Five notable early-season Clippers games

After the NBA schedule release on Aug. 14, storylines bubbled to the surface for the Los Angeles Clippers (50-32), who finished fifth in the Western Conference last season. 

Here are five intriguing early-season games for the Clippers:

Oct. 24 vs. Phoenix Suns

Why it matters: Former Suns shooting guard Bradley Beal's first game against his former team.

Two days after opening at the Utah Jazz, the Clippers will play at home against the Suns. This is guard Beal’s first home game with the Clippers and first game against his former team after two dysfunctional seasons in Phoenix, where he averaged 17.6 points, nearly five points below his career average. 

The Suns added Beal to form a great triumvirate with guard Devin Booker and forward Kevin Durant, but that chemistry experiment proved to be a disaster. The Clippers are hoping James Harden and Kawhi Leonard will help Beal return to the form he showed with the Washington Wizards for 11 seasons (22.1 PPG).

Oct. 28 at Golden State Warriors

Why it matters: It's the Warriors.

The Clippers and Warriors played hard-fought regular-season games during the Lob City Era (2011-17), when Chris Paul and Blake Griffin led Los Angeles. But the Clippers are 15-7 in their past 22 games against the Warriors, including seven consecutive wins. 

Nov. 4 vs. Oklahoma City Thunder

Why it matters: Thunder are reigning champs

This will be the first game the Clippers have faced the Thunder since they won the NBA title last season. Former Clippers guard and NBA Finals MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander returns again. SGA was traded to Oklahoma City as part of a package deal to have Leonard play with a star of his preference, Paul George. That didn't work out too well, did it?

Nov. 17 at Philadelphia 76ers

Why it matters: Will ex-Clippers star Paul George exact revenge?

The former Clipper played only 41 games for the 76ers, averaging 16.2 points, in an incredibly disappointing 2024-25 season. In last year’s lone matchup against George, the Clippers won 110-98 at home. Los Angeles gave Philadelphia its sixth loss in the first seven games to start the season. George was the leading scorer for the 76ers with 18 points but also had four turnovers.  

Afterward, George seemed critical of fans at Los Angeles' new arena, the Intuit Dome, saying: "I wish it would have been a little more packed out. I didn’t think it was quite packed for this to be the Clippers’ very own" (h/t Ben Golliver of the Washington Post.)

Nov. 25 at Los Angeles Lakers

Why it matters: First game this season against LeBron James, Luka Doncic

This is the end of a seven-game, Dallas-to-Los Angeles road trip and the first game against the Lakers. The Clippers have mostly dominated the series, winning 15 of the past 23 games, but the Lakers have won six of the past eight. The Clippers will have a new, apparently slimmer and much more fit Doncic (career 28.6 PPG) to play against this time. NBC will broadcast the game.