Lakers need to stack wins now before the schedule turns nasty

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Cite

Price, K. (2026, October 23). Lakers need to stack wins now before the schedule turns nasty. New York Post. https://nypost.com/2026/10/23/sports/lakers-easy-early-slate-could-be-key-to-surviving-the-wests-gauntlet/

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New York Post · collected 2026-10-23 · by Khobi Price

Quick Summary

JJ Redick, the Lakers' head coach, emphasizes the importance of capitalizing on an early favorable schedule in the upcoming NBA season. The team is projected to face relatively easy matchups during their first 10 games before encountering tougher competition later on. Previous strong starts have contributed significantly to the Lakers’ success, such as a 10-4 start in 2024-25 and a 15-4 start in 2025-26, which helped them secure competitive records despite mid-season challenges. Redick stresses that these early victories are crucial for the team’s overall playoff aspirations this year.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-10-24, using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the same event (that is the story summary below).

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Written for “Lakers Schedule Challenges” on 2026-10-24, grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.
Why this leaning score
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No political leaning scored for article 103054 · logged 2026-10-24

Story

📰 Lakers Schedule Challenges
Sports · 1 article(s) covering the same event.

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Claims extracted
14
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
7%
1 of 14 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
not political
takes no side on a contested political question
Publisher signals
66/100
New York Post's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
1
Sports
Same framing elsewhere
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Publisher

New York Post · 13400 article(s) · 34 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 34 correction(s)

Who wrote this

Khobi Price
45 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
🔮 The Lakers are projected to have one of the league’s easiest schedules through the first 10 games of the season for each team when accounting for opponents’ projected over/under win total for the 2026-27 season.
🔮 To imply, or even acknowledge, that any aspect of an NBA game against an opponent is effortless could be viewed as disrespectful. Or just not a genuine reflection of reality.
🔮 Even after Lendeborg subbed out, Doncic kept talking to the 6-foot-9 forward out of Michigan while he was on the bench after knocking down a fadeaway against Will Richard, and once again while Sandro Mamukelashvili was shooting free throws.
🔮 Maybe Lendeborg, who was playing in his first NBA game after being the No. 11 pick in June’s NBA draft, will think twice before waking up the best that is Doncic.
🔮 After the 2025-26 season ended, Kevon Looney didn’t realize the next step in his NBA journey would bring him back to a familiar place.
🔮 “Couldn’t tell you – I haven’t played yet,” he responded while laughing after Tuesday’s practice, the final tune-up session before the team’s regular season opener against the Warriors.
🔮 There’s a good chance Reaves will not only be the lone player in the Lakers’ starting lineup on Wednesday who started his career with the franchise, but also the only player in the rotation who was at least on a rookie contract with the Lakers.
🔮 With Luka Doncic, Austin Reaves and Walker Kessler available for Friday’s preseason finale loss to the Nuggets on Friday night at Crypto.com Arena, the wait to see how the team would look with its most consequential players alongside each other ended.
🔮 The Lakers unveiled what could be their starting lineup when the regular season starts next week ahead of their preseason finale on Friday night.
🔮 So there’s a number of ways that that could be addressed, and the back-end point of it will be before we play the Warriors.
Also by Khobi Price
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 45 articles by Khobi Price →

Topics

Clippers Heat Lakers Raptors the Trail Blazers

Subjects

Lakers ORG · 8× Clippers ORG · 1× Heat ORG · 1× JJ Redick’s PERSON · 1× Jazz ORG · 1× Raptors ORG · 1× Salt Lake City GPE · 1× Warriors ORG · 1× the Trail Blazers ORG · 1× the Western Conference ORG · 1×

Narrative

While they have matchups against respectable opponents who are projected to be playoff contenders in the first couple of weeks of the season, such as the Nov. 1 and Nov. 2 matchups against the Raptors and Heat, respectively, or even two games against the Trail Blazers (Tuesday and Nov. 6), they still have a favorable schedule to open the season compared to most teams.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-10-24
🔮 The Lakers are projected to have one of the league’s easiest schedules through the first 10 games of the season for each team when accounting for opponents’ projected over/under win total for the 2026-27 season.
2026-10-24 · New York Post
Lakers need to stack wins now before the schedule turns nasty · assertive framing

Claims (14 extracted, 1 hedged)

During JJ Redick’s tenure as the Lakers head coach, the team has gotten off to strong starts to seasons. asserted
team → get → seasons
They have a golden opportunity to do so again this year. asserted
They → have → opportunity
And considering what’s waiting for them in the winter, it’s an opportunity they have to capitalize on. asserted
they → consider → winter
The Lakers are projected to have one of the league’s easiest schedules through the first 10 games of the season for each team when accounting for opponents’ projected over/under win total for the 2026-27 season. asserted
Lakers → project → season
While they have matchups against respectable opponents who are projected to be playoff contenders in the first couple of weeks of the season, such as the Nov. 1 and Nov. 2 matchups against the Raptors and Heat, respectively, or even two games against the Trail Blazers (Tuesday and Nov. 6), they still have a favorable schedule to open the season compared to most teams. asserted
they → have → teams
When accounting for Friday’s home game against the Clippers, the Lakers have four combined matchups against their in-city rival and the Warriors, who they blew out to open the season on Wednesday, within the first three weeks of the season. asserted
they → account → season
Both teams are expected to fight for a spot in the play-in tournament. asserted
teams → expect → tournament
The Jazz, who the Lakers will play on Sunday in Salt Lake City, also fit the mold of a team expected to be fighting for a spot in the tournament that the Lakers should have an early advantage against. asserted
Lakers → play → advantage
It’s no secret that the top of the Western Conference, and the six guaranteed playoff spots, are going to be a battle to claim. uncertain
top → ’ → Conference
The Lakers are projected to compete with the Nuggets, Rockets and Timberwolves for spots Nos. 3-6 in the West’s standings, with the Thunder and Spurs battling for the top two spots. asserted
Thunder → project → spots
They’re no strangers to what a strong start to a season can do for a team. asserted
start → ’re → team
The Lakers’ 10-4 start to 2024-25 helped them achieve their first 50-win season in a few years despite the roster changes, which included acquiring superstar guard Luka Doncic in February 2025. asserted
which → help → February
Starting the 2025-26 season 15-4 helped them withstand injuries to key players and subpar play from December-February before tearing it up in March en route to a 53-win season. asserted
them → start → season
It would behoove the Lakers to get off to another strong start this year considering it should be easier for them compared to most teams. asserted
it → behoove → teams
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