On October 22, opening night for the entire league, the Lakers will host the Minnesota Timberwolves, a young team that is quickly on the rise. The Timberwolves reached the Western Conference Finals a few months ago and with stars like Anthony Edwards, Karl-Anthony Towns, Jaden McDaniels and Naz Reid, they could improve on their record from last season (56-26).
Los Angeles will then host Kevin Durant, Devin Booker, Bradley Beal and the Phoenix Suns on October 25. While the team won the series against the Suns in the 2023-24 season three games to two, all three wins came in very competitive and tough games, and the first two victories involved the team having to overcome double-digit deficits in the second half.
The very next night they face the Sacramento Kings at home, a team that won it all last regular season. The Kings missed the playoffs because they lost in the play-in tournament last April, but now they have six-time All-Star wing DeMar DeRozan and could end up taking a big step forward.
Immediately after that, the Purple and Gold will embark on a five-game road trip through the East, starting with a game against Phoenix on October 28 and including games against the Cleveland Cavaliers, Toronto Raptors, Detroit Pistons and Memphis Grizzlies. Upon returning home, they will host the Philadelphia 76ers, who now have All-Star forward Paul George in their ranks.
It is almost reminiscent of the difficult period at the beginning of the 2022-23 season, when they won only two of their first ten games.
