Kawhi Leonard is expected to return after missing all last season while rehabbing from a torn ACL, and he’ll get to face LeBron James in his first real game back.
That’s because Leonard and the Clippers will pay a visit James and the Lakers to open the 2022-23 season on Oct. 20, per Dave McMenamin of ESPN. And it’s a “road game” for scheduling purposes only — as both teams play home games at Crypto.com Arena.
This, of course, marks just the Clippers’ opening day. The Lakers will tip off the entire season with a road game against the defending champion Warriors two days earlier, as we relayed here. The Lakers and Warriors will also be featured on Christmas Day, though not against each other.
As for the Clippers, this is the first leak on their schedule since the news started trickling out last week. They have beaten the Lakers in seven straight, finishing last season 42-40 under head coach Tyronn Lue, this despite not having Leonard all season, or Paul George for much of it.
The entire NBA schedule is due out soon, perhaps as soon as early as next week.
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