matchup

The Caitlin Clark–Angel Reese connection has been strong during the women’s FIBA World Cup.

The college rivals turned teammates on the U.S. national team showed off their growing chemistry in Team USA’s blowout victory against Hungary on Thursday in Berlin. The Americans knocked out their quarterfinal opponents 108-56, notching the team’s 34th consecutive win in World Cup play since 2006.

“We’ve played against each other so many times, so I’m sure we know each other’s game like the back of each other’s hand,” Reese said when asked after the game about playing with Clark. “Just easily dishing it off to her. She dishes it off to me. She knows my spots. I got one to her today, maybe two. So it’s fun. We just continue to build chemistry because we know we’re gonna be USA teammates for a while.”

The strength of Clark and Reese’s two-person game was on full display Thursday. Clark assisted on six of Reese’s nine points, and Reese returned the favor during the third quarter. After securing a steal, she hit Clark for an easy transition layup.

Reese ended the game with nine points, six rebounds, three assists and two steals. Clark finished just shy of a double-double with 10 points, nine assists, three rebounds and two steals.

Clark also has complimented Reese as a competitor and teammate during the tournament.

“We’re both fiery, fiery competitors and we want to win and it’s one of the things I really admire about her game,” Clark told the Associated Press in an interview published Wednesday. “She’s competitive and she has a tremendous motor; like, she has one of the best motors in the league. She works just as hard as anybody on the court. So, it’s been fun to to be able to play with her.”

Clark, who set records at Iowa, and Reese, who won an NCAA championship at Louisiana State, have been household names since their college matchups. Thanks to their intensely loyal — and often vocal — fan bases, that rivalry has been carried into their WNBA careers, where every matchup and interaction invites heightened scrutiny, especially online.

Clark told the AP that many of these stories about her and Reese’s relationship are “false takes.”

“No matter what, there’s always going to be people that create those narratives and say whatever they want to say,” Clark said. “There’s definitely no stopping that and they’re always going to be there.”

Reese and Clark are among Team USA’s young core, dubbed the “young and turnt” crew by teammate Paige Bueckers during training camp in December. The World Cup marks the first major international competition for six of those players: Bueckers, Clark, Reese, Aliyah Boston, Sonia Citron and Kiki Iriafen.

Team USA is set to play Spain in the semifinals on Saturday.

LeBron James has moved back to the Eastern Conference, but the Lakers remain a major box office draw for the NBA.

With an almost brand new rotation after a busy offseason that elevated Luka Doncic to the team’s unquestioned leader, the Lakers have the maximum amount of nationally televised games in the NBA this season with 34, according to the league schedule released Thursday. The Lakers open the season against the Golden State Warriors on Oct. 21 on ESPN.

The slate is highlighted by a much-anticipated Christmas Day reunion with James that will be televised at 2 p.m. on ABC. The matchup at Crypto.com Arena will be James’ return to L.A. after the four-time NBA champion signed with the Philadelphia 76ers this summer following eight seasons with the Lakers. James will play on Christmas Day for the 21st time in his 24-season career, and the Lakers will play on the holiday for the 28th consecutive time.

The Lakers don’t meet James in his new home until March 4, when they finish a four-game trip in Philadelphia.

The Lakers have a frantic start to the season, playing 13 games in the first four weeks. They have three back-to-back sets during the busy stretch from the opener to the end of a three-game trip in Milwaukee on Nov. 11.

The Lakers have 14 sets of back-to-backs, the same as last season, and eight of the sets require travel between the games. Two require time changes: The Lakers play at Minnesota on Dec. 18 before gaining an hour while traveling to Denver to play Dec. 19, then lose an hour between Chicago on Jan. 2 and Toronto on Jan. 3.

The traditional Grammys trip begins in Indiana on Jan. 28 followed by a back-to-back set in New York (Jan. 30) and Charlotte (Jan. 31). The Lakers then continue the seven-game trip by circling back north from Charlotte to Boston (Feb. 2) and Brooklyn (Jan. 4), then heading West with stops in San Antonio (Feb. 6) and Phoenix (Feb. 8).

