game that was penciled in for a special date right when one man made his final decision as to where he would be playing his 24th season in. The Purple & Gold will play on Tue, Dec 23 against the Denver Nuggets at home before their Christmas Day game many months in the making against the Philadelphia 76ers, who now have LeBron Raymone James Sr on their roster. With LeBron signing a multi-year contract with the Sixers on Jul 24, this return game to Crypto.com Arena was inevitably going to be place on Christmas Day. With a reunion between him and only a few of his Lakers teammates remaining on the active roster(Doncic and Reaves being the main ones), King James will be playing in front of a crowd of Purple & Gold fans in a city that he called home for eight years.
Still on the active roster for now on the Lakers is LeBron’s son Bronny James, who could be a potential G-League player or he could be a benchwarmer on this Lakers squad. There are only six sure-fire roster players on the Purple & Gold who are former teammates of LeBron and Bronny is one of them, so the irony of a father playing against his son’s team after playing alongside his son for a spoonful of games across two seasons is very intriguing.
This Christmas game of a former star of the franchise has familiar overtones in Los Angeles, as Shaquille O’Neal found himself in a similar position in making his first appearance back on the Lakers’ home court on an opposing team on Christmas Day after playing for eight seasons in Purple & Gold colors. History is repeating itself with LeBron, who just like Shaq played eight years as a Laker and eventually was pushed out due to a younger star rising up to claim the face of the franchise role. In O’Neal’s case, it was his partner in crime for his entire eight-year stretch in Kobe Bryant, with Shaq getting traded to the Miami Heat in the 2004 offseason. In this modern case, LeBron left of his own accord and made his final free agent decision in signing with Philly, which boasts a strong lineup around him with Joel Embiid, Tyrese Maxey, Jaylen Brown and VJ Edgecombe. So, this Christmas Day game slated as the middle one in a five-game schedule for the NBA will probably be the most-watched and intriguing one. Safe to say it’s going to be a heck of an afternoon to be a basketball fan in Southern California.
Following the energetic return of LeBron to L.A, the Lakers will play three more games before ringing in the new year of 2027, where they will have plenty of good games on the docket leading up to the All-Star Break.
Pre-ASG Schedule Includes Two Games Against Celtics And Matchups Against Three of the “Final Four” Teams From Last Year’s Playoffs
The Lakers’ schedule leading up to the All-Star Break is not going to be easy, as they have plenty of games against playoff-caliber teams lined up. Firstly, they will host the Boston Celtics on Thur, Jan 7 before playing them again at the TD Garden on Tue, Feb 2. Other games against teams that made it into the playoffs last year include the Pistons and Magic at home along with a road game in Toronto on Sun, Jan 3. Another Thursday night game against the Warriors in San Francisco will occur on Jan 21. But the biggest games lined up on the Purple & Gold’s schedule leading up to the All-Star Break will be against three of the four teams who made it to the Conference Finals last season.
On Tue, Jan 26, the Lakers will host the Oklahoma City Thunder at Crypto.com Arena in their first matchup against the powerful team from the middle of the country since being swept in the Second Round of the playoffs against them. The Thunder have most of their big pieces returning, although they traded away Luguentz Dort to the Atlanta Hawks in the free agency period. With Shai Gilgeous-Alexander as the two-time defending MVP award winner, it will definitely be a chance for Luka Doncic to redeem himself after being unable to play against OKC in the playoffs due to a hamstring injury. Along with Jalen Williams, Chet Holmgren, Isaiah Hartenstein, Jared McCain and Alex Caruso among others, the Thunder are still seeking to turn themselves into a dynasty, although they hit a roadblock in losing in the Western Conference Finals to the mighty San Antonio Spurs.
A few days later, the Lakers will play against the defending NBA champions in the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden. The Saturday primetime game will be a very intriguing one as it comes near the two-year anniversary of Rob Pelinka pulling off a megadeal for Doncic with the Dallas Mavericks after the Purple & Gold had defeated the Knicks on Sat, Feb 1, 2025. New York still has plenty of their core players from their first banner team in more than 50 years, with Jalen Brunson, Karl-Anthony Towns, Josh Hart, OG Anonouby, and Mikal Bridges making up the heroic starting five for the Knicks. That game will certainly be a test of championship wit for the Lakers as they would be near the halfway point on their schedule.
But for one more daring challenge, the LakeShow will venture out onto the road to play against the team that was defeated by New York in the 2026 NBA Finals. Another Saturday Primetime matchup one week later against the San Antonio Spurs is slated to occur. This will be the second scheduled game against San Antonio and both of them will be at the Frost Bank Center. With Victor Wembanyama being surrounded by his cast of role players in Stephon Castle, De’Aaron Fox, Julian Champagnie, Dylan Harper and others, the Lakers will face a unique challenge in seeking to win in a tough environment. But if they can beat the Spurs in a non-NBA Cup game in San Antonio, it will be a big confidence booster for this team heading towards the All-Star Break. That game will be on the tail-end of the annual Grammys Trip for the Purple & Gold, who return home to play four games before the All-Star Break. Games against the Clippers, Nuggets, Chicago Bulls and Rockets will occur before the All-Star festivities take place in Phoenix on the weekend of Feb 19-21, 2027.
