Clippers, Lakers To Resume Their Wildfire-Delayed Schedules On Monday

It’ll be the Clippers’ first game in five days after having their home game against Charlotte on Saturday postponed because of the deadly wildfires across Los Angeles. The Lakers had two home games pushed back, one against the Hornets on Thursday and the other being the first in a planned two-game series against the Spurs on Saturday.

The Spurs had to change hotels because of fire concerns after arriving in Los Angeles, and the Heat arrived on Saturday night as scheduled after playing in Portland.

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The Lakers announced plans for a donation drive for their upcoming games, starting Monday, asking fans to bring new, in-the-package items to support the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank’s relief efforts.

Instead of spending the day before a game resting, the Clippers’ Terance Mann planned to leave practice and scour a storage unit he keeps for useful items.

AP Basketball Writer Tim Reynolds in Miami contributed to this report.

In Denver, Nicolas Batum said he checked his phone at halftime — something he never does — to see where the fires were burning. He got back to LA and rushed to pack boxes when he thought his family would have to flee.

“I’ve watched the news more than I ever have in my life over the past three days,” Mann said, smiling. “I was just on YouTube TV watching the news in the locker room trying to get an update on what’s going on.”

“It was good to see that him and his family are doing good,” Mann said.

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INGLEWOOD, Calif. (AP) — NBA games are scheduled to return to wildfire-ravaged Los Angeles on Monday night, with the Clippers planning to resume their schedule when they host the Miami Heat and the Lakers set to host Victor Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs.

“We’ve been through the crazy stuff for the last five days,” Batum said. “I think maybe people need that to get their mind off of it for two, three hours.”

Some members of the Clippers organization had to evacuate their homes and others know people who lost theirs. Lakers coach JJ Redick said last week that the house he and his family are renting this season — along with most of their possessions — was completely destroyed by fire.

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