The Los Angeles Lakers' 2019-20 season will continue in Orlando, Florida, starting on July 30 when the NBA's restart commences.
The Lakers, possessing the best record in the Western Conference at the time of the NBA's hiatus in mid March at 49-14, will kick off their final regular-season games of the 2019-20 season by playing their Staples Center rival Los Angeles Clippers on July 30 at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT, per ClutchPoints' Tomer Azarly, airing on TNT.
The LA Clippers' (44-20) schedule for the Orlando restart:
Game 1: Lakers
Game 2: Pelicans
Game 3: Suns
Game 4: Mavs
Game 5: Blazers
Game 6: Nets
Game 7: Nuggets
Game 8: Thunder pic.twitter.com/eS2RhDiovz— Tomer Azarly (@TomerAzarly) June 26, 2020
The Lakers will also play last season's champion Toronto Raptors in their second of eight restarted regular-season games before the NBA expedites the rest of the regular season in favor of moving into the playoffs.
Additionally, the Lakers will get a chance to play both Utah Jazz and Oklahoma City Thunder—the two teams whose March 11 matchup in OKC was halted right before tip-off when Jazz star center Rudy Gobert was discovered to have tested positive for coronavirus, something many people point to as the wake up call for the country's exposure to COVID-19 along with the start of shuttering seasons and tournaments between major sporting events across the nation.
Gobert along with All-Star point guard teammate Donovan Mitchell, rumored to have tiffed with the French center due to the COVID-19 outbreak incident, has since recovered from his bout with coronavirus, although 16 of 302 NBA players tested positive as teams reconvene in Orlando under strict guidelines for the “bubble” site of the rest of the season.
The Lakers, led by All-Star forwards LeBron James and Anthony Davis, play the Houston Rockets, Indiana Pacers, and Denver Nuggets in the back half of their remaining regular-season games. Their regular season “finale” will be against the Sacramento Kings on Aug. 13.
Veteran guard Avery Bradley has already withdrawn from competing in Orlando with the Lakers, and L.A. is reportedly weighing signing free agent shooting guard J.R. Smith, a former teammate of James' in Cleveland.
The Lakers will play eight games over the two-week stretch in July and August before revving up for a long-awaited postseason.
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