Lakers, Clippers expected to resume home slate Monday amid fires
After postponing a couple of Saturday matchups due to the ongoing wildfires in the Los Angeles area, the NBA has informed the Lakers and Clippers that their regularly scheduled games are expected to be played Monday at Crypto.com Arena and the Intuit Dome.
The Lakers are scheduled to host the San Antonio Spurs, while the Clippers will host the Miami Heat.
The league on Friday postponed games Saturday featuring the Spurs at Lakers and Charlotte Hornets at LA Clippers, with those games to be rescheduled for later dates.
The NBA also said it would donate $1 million for immediate relief to the American Red Cross, World Central Kitchen as well as additional organizations.
Approximately 105,000 people remain under mandatory evacuation orders amid multiple wildfires in the Los Angeles area. The Palisades Fire is already the most destructive in Los Angeles history, with more than 5,600 structures destroyed over 24,000 acres. At least 16 people have died as a result of the fires.
Spurs guard Chris Paul, a Los Angeles resident who formerly played for the Clippers, expressed concern for the community after the team’s loss Wednesday night in Milwaukee. Paul said his wife and children evacuated their home last Tuesday.
“It’s definitely scary, everything that is going on,” Paul said. “I’m sending so much love and prayers to some of my closest friends and family who have lost everything.”
The Spurs arrived in Santa Monica early Thursday after landing in Los Angeles on a flight that commenced shortly after the team’s matchup at Milwaukee. The club checked into its team hotel in Santa Monica but decided hours later to relocate to a hotel in downtown Los Angeles for precautionary reasons.
The NBA had previously postponed Thursday’s game between the Lakers and Hornets at Crypto.com Arena, with that game still yet to be rescheduled.
Lakers coach JJ Redick said last week that he lost his home in the Palisades Fire.
After the games Monday, the Lakers are scheduled to host the Heat on Wednesday while the Clippers will host the Brooklyn Nets.
Source: espn.com