LOS ANGELES _ LeBron James and the Lakers will open their season against two of the West's best teams from a year ago, starting James' era with a trip to Portland before coming home to host the Houston Rockets.
The Lakers will open in Portland on Thursday, Oct. 18, in a game nationally televised by TNT, then return to Staples Center on Oct. 20 to host Chris Paul, James Harden and Carmelo Anthony in James' home opener, to be broadcast by ESPN.
The Clippers will play their first nationally televised game at home on Oct. 21 against Paul and the Rockets. Their season opener will be announced when the NBA releases the full schedule on Friday.
The first important dates on the NBA's 2018-19 schedule were announced Wednesday afternoon, with the NBA's opening week, Christmas games and Martin Luther King Jr. Day games.
The Lakers will spend Christmas in Oakland facing the Golden State Warriors before hosting Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant and company on Jan. 21.
The NBA season opens on Oct. 16 with a pair of potential conference finals matchups. Philadelphia and Boston will get things started before the Warriors get their championship rings at home with Russell Westbrook and the Oklahoma City Thunder watching.
The Christmas schedule _ the marquee day of the league's schedule _ will feature Milwaukee at New York at 9 a.m. Pacific time on ESPN, Oklahoma City in Houston (noon, ABC), Philadelphia again at Boston (2:30 p.m.) and Portland in Utah (7:30 p.m., ESPN) as well as the Lakers-Warriors matchup (5 p.m., ABC/ESPN).
The MLK schedule kicks off in Memphis, as it always does, with New Orleans facing the Grizzlies. Houston then will play in Philadelphia before the Warriors and Lakers close out the TNT tripleheader.
