Lakers Opening Night Matchup and Date Revealed

The Lakers opening game has been set.

The Los Angeles Lakers summer hasn't gone the way that many would have hoped but there is still time to turn things around. Los Angeles has been looking for different ways to improve the overall roster but has held firm on not making a trade just to do so.

After being bounced in the first round of the playoffs last year, the Lakers switched head coaches from Darvin Ham to former NBA guard JJ Redick. The hope is that Redick can maximize the group of players on the floor, giving Los Angeles a better chance at competing in the Western Conference.

Training camp doesn't start for a little but the Lakers have continued to look for different options before the new year. The NBA schedule will be released soon but we did get some news regarding the opening game for the Lakers.

While making an appearance on the Pat McAfee Show, NBA insider Shams Charania revealed some matchups for the opening night in the NBA. Within this, the Lakers' first game of the season was announced.

Los Angeles will host the Minnesota Timberwolves to open the season, giving them a strong test early in the year against one of the presumed best teams in the West. The Lakers season will open on Oct. 22 at Crypto.com Arena.

BREAKING NEWS:

The opening night schedule of the NBA season will be..

Knicks @ Celtics
Timberwolves @ Lakers

THANK YOU @ShamsCharania 👏 #PMSLive pic.twitter.com/3xpFYp80L0

— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) August 12, 2024

Los Angeles will get its first shot at the Timberwolves, a team that made the Western Conference Finals a season ago. Minnesota is led by star Anthony Edwards and they have some serious size that the Lakers will have to figure out how to deal with.

Big men Karl-Anthony Towns and Rudy Gobert will give the Lakers some problems down low but star Anthony Davis should be able to counter, at least a little. Minnesota was one of the best defensive teams in the NBA last season as well so the Lakers will have to figure out how to score the ball under Redick's new system.

Redick has said that he plans for the Lakers to take many more 3-point shot attempts this season, potentially giving the team more chances to compete with the high-scoring units around the league. Los Angeles went 1-3 against the Timberwolves last season, giving Minnesota the edge heading into the matchup.

We are close to the start of another year of Lakers basketball as the team goes for title No. 18.

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