NBA opening night for the 2020-21 season is now less than three weeks away. It seems like the Los Angeles Lakers earned the title just days ago. But that’s what happens during a truncated offseason around the Association.
Speaking of the defending champion Los Angeles Lakers, they will take on the Los Angeles Clippers to close out the NBA opening night doubleheader on Dec. 22 at the Staples Center.
Meanwhile, Kevin Durant’s first game as a member of the Brooklyn Nets will come earlier that night against his former Golden State Warriors squad.
Related: NBA schedule for Christmas Day
NBA opening night: Lakers-Clippers do battle
The NBA featured this game on Christmas Day last season. It makes a lot of sense. We’re talking about four of the biggest stars going up against one another in the nation’s second-largest media market. LeBron James and Anthony Davis taking taking on Kawhi Leonard and Paul George in an arena both of these teams share.
While fans won’t be in attendance for this elite-level matchup between the teams who finished one and two in the Western Conference last season, it still promises to be fun.
Related: Ranking top NBA defenses
LeBron averaged 21.3 points, 9.5 rebounds and 8.5 assists in four games against the Clippers last season. Meanwhile, Leonard averaged 30.0 points on 51% shooting en route to helping the Clippers to a season split with the eventual NBA champs.
NBA Opening Night: Kevin Durant’s make debut against former team
The NBA knew exactly what it was doing for the first half of the doubleheader on opening night. The last time Durant suited up in a game, he tore his Achilles as a member of the Golden State Warriors in Game 5 of the 2019 NBA Finals. Durant will now be making his Brooklyn Nets debut against his former team after sitting out all of last season.
Related: Top 50 NBA players of 2021
Durant’s Nets have title expectations as he will team up with Kyrie Irving for the first time on Dec. 22. He will go up against fellow former NBA MVP Stephen Curry, who is also making his return after playing in just five games a season ago. Sure there’s some brotherly love between Durant and Curry. However, there’s also some ill-feelings after the way Durant departed the Warriors in free agency back in July of 2019. This should be an absolute blast.