At last, the Lakers will play their first preseason game on Monday against the Kings in Sacramento. It will be the front end of a back-to-back and the first of three games in four days this week.

Start time and TV schedule

Who: Los Angeles Lakers vs. Sacramento Kings

After lots of talk during training camp, the Lakers finally take the court on Monday to kickstart a busy week of preseason action.

Despite controlling their own scheduling, LA will open with a back-to-back this week before playing a third game on Thursday. It’s a bizarre choice, and one that head coach JJ Redick doesn’t seem to love, but it will give fans plenty to digest in a short period of time.

It also means, however, that there will very likely not be full rosters available for any of these games. In previous preseasons, the team has played their superstars in just one of the three games. With a younger team looking to build chemistry, perhaps that changes. But there is a precedent of how things could play out.

Still, starting on Monday, we’ll have our first chance to see lots of new players donning the purple and gold for the first time.