The Clippers will open the Intuit Dome against the Kevin Durant-led Phoenix Suns on Oct. 23 in their first regular-season game at their new high-tech arena in Inglewood, the team announced Thursday.
Suns stars Devin Booker and Durant, fresh off their gold-medal performances in the Paris Olympics, will be on hand as the Clippers kick off their new era, complete with new logos and a new home. The Clippers have shared Crypto.com Arena, formerly known as Staples Center, for the past 25 years with the Lakers and L.A. Kings, where they had to play their games around the Lakers’ and Kings’ schedules.
Now, as the lone tenant in the $2 billion Intuit Dome built by owner Steve Ballmer, the Clippers have freedom to set their own schedule. First up was eliminating Saturday matinee games. The Clippers have no 12:30 p.m. Saturday games this season.
After their season opener, the Clippers go on the road for back-to-back games – their first of more than a dozen back-to-back contests this season – against the Denver Nuggets (Oct. 26) and Golden State Warriors (Oct. 27) before starting a five-game homestand, highlighted by the return of Paul George on Nov. 6.
George, who spent five seasons in L.A., signed a four-year, $212 million contract with the Philadelphia 76ers in the offseason. The Clippers will face off against George again when they head to Philadelphia on Nov. 24 and then head to Boston to square off against the NBA defending champion Celtics on Nov. 25.
The Clippers will host the Lakers at the Intuit Dome on Jan. 19 and Feb. 4 and play their former arena-mates at Crypto.com on Feb. 28 and March 2.
Other marquee matchups at Intuit Dome include the Dallas Mavericks on April 4 and April 5 and the Celtics on Jan. 22. The Mavericks eliminated the Clippers in the first round of last season’s playoffs.
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The schedule includes 16 back-to-back games this season, one more than the past two seasons.
The Clippers will play two additional preseason games at home on Oct. 14 against the Dallas Mavericks and the Sacramento Kings on Oct. 17. The team previously announced they will play preseason games in Oceanside (Oct. 8) against the Brooklyn Nets and Seattle (Oct. 11) against the Portland Trail Blazers.
The Clippers’ full schedule can be found at nba.com/clippers.
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