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From Dan Woike: The Los Angeles Lakers will open the season by hosting Minnesota, will spend Christmas in San Francisco against the Warriors and will debut at the Clippers’ new building on Jan. 19 this upcoming season.
The league officially released the full 82-game schedule for 2024-25 season on Thursday, with the Lakers also announcing one piece of significant business. Opening night against the Timberwolves will be Oct. 22.
The team will retire Michael Cooper’s No. 21 jersey on Jan. 13 during a game against Victor Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs. Cooper was elected to the Hall of Fame this spring and will be enshrined in October.
New coach JJ Redick will have his first game against the defending champion Celtics on Jan. 23 and his first in Boston on March 8.
Lakers schedule
October
22: vs. Minnesota, 7; 25: vs. Phoenix, 7; 26: vs. Sacramento, 7:30; 28: at Phoenix, 7; 30: at Cleveland, 4.
November
1: at Toronto, 4:30; 4: at Detroit, 4:30; 6: at Memphis, 5; 8: vs. Philadelphia, 7; 10: vs. Toronto, 6:30; 13: vs. Memphis, 7; 15: at San Antonio, 4:30; 16: at New Orleans, 5; 19: vs. Utah, 7:30; 21: vs. Orlando, 7:30; 23: vs. Denver, 7:30; 26: at Phoenix, 7; 27: at San Antonio, 5:30; 29: vs. Oklahoma City, 7.
December
1: at Utah, 5; 2: at Minnesota, 5; 4: at Miami, 4:30; 6: at Atlanta, 4:30; 8: vs. Portland, 6:30; 19: at Sacramento, 7; 21: at Sacramento, 3; 23: vs. Detroit, 7:30; 25: at Golden State, 5; 28: vs. Sacramento, 7:30; 31: vs. Cleveland, 6.
January
2: vs. Portland, 7:30; 3: vs. Atlanta, 7:30; 5: at Houston, 4; 7: at Dallas, 4:30; 9: vs. Charlotte, 7:30; 11: vs. San Antonio, 7:30; 13: vs. San Antonio, 7:30; 15: vs. Miami, 7; 17: vs. Brooklyn, 7:30; 19: at Clippers, 6; 21: vs. Washington, 7:30; 23: vs. Boston, 7; 25: at Golden State, 5:30; 27: at Charlotte, 4; 28: at Philadelphia, 4:30; 30: at Washington, 4.
February
1: at New York, 5:30; 4: at Clippers, 7; 6: vs. Golden State, 7; 8: vs. Indiana, 1; 11: vs. Utah, 7:30; 12: at Utah, 6; 20: at Portland, 7; 22: at Denver, 5:30; 25: vs. Dallas, 7; 27: vs. Minnesota, 7:30; 28: vs. Clippers, 7.
March
2: vs. Clippers, 6:30; 4: vs. New Orleans, 7:30; 6: vs. New York, 7; 8: at Boston, 5:30; 10: at Brooklyn, 4:30; 13: at Milwaukee, 4:30; 14: at Denver, 6:30; 16: vs. Phoenix, 12:30; 18: vs. Milwaukee, 7:30; 19: vs. Denver, 7; 22: vs. Chicago, 7:30; 24: at Orlando, 4; 26: at Indiana, 4:30; 27: at Chicago, 5; 29: at Memphis, 5; 31: vs. Houston, 7:30.
April
3: vs. Golden State, 7; 4: vs. New Orleans, 7:30; 6: at Oklahoma City, 12:30; 8: at Oklahoma City, 5; 9: at Dallas, 4:30; 11: vs. Houston, 7:30; 13: at Portland, 12:30.
All times PDT
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From Broderick Turner: Now that the Clippers have a home to call their own, they will no longer have to cover the championship banners featuring the other home team.
When the Clippers play their first NBA regular-season game at the Intuit Dome against the Phoenix Suns on Oct. 23, the walls inside Steve Ballmer’s $2-billion palace will be adorned with the faces of Kawhi Leonard and James Harden and Ivica Zubac and Terance Mann and the rest of the crew.
When the Clippers host the Lakers and LeBron James and Anthony Davis on Jan. 19 and Feb. 4, it will be in Inglewood and not at Crypto.com Arena, a venue they shared with the Lakers and Kings for 25 seasons.
The Clippers, who had their entire schedule released on Thursday along with the rest of the NBA, will return to their old digs to face the Lakers on the road on Feb. 28 and March 2.
