Lakers Schedule December 2026: Game Times in PT and ET, TV and the Christmas Day Game

The Los Angeles Lakers open December 2026 on the road at the New Orleans Pelicans on Wednesday, Dec. 2, at 5 p.m. Pacific Time (PT), which is 8 p.m. Eastern Time (ET), according to the National Basketball Association (NBA) schedule. The month’s headline date is Christmas Day, Friday, Dec. 25, when the Lakers host the Philadelphia 76ers at 2 p.m. PT (5 p.m. ET) on ABC and ESPN.

The NBA’s 2026-27 regular season schedule PDF, dated Aug. 13, 2026 and marked “subject to change,” gives times in ET and lists each game’s local time for the home team. The table below adds a Pacific column (ET minus 3 hours) for every Lakers game in December, and a printable of the same rows is further down.

Lakers schedule for December 2026

The NBA’s August schedule lists 11 Lakers games in December: six at home and five on the road. Weekdays are our own calculation.

Date	Game	PT	ET	National TV
Wed., Dec. 2	at New Orleans Pelicans	5 p.m.	8 p.m.	None listed
Mon., Dec. 14	New Orleans Pelicans	7 p.m.	10 p.m.	None listed
Wed., Dec. 16	at Minnesota Timberwolves	6:30 p.m.	9:30 p.m.	ESPN
Fri., Dec. 18	at Minnesota Timberwolves	5 p.m.	8 p.m.	None listed
Sat., Dec. 19	at Denver Nuggets	6 p.m.	9 p.m.	None listed
Mon., Dec. 21	Indiana Pacers	7 p.m.	10 p.m.	None listed
Wed., Dec. 23	Denver Nuggets	7 p.m.	10 p.m.	Prime Video
Fri., Dec. 25	Philadelphia 76ers	2 p.m.	5 p.m.	ABC and ESPN
Sun., Dec. 27	Memphis Grizzlies	6 p.m.	9 p.m.	None listed
Tue., Dec. 29	Houston Rockets	7:30 p.m.	10:30 p.m.	NBC and Peacock
Thu., Dec. 31	at New Orleans Pelicans	5 p.m.	8 p.m.	None listed

“None listed” means the NBA’s schedule shows no national network for that game. Local broadcasts are listed by the team at nba.com/lakers/schedule.

Lakers Christmas Day game 2026

The Lakers host the Philadelphia 76ers on Friday, Dec. 25, at 2 p.m. PT (5 p.m. ET), on ABC and ESPN, according to the NBA’s schedule. It is the earliest home tip-off of the Lakers’ December and one of only four December games the schedule puts on a national network. For the full holiday slate, see our Christmas Day 2026 NBA and National Football League (NFL) schedule and the When is Christmas? date page.

No Lakers games from Dec. 3 to Dec. 11

The NBA’s August schedule lists no Lakers games from Wednesday, Dec. 3, through Friday, Dec. 11. After the Dec. 2 game at New Orleans, the next listed Lakers game is Monday, Dec. 14, against the Pelicans at home. That window is the Emirates NBA Cup knockout stage, and whether the Lakers play in it depends on their Cup group results.

NBA.com’s Aug. 12, 2026 Group Play release sets the Cup knockout rounds in that span: the quarterfinals on Dec. 4 and 5 in NBA team markets, the semifinals on Dec. 8 and/or Dec. 9, and the championship on Friday, Dec. 11, at Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. Our NBA Cup 2026 schedule has every round.

Lakers home and away games in December 2026

The schedule splits the month into six home games and five road games. The longest trip is two straight at the Minnesota Timberwolves, on Wednesday, Dec. 16 and Friday, Dec. 18, followed by a stop at the Denver Nuggets on Saturday, Dec. 19. The Lakers close the year on the road at New Orleans on Thursday, Dec. 31.

National TV carries four December games: ESPN at Minnesota on Dec. 16, Prime Video against Denver on Dec. 23, ABC and ESPN on Christmas Day, and NBC and Peacock against Houston on Dec. 29. None of the December games are flagged as Emirates NBA Cup group games, because Cup group play ends in November. The month leads into a busy January 2027; our Lakers schedule November 2026 covers the Cup group games that came before.

Printable Lakers schedule for December 2026

Yes. The one-page sheet lists all 11 December games with the opponent, home or away, PT and ET times and national TV, and it has an ink-saver version. Keep it next to the December 2026 printable calendar or add the games to a printable weekly calendar.

Because the NBA’s schedule is “subject to change,” recheck game times on NBA.com before you head out. Game results, injuries and tickets are not part of the NBA’s schedule and are not covered here.