NBA, Lakers announce in-season tournament game schedule

The NBA’s inaugural in-season tournament will kick off in November this year and the league announced the dates of the group games on Tuesday. Of the Lakers’ four group games, two will be nationally televised.

Here’s a look at their four games:

• Nov. 10, 7 pm PT - Lakers at Suns (ESPN)
• Nov. 14, 7:30 pm PT - Lakers vs Grizzlies
• Nov. 17, 7 pm PT - Lakers at Trail Blazers
• Nov. 21, 7 pm PT - Lakers vs Jazz (TNT)

The Lakers are going to catch some breaks with this scheduling. Getting the Suns as early as possible in the Kevin Durant-Devin Booker-Bradley Beal partnership, the better.

Similarly, playing the Grizzlies early in the season means they won’t have to play Ja Morant. Marcus Smart has arrived and will replace many things Morant did, but ultimately the Grizzlies will be down Morant, Dillon Brooks, and Tyus Jones from the team that last played the Lakers.

Playing the two toughest opponents in the first two games also should make things easier on the back end of the group play and give the Lakers a chance to earn a spot on the last day even if things go awry.

The real question of the in-season tournament is, if the Lakers win it all this season, can they claim to have more trophies than the Celtics? No matter what your reservations are about the tournament, you have to admit that’s a strong argument in favor of it.

You can follow Jacob on Twitter at @JacobRude.