NBA Announces Opening Night Slate

Not only will the Los Angeles Lakers and the Los Angeles Clippers play against each other twice in the preseason, but both LA teams will also face each other to start the new season.

The National Basketball Association (NBA) has announced the slate for the December 22 (December 23 Manila time) opening night of the 2020-2021 regular season and it featured a match-up that most fans were hoping to see in last season's Western Conference Finals but didn't happen: the Battle of Los Angeles. The reigning NBA champions will open their chase for a back-to-back title against their fellow Staple Center tenant as part of the doubleheader to open the new season that is coming off the shortest offseason in the league's history.  This will be the first time Montrezl Harrell will face off against the Clippers in a regular-season game after surprising everyone else by signing with the Lakers in the early days of the 2020 offseason. Tyronn Lue will also make his debut as the new head coach of the Clippers and it pits him against his former star player in Cleveland, LeBron James.

The Brooklyn Nets will also get to parade Kevin Durant for the very first time as the Nets will face off against the Golden State Warriors as the curtain riser for the night. Steve Nash will make his coaching debut for the Nets that will have Durant play alongside Kyrie Irving for the very first time. The Warriors, meanwhile, will open the season with mixed emotions. Warriors fans will get their first glimpse of James Wiseman after being drafted as the second pick in the 2020 NBA Draft. However, the Warriors are also set to play another opening night without Klay Thompson as Thompson has been ruled out for the 2020-2021 season after sustaining a torn Achillies tendon last month.  

Photo is from CBS Sports