Clippers schedule
October
23: vs. Phoenix, 7; 26: at Denver, 2; 27: at Golden State, 5:30; 30: vs. Portland, 7:30; 31: vs. Phoenix, 7:30.
November
2: vs. Oklahoma City, 7:30; 4: vs. San Antonio, 7:30; 6: vs. Philadelphia, 7; 8: at Sacramento, 7; 9: vs. Toronto, 7:30; 11: at Oklahoma City, 5; 13: at Houston, 5; 15: at Houston, 5; 17: vs. Utah, 6; 18: vs. Golden State, 7:30; 20: vs. Orlando, 7:30; 22: vs. Sacramento, 7:30; 24: at Philadelphia, 3; 25: at Boston, 4:30; 27: at Washington, 4; 29: at Minnesota, 4:30.
December
1: vs. Denver, 7; 3: vs. Portland, 7:30; 4: vs. Minnesota, 7:30; 8: vs. Houston, 6; 19: at Dallas, 5:30; 21: at Dallas, 5:30; 23: at Memphis, 5; 27: vs. Golden State, 7; 30: at New Orleans, 5; 31: at San Antonio, 4.
January
2: at Oklahoma City, 5; 4: vs. Atlanta, 7:30; 6: at Minnesota, 5; 8: at Denver, 6; 11: vs. Charlotte, 7:30; 13: vs. Miami, 7:30; 15: vs. Brooklyn, 7:30; 16: at Portland, 7; 19: vs. Lakers, 6; 21: vs. Chicago, 7:30; 22: vs. Boston, 7:30; 25: vs. Milwaukee, 7:30; 27: at Phoenix, 6:30; 29: at San Antonio, 5; 31: at Charlotte, 4.
February
2: at Toronto, 12:30; 4: vs. Lakers, 7; 6: vs. Indiana, 7:30; 8: vs. Utah, 7:30; 12: vs. Memphis, 7:30; 20: at Milwaukee, 5; 23: at Indiana, 2; 24: at Detroit, 4; 26: at Chicago, 5; 28: at Lakers, 7.
March
2: at Lakers, 6:30; 4: at Phoenix, 7; 5: vs. Detroit, 7:30; 7: vs. New York, 7:30; 9: vs. Sacramento, 6:30; 11: at New Orleans, 6:30; 12: at Miami, 5; 14: at Atlanta, 4:30; 16: vs. Washington, 7; 18: vs. Cleveland, 7:30; 19: at Utah, 6; 21: vs. Memphis, 7:30; 23: vs. Oklahoma City, 6; 26: at New York, 4:30; 28: at Brooklyn, 4:30; 30: at Cleveland, 12:30; 31: at Orlando, 4.
April
2: vs. New Orleans, 7; 4: vs. Dallas, 7:30; 5: vs. Dallas, 7:30; 8: vs. San Antonio, 7:30; 9: vs. Houston, 7:30; 11: at Sacramento, 7; 13: at Golden State, 12:30.
All times are Pacific
DODGERS
From Mike DiGiovanna: There are only so many branches at the top of Dave Roberts’ trust tree, the term he uses to describe his stable of high-leverage relievers, and one of the few the Dodgers manager has at his disposal snapped in the eighth inning on Thursday.
Daniel Hudson, the 37-year-old right-hander who has pitched well enough to replace the struggling Evan Phillips as the team’s closer in July, was tagged for three runs and three hits in the decisive eighth, turning a one-run Dodgers lead into a 6-4 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers in American Family Field.
“Things just kind of went awry that inning,” Roberts said after the Dodgers’ National League West lead over the idle San Diego Padres and Arizona Diamondbacks fell to two games. “Those things happen, but very uncharacteristic of Huddy.”
Michael Kopech went from ‘dark times’ to possible closer for first-place Dodgers
RAMS
From Gary Klein: It’s only hamstring tightness. Nothing that will keep Matthew Stafford from practicing next week, coach Sean McVay said.
But should the Rams and their fans be worried about their 36-year-old quarterback?
On Thursday, for the second day in a row, Stafford was sidelined.
During a joint practice with the Dallas Cowboys on Wednesday, Stafford ran the offense for three series before he was pulled because of the hamstring issue.
On Thursday, he was not on the field for a jog-through.
“He just felt a little something,” McVay said, “so we were just being smart with it.”
CHARGERS
From Anthony De Leon: Good news for Chargers fans. Justin Herbert is out of his walking boot.
The Chargers quarterback, who was diagnosed on July 30 with a plantar fascia injury in his right foot, was spotted Thursday walking without the protective device. This development fits near original expectations for his recovery.
