Lakers 2020-21 Schedule: Top Games, Championship Odds and Record Predictions

The Los Angeles Lakers will have a major target on their backs when the 2020-21 season commences after their first championship-winning campaign since 2010.

With LeBron James and Anthony Davis leading the way, the Lakers are again the toast of the basketball world, and they are unquestionably the team to beat after rolling through the playoffs with relative ease and beating the Miami Heat in the NBA Finals.

The Lakers are known for winning titles in bunches, as they won back-to-back championships in 1987 and 1988, three in a row from 2000-02 and two straight in 2009 and 2010.

Now that James and Davis have a taste of winning a championship together, they figure to be a difficult force to stop moving forward.

Here is a look at the Lakers' schedule for the first half of the 2020-21 season, along with further analysis regarding some of their biggest games and how they will fare overall next season.

2020-21 Lakers Schedule Details

Season Opener: Lakers vs. Los Angeles Clippers; Dec. 22 at 10 p.m. ET

Championship Odds: +270 (FanDuel)

First-Half Schedule: NBA.com

Top Matchups

Los Angeles Clippers (Dec. 22 vs. Clippers)

The rivalry between the Lakers and Los Angeles Clippers reached new heights last season after the Clips signed Kawhi Leonard and traded for Paul George.

While the two L.A. teams entered the 2019-20 season as the co-favorites in the Western Conference, things didn't play out as expected, with the Clippers blowing a 3-1 series lead to the Denver Nuggets in the second round of the playoffs.

The Lakers went on to beat the Nuggets 4-1 in the Western Conference Finals, but fans were essentially robbed of the series that most wanted to see.

During an appearance on The Bill Simmons Podcast following the season, Lakers role player Jared Dudley said he and his teammates were "laughing" when the Clippers lost to the Nuggets, adding: "Those boys, they didn't want to be in the bubble. They didn't want to be there. And I don't blame them for certain times, but the world needed to see the Clippers and Lakers, and it was unfortunate that we didn't get to see that."

While Dudley's comments may not have been meant as a slight to the Clippers, one can only assume they will use them as bulletin-board material when they meet the Lakers for the first time in 2020-21.

The Clippers are returning much of the same roster, including Kawhi and George, but they are under new leadership with Tyronn Lue replacing Doc Rivers as head coach.

The road to the NBA Finals in the Western Conference goes through the Lakers, and a big win over them would go a long way toward helping the Clippers prove they are for real this time around.

At the same time, the Lakers would love to flex their muscles against their chief rival again as well, so there will be plenty riding on their first matchup next season.

Miami Heat (Feb. 20 vs. Heat)

NBA Finals rematches are always highly anticipated, and that will be the case when the Lakers and Heat meet for the first time during the 2020-21 season.

There doesn't seem to be much bad blood between the two teams, but they put on an entertaining series that went six games, and the next game between them could be even better provided Miami is at full strength.

Even with All-Star center Bam Adebayo missing two games and guard Goran Dragic missing all but one game during the Finals, the Heat still managed to take two games from the Lakers thanks largely to the spectacular play of Jimmy Butler.

While the Heat exceeded expectations last season, Butler figures to be motivated to improve and get his team back to the Finals next season. Beating the Lakers would go a long way toward signaling Miami is more than a one-year wonder.

The Lakers will also have to continue proving themselves after winning a championship last season, plus there is always some added intrigue when LeBron faces one of his former teams.

Teams are going to be out to prove themselves against the Lakers all season, so they can expect to get the best from every team they play during the year.

There may be a select few games that the Lakers get extra motivated to perform in as well, and a rematch with the Heat would likely qualify—especially if Butler has his full complement of teammates around him for that first game.

Season Forecast

Emerging from the Western Conference is no easy task, but since no team has a duo quite like James and Davis, the Lakers are the clear favorites entering the 2020-21 season.

That isn't to say that knocking them off is impossible, as the Clippers, Nuggets, Golden State Warriors, Utah Jazz, Houston Rockets and Dallas Mavericks are just a few of the teams with enough talent to take a big leap forward next season.

Much of the focus when it comes to the Lakers is on LeBron and AD, and understandably so, but they also have a quality supporting cast that played a big role in their championship win.

Kyle Kuzma, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Alex Caruso and the newly acquired Marc Gasol and Wesley Matthews all bring something different to the table, and they give the Lakers the kind of depth they need to sustain their play over the course of a long season.

Additionally, the Lakers acquired guard Dennis Schroder from the Oklahoma City Thunder on the heels of Schroder averaging 18.9 points, 4.0 assists and 3.6 rebounds per game last season.

Also, the Lakers signed reigning NBA Sixth Man of the Year Montrezl Harrell away from the rival Clippers, which adds another layer to their rivalry and makes the Lakers even stronger up front.

An injury to either James or Davis could send the Lakers' season off the rails, but assuming they both remain relatively healthy, as do most of their teammates, L.A. is set up for success in 2020-21 and beyond.

If the Lakers were to go all out in every game, then it isn't outside the realm of possibility that they could win 60 games in a 72-game season, but in the interest of preserving themselves for the playoffs, it is likely head coach Frank Vogel will pick and choose some spots to rest James and Davis.

The Lakers should still wind up with the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference, but it wouldn't be wise to expect a record-breaking season from them because of the difficulty of the conference and the fact that most top teams value health over record going into the playoffs.

Record Prediction: 58-14

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