While the wild-card game between the Rams and Vikings will take place at the State Farm Arena in Arizona on Monday night, NBA games in Los Angeles will resume following several postponements due to the ongoing wildfires.
The Lakers will host the Spurs at Crypto.com Arena in downtown Los Angeles, while the Clippers take on the Heat at the Intuit Dome in Inglewood on Monday. The Lakers had games against the Hornets (Thursday) and Spurs (Saturday) postponed, while the Clippers game against Charlotte (Saturday) was postponed. The league has yet to announce a new date for those games.
Both L.A. teams were set to begin stretches with seven of their next eight games at home over two weeks before the postponements caused by the wildfires. The Clippers’ lone road game until Jan. 25 is at Portland on Thursday, while the Lakers’ only road game is against the Clippers in the Intuit Dome.
Amid the tragic wildfires—at least 24 people have died, and thousands of buildings have been destroyed—both teams are hoping they can provide some form of positive energy to the community.
“Hopefully we can bring some kind of joy to the game, coming back [Monday],” Clippers coach Tyronn Lue said Sunday after a team practice.
Lakers coach JJ Redick, whose house burned down due to the fire, gave an emotional monologue to reporters during Lakers practice Friday. “We’re going to do everything we can to help everybody who’s down and out because of this,” Redick said.
The NBA announced Sunday that Wednesday’s game between the Lakers and Heat would be flexed out of ESPN in favor of a Warriors-Timberwolves matchup. ESPN’s NBA studios are based in Los Angeles, and they were unable to air NBA Today and NBA Countdown last Wednesday.
Other Los Angeles Teams
The USC women’s basketball team hosted Penn State on Sunday at the Galen Center—which is about two miles southwest of Crypto.com Arena—in front of more than 5,500 fans.
However, the Trojans game Wednesday against Northwestern was postponed after the Wildcats announced Friday that they would not make the trip to Los Angeles. Northwestern’s game against UCLA scheduled for Sunday at the Pauley Pavilion—which is about seven miles east of Pacific Palisades—was also postponed.
There have been no postponements yet for the two schools’ men’s basketball teams. The next home game for both teams is against Iowa: Tuesday for the Trojans and Friday for the Bruins.
The NHL’s Kings, who share Crypto.com Arena with the Lakers, had a game against the Flames on Jan. 8 postponed. The Kings are in the middle of a five-game road trip and will play at home again on Jan. 20.
Twelve L.A.-based pro sports teams—including the Lakers, Clippers, and Kings—announced Monday a donation of more than $8 million to help those affected by the wildfires.
