Pelicans to meet Raptors, join Lakers, Clippers on NBA Opening Night

The Zion Williamson effect continues to pay dividends for the New Orleans Pelicans in regards to national exposure. On Saturday, The Athletic’s Shams Charania reported the two games on the opening night of the NBA season on Oct. 22 with New Orleans to meet the defending NBA champions Toronto Raptors. The Lakers and Clippers will also meet, and highlight, the opening night of the season.

Expected opening night of 2019-20 NBA season: Oct. 22, sources tell @TheAthleticNBA @Stadium.

Planned games for opening night: Los Angeles Lakers/LA Clippers and Toronto Raptors/New Orleans Pelicans.

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) August 3, 2019

This is already the second game the Pelicans will play on one of the premier dates on the NBA schedule. On Friday, it was reported that the Pelicans would play the Denver Nuggets on Christmas Day as well.

Another game that will likely draw plenty of eyes and potentially national attention will be Anthony Davis’ return to New Orleans. The Lakers will travel to meet the Pelicans on Nov. 27, as reported by Charania.

Sources: Notable superstar return games on 2019-20 NBA schedule:

Clippers’ Kawhi Leonard at Toronto: Dec. 11
Lakers‘ Anthony Davis at New Orleans: Nov. 27
Nets‘ Kyrie Irving at Boston: Nov. 27
Rockets’ Russell Westbrook at Oklahoma City: Jan. 9.

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) August 2, 2019

While Williamson obviously has little to do with the latter of the two games, he does have much to do with the Pelicans playing on both Christmas and Opening Night. The challenge for the Pelicans will be to capitalize on this exposure to bring in new fans at the start of a new era.