Report: Warriors to host Lakers on opening night

The Warriors will open their title defense by hosting the Lakers on the first night of the 2022-23 campaign, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic.

As Charania notes, Golden State will also give championship rings to those who were with the team last season. The ring ceremony and game will be televised by TNT.

The Warriors are coming off their fourth title in the past eight seasons. They finished with the third-best record in the Western Conference last season (53-29), trailing only the Grizzlies (56-26) and Suns (64-18). The team lost Gary Payton II and Otto Porter Jr. in free agency, but it still has its core group together.

The Lakers had a disappointing campaign last season. The team dealt with several injuries to key players, preventing the star trio of Russell Westbrook, LeBron James and Anthony Davis – along with the supporting group – from developing chemistry. At 33-49, they finished 11th in the Western Conference.

The full NBA schedule is expected to be released in the near future. As we relayed on Friday, the only other schedule-related news also involves the Lakers, as they’re likely to play the Mavericks on Christmas Day.