Los Angeles Lakers release first half of 2020-21 NBA schedule

L.A. will hold ring ceremony Dec. 22 vs. Clippers at Staple Center

With the start of the regular season just over two weeks away, the Los Angeles Lakers and the rest of the NBA released the first half of the regular-season schedule.

The Lakers already announced that they will host the team’s cross-town rivals, the Los Angeles Clippers, to open play on December 22 at Staple Center. 

The Lakers will be presented their NBA championship rings on that night.

In all, the Lakers are slated to play 37 games to start the year, including 19 home games. The NBA is attempting to hold a 72-game schedule, depending on the league’s ability to manage the COVID-19 pandemic outside the bubble for the first time.

Highlights of the first-half schedule include:

* The Lakers will play on Christmas Day for the 22nd consecutive season, hosting the Dallas Mavericks at 5:00 p.m. local time.

* Los Angeles will take a seven-game road trip from Milwaukee on January 21 to Atlanta on February 1. The Lakers also have one, five-game home stand from February 4-12 and five sets of back-to-back games.

* The Lakers will host the Golden State Warriors on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, the Denver Nuggets on February 4 and the Brooklyn Nets on February 18.

* Los Angeles will play 15 nationally televised games, appearing on ABC three times, ESPN seven times and TNT six times. The Christmas Day contest against the Mavericks is an ABC game simulcasting on ESPN. Along with these nationally televised games, the Lakers will appear seven times on NBATV.

Check out the full schedule below:

Lakers announce first half of 2020-21 regular-season schedule: pic.twitter.com/NImFirFtbK

— Eric Williams (@eric_d_williams) December 4, 2020