Last month the prognosis was to wear the boot for two weeks and then have the foot reexamined to begin what a team spokesman described as a “graduated return-to-play protocol.”
Apparently that is close to beginning.
“It feels like progress,” Jim Harbaugh said.
From Ben Bolch: If all goes well this season at the Rose Bowl, UCLA students will stand and deliver.
In the only arrangement of its kind in the Big Ten, the Bruins are positioning students directly behind their opponents’ bench as part of a seating configuration that includes a standing-only area in the first seven rows of four sections.
Replicating a concept often used in soccer-specific stadiums will allow UCLA students to give visitors their own special welcome.
“I’m sure their noise, energy and passion will make a difference for our team and enhance the atmosphere at the Rose Bowl this season,” UCLA wide receiver J.Michael Sturdivant said in a statement.
SPARKS
From Colin Beazley: The crowd roared pregame, celebrating the six combined Olympians playing for the Sparks and the Liberty. When the ball tipped for the first time since the Olympic break, the Sparks played as if they were still on vacation.
The league-leading Liberty (22-4) scored the game’s first 10 points and 38 of the first 48 en route to a 103-68 win over the Sparks at Crypto.com Arena. The Sparks (6-19) shot just 36% (23-64) from the field and didn’t make a three pointer until the second half. The 103 points were the most the Sparks had given up all season, while the 68 points they scored narrowly avoided a season low.
The Sparks couldn’t keep up with New York’s star power. The Liberty’s two Olympians, Breanna Stewart and Sabrina Ionescu, combined for 45 points. Sparks guard Rae Burrell led the team with 15 points, though 12 came on free throws.
OLYMPIC GYMNASTICS
From Iliana Limón Romero and Thuc Nhi Nguyen: Jordan Chiles said the International Olympic Committee’s request she return her Olympic bronze “feels unjust” in her first comments since the controversy over judges’ individual floor exercise scores.
USA Gymnastics’ latest appeal to keep Chiles’ Olympic bronze medal was denied, but the organization pledged to keep fighting on her behalf. USAG said the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) notified the organization Monday that “rules do not allow for an arbitral award to be reconsidered even when conclusive new evidence is presented.”
Hours after the International Olympic Committee ruled that Chiles should return her medal because of a score change, USAG submitted its appeal with CAS video evidence showing that Chiles’ coach submitted her appeal of the judges’ scoring error within the time limits required — and not four seconds late as CAS had originally determined.
Olympics bronze medalist Ryder Dodd receives hero’s welcome in return to JSerra pool
Australian breakdancer Raygun to the haters: ‘I worked my butt off preparing for the Olympics’
THIS DATE IN SPORTS
1920 — Cleveland shortstop Ray Chapman is hit in the head with a pitch by New York’s Carl Mays. Chapman suffers a fractured skull and dies the next day. It’s the only field fatality in major league history.
1924 — Helen Wills Moody beats Molla Bjurstedt Mallory again, 6-1, 6-3, to win her second straight singles title at the U.S. Lawn Tennis Association championships.
1970 — Dave Stockton wins the PGA Championship by two strokes over Arnold Palmer and Bob Murphy at Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa, Okla.
1976 — Dave Stockton edges Raymond Floyd and Don January by one stroke to win his second PGA Championship. Stockton hits a par-saving 15-foot putt on the 72nd hole to finish with a 1-over 281 at Congressional Country Club (Blue Course) in Bethesda, Md.
1989 — Tom Drees pitches his third no-hitter of the season for Class AAA Vancouver, leading the Canadians over Las Vegas 5-0 in a seven-inning, first game of a doubleheader in the Pacific Coast League. Drees became the first pitcher in the PCL or the major leagues with three no-hitters in a year.
1992 — Nick Price holds off a comeback bid by Nick Faldo with a 1-under 70 in the final round and captures his first major title with a three-stroke victory in the PGA national championship.
2008 — In Beijing, Michael Phelps touches the wall a hundredth of a second ahead of Serbia’s Milorad Cavic to win the 100-meter butterfly. The win gives Phelps his seventh gold medal of the Beijing Games, tying Mark Spitz’s performance in the 1972 Munich Games. Usain Bolt of Jamaica runs the 100-meter dash in a stunning world-record time of 9.69 seconds for a blowout win that he starts celebrating a good 10 strides before the finish line.
2009 — Y.E. Yang of South Korea becomes the first Asian player to win one of golf’s majors with a three-stroke win over Tiger Woods at the PGA Championship.
Compiled by the Associated Press
Until next time…
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