The Los Angeles Lakers’ schedule for the 2025-26 NBA season has now been released. While the arrangement of a team’s schedule doesn’t matter as much in the NBA as it does in the NFL, it is still a factor, and it is still something players and coaches have to take into account.
The Lakers’ schedule this season will have some really challenging stretches. However, there are also some portions of the schedule that are favorable at the right times, and that is something they can take advantage of as they look to become a legitimate championship contender.
Let’s start with the initial weeks of L.A.’s schedule.
The first month or so isn’t easy, but it’s manageable
The Lakers are still in the process of developing chemistry with Luka Doncic after he arrived in early February. Therefore, a manageable first few weeks of the schedule would really help.
They have a challenging game to start the regular season versus the Golden State Warriors at home on Oct. 21. After that, their next 15 games or so are something they should be able to handle while still being moderately challenged enough to grow as a unit.
During that time, they will play the Minnesota Timberwolves, the team that knocked them out of the first round of playoffs in five games, on Oct. 24 and Oct. 29. Other than that, the only other truly challenging team they will face in the first month of the season is the defending NBA champion Oklahoma City Thunder.
On the other hand, nine of L.A.’s first 14 games will be on the road. That includes their first extended road trip of the season.
The Lakers have three long road trips this season
On Nov. 8, the Lakers start a five-game road trip with a contest versus the Atlanta Hawks. Over the following week, they will also play the Charlotte Hornets, Thunder, New Orleans Pelicans and Milwaukee Bucks before returning home for a game against the Utah Jazz on Nov. 18.
After that, the Lakers’ schedule is pretty manageable until their annual Grammy road trip, which begins this season on Jan. 20, 2026. The first game of that trip will be against the Denver Nuggets. This season’s Grammy trip will last eight games and also include contests versus the Los Angeles Clippers, Dallas Mavericks, Cleveland Cavaliers and New York Knicks.
Then in March, Los Angeles will have its third and final extended road trip. This one will have six games, and it will start with twin games against the Houston Rockets, as well as matchups with the Orlando Magic and the rising Detroit Pistons.
There will be a long stretch of predominantly home games
After the Lakers return from their Grammy trip, they will be home for almost every game until that six-game trip in March. In fact, they will only have three road games during that stretch against the Phoenix Suns, Warriors and Nuggets. That means they will barely be crossing time zones for about a month and a half.
They will, however, have several tough games during that time, including two against the Warriors and Nuggets and one against the Thunder, Timberwolves and Knicks. At least fatigue shouldn’t be an issue for that portion of the schedule.
The final games of the schedule are a mixed bag
The Lakers will have nine games remaining after their six-game road trip in March. They will play the Thunder twice and have one game each against the Warriors, Mavericks and Cavaliers during that stretch.
But other than that, they will have some relatively easy games, including their final two of the season, which will be the Suns and Jazz at home. That should give them a relatively soft landing as they prepare for the postseason.
How many back-to-back games will the Lakers have?
In recent years, the NBA has done a decent job of cutting back on how many back-to-back games every team has had throughout a season. This year, L.A. will have 14 sets of back-to-back games, which is just as many as it had last season.
Last season, the Lakers had six sets of back-to-back games in March and April, and they played a stretch of 10 games in 15 days, which included four sets of back-to-back games and three such sets in a row.
This season, they will have three back-to-back sets in March and one in April.
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