LOS ANGELES, Dec 3 — The NBA season will tip off Christmas week with two games on opening night, highlighted by the Los Angeles Lakers championship ring ceremony, the league announced on Wednesday.

The Lakers will battle the Los Angeles Clippers on December 22 to open the season just 10 weeks after they beat the Miami Heat in six games to win in their 17th NBA championship.

The league decided to hold off on announcing its full schedule and is doing it in a piecemeal fashion instead. Three days of the schedule came out Wednesday and another batch will be revealed on Friday.

The other opening night game features the Golden State Warriors visiting Kevin Durant's Brooklyn Nets at Barclays Center arena. Durant hasn't played since June 2019, when he ruptured his Achilles tendon.

Weeks later, Durant signed as a free agent with Brooklyn, ending a three-year stint with the Warriors in which he won two finals MVPs and a pair of NBA titles. 

The league also confirmed earlier reports of a five game slate for Christmas Day also involving the Lakers, Nets and Warriors.

LeBron James and the Lakers host Luka Doncic and the Dallas Mavericks and the Clippers visit Denver to face the Nuggets.

Zion Williamson and the New Orleans Pelicans visit the Miami Heat, the Warriors are at the  Milwaukee Bucks and the Boston Celtics host the Nets. — AFP