Post ASG Schedule Features Tough Road Trip to Denver, Dallas and Philly Along With Home Games Against Thunder & Knicks
After the All-Star Break concludes, the Lakers will play a few big games against teams that they could undoubtedly be competing for playoff positioning with. Their first game out of the break will be a road game on Fri, Feb 26 against the Nuggets, who will play the Purple & Gold at Crypto.com Arena earlier in the month. With Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray still being integral parts of Denver’s roster, the Nuggets are still a dangerous team in the West in spite of making little additions of significance during the free agency period. The Lakers will then travel south to play against the Dallas Mavericks on Sun, Feb 28 in what should be an exciting first matchup between Luka Doncic and Cooper Flagg in the regular season. The Mavericks have built their roster with young stars and are awaiting the return of Kyrie Irving from a torn ACL suffered in Mar 2025.
Following a road game against the Orlando Magic to open up the month of March 2027, the Purple & Gold will travel up to the City of Brotherly Love to play against the Sixers in a rematch game of the Christmas Day matchup that will be LeBron James’ first game back in L.A since departing in free agency. This Thursday night matchup on Mar 4 will certainly be interesting to watch, especially considering that James was a huge part of why the Lakers defeated Philly on their home court on Dec 7, 2025. Depending on the health of everyone involved, Doncic and Reaves will face off against their old teammate and his new squad that will be looking to go on a deep playoff run in a wide-open Eastern Conference.
The Lakers then return home to play in a five-game homestand and they will be seeing some very dangerous teams during this week-long stretch. Firstly, they will play another home game against the Thunder on Sat, Mar 6. After a back-to-back Sunday night game against the Brooklyn Nets, the Purple & Gold will have three days of rest and preparation to host the defending champs in the Knicks on Thur, Mar 11. The Lakers defeated New York in a thrilling game on a Sunday afternoon game in March of this past season, but it will definitely be an energetic environment inside Crypto.com Arena for this premier matchup. To conclude the homestand, the Lakers will play a game the night after the New York game against the Cleveland Cavaliers, who are a dangerous team that could make a run to the NBA Finals, on Fri Mar 12 and a Sunday Night Basketball showdown against the Warriors. The Cavs bring back Donovan Mitchell, James Harden, Evan Mobley, Jarrett Allen and plenty of their other key players under head Coach Kenny Atkinson. The Purple & Gold will have to face Cleveland twice in March, with a game at Rocket Arena on tap for Thur, Mar 25. The fourth scheduled matchup against the “division rival” Warriors could be vital for determining playoff or play-in tournament positioning. With this post All-Star Break part of the scheduled analyzed, let’s now get to some of the biggest opponents that the Lakers will have to face in the final month of the regular season.
The Final Stretch Features Matchups Against Heat, Rockets, OKC, Spurs & T-Wolves Leading Up to Potential Playoff Seeding
The end of the regular season for the Lakers will feature plenty of games against teams who could be competing for playoff positioning as they have a hard stretch following a Sunday Night Basketball game against the Dallas Mavericks at home on Sun, Mar 21. On Tue, Mar 23, the Purple & Gold will travel to South Beach to play against the Miami Heat, who are looking primed for a return to the playoffs with Giannis, Portis and Adebayo as the three-headed monster for that team. Following a road game in Cleveland, the Lakers will play against the Houston Rockets at the Toyota Center on Sun, Mar 28 in what should be an important game for playoff positioning in the Western Conference.
Following a game against the Memphis Grizzlies on Tue, Mar 30, the LakeShow’s final road trip of the 2026-27 regular season will conclude in Oklahoma City as they take on the Thunder at the Paycom Center on Thur, Apr 1. This could be a fitting redemption game for both Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves, who both suffered injuries in a blowout loss to OKC on Thur, Apr 2 of this past season that ultimately impacted the Lakers’ depth heading into the 2026 playoffs. With the Thunder aiming to reclaim their spot as the dominant team in the West, this will be an important final matchup against OKC before a potential rematch in the playoffs happens.
The Purple & Gold will have the convenience of playing their final five games of the regular season at home, as their homestand begins against the San Antonio Spurs in a Sunday Night Basketball game on Sun, Apr 4. In another potential playoff preview, the Lakers will have one last look at Victor Wembanyama and his mighty squad looking to get back to the NBA Finals. Following another home game against Dallas on Tue, Apr 6, the Purple & Gold will play a two-game set against the Minnesota Timberwolves, who made a big trade in the offseason by acquiring LaMelo Ball from the Charlotte Hornets in exchange for Naz Reid and a load of draft capital. With Ball as the perfect wingman to Anthony Edwards, Minnesota is making a serious push to compete against the toughest teams in the West. So, two separate two-game sets against the Wolves will be interesting, including the two games on Wed, Apr 7 and Fri, Apr 9 at Crypto.com Arena.
The final game of the regular season for Los Angeles will occur against the Phoenix Suns on Sun, Apr 11 and hopefully the Lakers would be secure in the top six teams in the West and not competing for a spot in the Play-In Tournament. With a lot of high-stakes games on their schedule, the Purple & Gold look to stay relevant in their first season in the post-LeBron James era. This new roster can hopefully help this team under JJ Redick remain one of the most dynamic ones in the NBA.
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