California

Lakers Going to San Diego, Las Vegas, San Jose in Preseason

The Lakers will play six games in the exhibition season, including five in California

On Monday, the Los Angeles Lakers announced their 2018-19 preseason schedule, which will feature a total of six games, and only two of those games will be played at Staples Center in Los Angeles.

Lonzo Ball, Kyle Kuzma and the purple and gold will begin their preseason campaign against the Denver Nuggets on Sept. 30 in San Diego at the Valley View Casino Center. The team did not play in the Southern California city during the 2017 preseason.

In 2015, the Lakers and Warriors were unable to complete their exhibition contest in San Diego due to a dangerous court. Lakers coach Luke Walton grew up in San Diego, and the 2016 exhibition season featured a return to the city, where the new coach of the team even took time to take photos with a newly erected statue of his father, Bill Walton, at the arena.

After the San Diego exhibition, the Lakers will face the same Nuggets team at Staples Center on Oct. 2. After that, the Lakers host the Sacramento Kings at the same venue two days later.

The two Staples Center tenants will then meet in Anaheim on Oct. 6 at the Honda Center.

Finally, the Lakers will finish the preseason with a couple of exhibition fixtures against the Golden State Warriors on Oct. 10 and Oct. 12. The first of the two games against the Warriors will be held at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, which is a familiar preseason venue for the Lakers. LA has played at the T-Mobile Arena in each of the past two preseasons.

The Oct. 12 game will be at the SAP Center in San Jose. The Lakers rarely travel to enemy territory in preseason, so the trip up to Northern California is a break from the norm. The Lakers traditionally enjoy a healthy crowd advantage in the exhibition fixtures, but the trip to San Jose promises to pack an arena full of Warriors' supporters. Officially, the Lakers are designated as the away team in San Jose.

Notes: Tickets for the games in San Diego and Las Vegas will be sold at www.axs.com with the cheapest tickets in San Diego selling for $25 and the cheapest tickets in Las Vegas on sale for $30. Tickets for the game in Anaheim are available for as low as $24 via www.ticketmaster.com. Tickets for San Diego, Anaheim and Las Vegas will all go on sale on May 21 at 10 a.m. Pacific Time, with details on the Staples Center games not immediately available.

Contact Us