The reigning NBA champion New York Knicks, Western Conference champion San Antonio Spurs and James’ 76ers each have 34 nationally televised games. The national broadcast appearances are spread throughout the NBA’s broadcast partners: ABC/ESPN, NBC/Peacock and Amazon Prime.

The final two games of the 82-game season will be determined in December as the NBA Cup midseason tournament plays out.

The Lakers were placed into Group C, which includes the Warriors, Spurs, Portland Trailblazers and Sacramento Kings. The group stage begins at Golden State on Oct. 30 followed by home games against Portland (Nov. 6) and Sacramento (Nov. 20). The final group game is Nov. 27 at San Antonio.

LAKERS’ 2026-27 SCHEDULE

October
21: vs. Golden State, 7 p.m.
23: vs. Clippers, 7 p.m.
25: at Utah, 2 p.m.
27: vs. Portland, 8 p.m.
28: at Clippers, 7:30 p.m.
30: at Golden State, 7 p.m.

November
1: vs. Toronto, 6 p.m.
2: vs. Miami, 7 p.m.
4: at Sacramento, 7 p.m.
6: vs. Portland, 7 p.m.
8: at Detroit, 3 p.m.
9: at Atlanta, 4 p.m.
11: at Milwaukee, 5 p.m.
15: at Phoenix, 1 p.m.
17: vs. Charlotte, 7 p.m.
18: vs. Utah, 7 p.m.
20: vs. Sacramento, 7 p.m.
23: vs. Utah, 7 p.m.
27: at San Antonio, 6:30 p.m.
29: at Memphis, 1 p.m.
30: at Houston, 4:30 p.m.

December
2: at New Orleans, 5 p.m.
14: vs. New Orleans, 7 p.m.
16: at Minnesota, 6:30 p.m.
18: at Minnesota, 5 p.m.
19: at Denver, 6 p.m.
21: vs. Indiana, 7 p.m.
23: vs. Denver, 7 p.m.
25: vs. Philadelphia, 2 p.m.
27: vs. Memphis, 6 p.m.
29: vs. Houston, 7 p.m.
31: at New Orleans, 5 p.m.

January
2: at Chicago, 5 p.m.
3: at Toronto, 4 p.m.
5: at Washington, 4 p.m.
7: vs. Boston, 7 p.m.
8: vs. Detroit, 7 p.m.
11: at Clippers, 7 p.m.
13: at Portland, 7 p.m.
14: vs. Orlando, 7 p.m.
17: vs. Milwaukee, 6 p.m.
19: at Sacramento, 7 p.m.
21: at Golden State, 7 p.m.
22: vs. Sacramento, 7 p.m.
24: vs. Washington, 1 p.m.
26: vs Oklahoma City, 8 p.m.
28: at Indiana, 4 p.m.
30: at New York, 5:30 p.m.
31: at Charlotte, 4 p.m.

February
2: at Boston, 5 p.m.
4: at Brooklyn, 4 p.m.
6: at San Antonio, 5:30 p.m.
8: at Phoenix, 6:30 p.m.
10: vs. Clippers, 7 p.m.
12: vs. Denver, 7 p.m.
16: vs. Chicago, 7 p.m.
18: vs. Houston, 7 p.m.
26: at Denver, 7 p.m.
28: at Dallas, 12:30 p.m.

March
2: at Orlando, 4 p.m.
4: at Philadelphia, 4 p.m.
6: vs. Oklahoma City, 5:30 p.m.
7: vs. Brooklyn, 7:30 p.m.
11: vs. New York, 7 p.m.
12 vs. Cleveland, 7 p.m.
14: vs. Golden State, 7 p.m.
16: at Portland, 7 p.m.
17: vs. Phoenix, 7 p.m.
19: vs. Atlanta, 7 p.m.
21: vs. Dallas, 7 p.m.
23: at Miami, 5 p.m.
25: at Cleveland, 4 p.m.
28: at Houston, noon
30: at Memphis, 5 p.m.

April
1: at Oklahoma City, 6:30 p.m.
4: vs. San Antonio, 7 p.m.
6: vs. Dallas, 7 p.m.
7: vs. Minnesota, 7 p.m.
9: vs. Minnesota, 7 p.m.
11: vs. Phoenix, 5:30 p.m.

All times Pacific