As the Lakers prepare for their season opener, Tuesday night against the Rockets at Staples Center, it will be their 11th ring night since moving to Los Angeles in 1961. The Lakers are 6-4 in their home openers following a championship in Los Angeles. Here's a look at the previous 10 Los Angeles ring nights:
- October 27, 2009: Lakers 99, Clippers 92
- October 29, 2002: Spurs 87, Lakers 82
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October 30, 2001: Lakers 98, Trail Blazers 87
- November 1, 2000: Jazz 97, Lakers 92*
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November 9, 1988: Lakers 128, Nuggets 110*
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November 6, 1987: Lakers 113, Supersonics 109
- November 5, 1985: Cavaliers 129, Lakers 111*
- October 29, 1982: Warriors 132, Lakers 117
- October 12, 1980: Lakers 114, Rockets 103*
- October 20, 1972: Lakers 126, Trail Blazers 104*
The defending champion Lakers opened their season on the road in 1972, 1980, 1985, 1988, and 2000.
The Lakers have gotten off to good starts to their season in each of the last two years, both of which ended with an NBA championship. Here is their October/November record of the past few seasons:
- October/November 2009: 13-3
- October/November 2008: 14-1
- October/November 2007: 9-7
- October/November 2006: 10-5
Over on the Lakers' blog Silver Screen and Roll, Saurav A. Das broke down the Lakers' 2010-2011 schedule, and sees another good start in their future:
The Lakers open the season without an especially tough palette of opponents. Whilst this season lacks the remarkable home/away imbalance of last season (no 20-game homestands here), the Lakers start off the season on a relatively cushy note with only two challenging games at Denver and hosting Chicago, as well as a couple of decent matchups at Utah and against Portland at home. This is of immense benefit to the Lakers considering the number of players they need to work back in from injury and the number of new players that need to be acclimated; and it also hopefully means Andrew Bynum will be back before the Lakers really need him.
Prediction: 16-2 or maybe 15-3, with the losses being @Denver on Nov. 11 and the season opener against Houston. A loss vs. Utah on Nov. 26 is also possible.
The Lakers have opened their season against the Rockets five previous times, with Houston winning four of those games. However, the Lakers made the NBA Finals in three of those seasons, winning two championships:
- October 30, 2007: Rockets 95, at Lakers 93
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February 5, 1999: at Lakers 99, Rockets 91
- November 1, 1991: at Rockets 126, Lakers 121 (2 OT)
- November 1, 1986: at Rockets 112, Lakers 102
- October 30, 1981: Rockets 113, at Lakers 112 (2 OT)
Tuesday's 7:30 p.m. PDT game will be televised exclusively by TNT.
For more Lakers news and analysis, be sure to read the SB Nation blog Silver Screen and Roll.