After a few matchups were leaked over the last couple of days, the full schedule for the 2026-27 NBA season was released on Thursday. For the Los Angeles Lakers, the way their schedule is arranged will be more important than it will be for many other teams, given how many new players they have and their resulting need to build chemistry.
They will open their schedule on Wednesday, Oct. 21, at home versus the Golden State Warriors, and they will wrap things up on April 11 against the Phoenix Suns. Los Angeles will have a total of 15 sets of back-to-back games, just one more than last year, and when one takes a look at the team’s complete schedule, it looks like it will have an opportunity to build chemistry with its incoming players early.
Here is a breakdown of the Lakers’ 2026-27 season schedule and a few things that stand out.
Their early-season schedule is manageable
In October and November combined, the Lakers will have 10 home games and 11 road games. They will have a four-game road trip in early-to-mid November and another four-game road trip in late November stretching into the beginning of December. But overall, their schedule shouldn’t be too difficult during this time.
Their only truly difficult games will likely be on Nov. 1 versus the Toronto Raptors at home, Nov. 2 against the Miami Heat at home, Nov. 8 at the Detroit Pistons and Nov. 27 at the San Antonio Spurs. One could also include a Nov. 30 contest at the Houston Rockets in this category of truly difficult games, especially since it will be the second game of a back-to-back set, but it is debatable whether Houston will be a legitimate championship contender or merely a good team.
With a number of games against bad and mediocre teams in October and November, Los Angeles may be able to get off to a decent start.
The longest road trip
It seems like it is an annual tradition for the Lakers to take off on an extended road trip in late January, just before the Grammys are held, which has resulted in this trip being referred to as the “Grammy trip.” The 2027 Grammys will take place on Feb. 7, and the Lakers’ first game of this season’s “Grammy trip” will be on Thursday, Jan. 28 at the Indiana Pacers.
This annual trip is always difficult, but this one may be somewhat manageable. On Jan. 30, L.A. will take on the defending NBA champion New York Knicks, and the following day, it will visit the Charlotte Hornets. The trip will continue on Feb. 2 against the Boston Celtics, a team that looks somewhat weakened on paper after their inexplicable trade of Jaylen Brown to the Philadelphia 76ers.
On Feb. 4, the Purple and Gold will play the Brooklyn Nets before facing Victor Wembanyama and the Spurs two days later. The trip then wraps up with a contest against the Phoenix Suns on Feb. 8.
The last few weeks will be challenging
By March, the hope is that the Lakers will have built at least a basic level of chemistry with all of their new players. Later that month, they will have a challenging close to their regular-season schedule.
They will have a five-game road trip starting on March 23 with games against the Heat, Cleveland Cavaliers, Rockets, Memphis Grizzlies and Thunder. They will then return home for five more games versus the Spurs, Dallas Mavericks, Minnesota Timberwolves (twice) and Suns.
The Lakers will still be on national television quite often
Just about everyone agrees that the Lakers aren’t championship contenders right now. But despite that, and despite the fact that LeBron James left to join the Philadelphia 76ers, the team will still be featured quite often on national television.
The Lakers will have 34 games this season on ESPN, ABC, NBC/Peacock and Prime Video. That is tied for the most national TV games with the Knicks, 76ers and Spurs.
This article originally appeared on LeBron Wire: Breakdown of the Lakers’ 2026-27 regular-season schedule
Reporting by Robert Marvi, LeBron Wire / LeBron Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Robert Marvi, LeBron Wire | USA TODAY Network
