Ja Morant's Marquee Matchups vs Lakers, Celtics, Knicks Announced

Ja Morant and the Memphis Grizzlies are set for some highly anticipated matchups during the 2025-26 NBA season.

Dec 15, 2024; Los Angeles, California, USA; Memphis Grizzlies guard Ja Morant (12) reacts in the second half against the Los Angeles Lakers at Crypto.com Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

The NBA released the entire regular season schedule on Thursday afternoon, allowing the anticipation to start building. Revealing it just before the NFL and college football season was smart, too, allowing the NBA to stay in news cycles.

The Memphis Grizzlies won't be playing on Martin Luther King Jr. Day this year, as they'll be international around the same time for matchups against the Orlando Magic in London and Berlin. That could've been better planned by the NBA.

However, there are still plenty of big matchups for Grizzlies fans to look forward to. Here is a look at the full schedule.

𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐤 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐂𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐫𝐬 🗓️🐻

The 2025-26 schedule is here, presented by @OrthoSouth_ pic.twitter.com/Dw2VJRW1yb

— Memphis Grizzlies (@memgrizz) August 14, 2025

Here are some of the bigger matchups for the Grizzlies this season.

Los Angeles Lakers

The Grizzlies will play the Lakers three times this season: October 31st in Memphis as part of the NBA Cup Group Play, and then January 2nd and 4th in Los Angeles. Memphis fans will be among the first to see the new and improved Luka Doncic in their building, and any time LeBron James comes to town, it's worth noting, because who knows how much longer he'll play.

Memphis went 1-3 against the Lakers last season, winning the first matchup of the season. The three losses were by an average of just six points per game.

The Lakers made a few changes this offseason, letting Dorian Finney-Smith walk while bringing in Deandre Ayton, Jake LaRavia, and former Grizzly Marcus Smart.

Feb 28, 2025; Memphis, Tennessee, USA; New York Knicks guard Jalen Brunson (11) dribbles as Memphis Grizzlies forward Jaylen Wells (0) defends during the third quarter at FedExForum. Mandatory Credit: Petre Thomas-Imagn Images | Petre Thomas-Imagn Images

New York Knicks

With them being in opposite conferences, the Grizzlies and Knicks will only play twice. The first will come in Madison Square Garden on November 11th. It'll be the first night of a back-to-back for the Grizzlies. The return matchup will be on March 18th in Memphis.

Memphis lost both games against the Knicks last season, with the one in MSG coming by a whopping 37 points despite Ja Morant and Jaren Jackson Jr. both playing.

The Knicks' roster hasn't changed too much, although they did fire Tom Thibodeau in favor of Mike Brown despite making the Eastern Conference Finals last year.

Mar 31, 2025; Memphis, Tennessee, USA; Boston Celtics guard Derrick White (9) dribbles as Memphis Grizzlies guard Scotty Pippen Jr. (1) defends during the fourth quarter at FedExForum. Mandatory Credit: Petre Thomas-Imagn Images | Petre Thomas-Imagn Images

Boston Celtics

Just like with the Knicks, the Grizzlies and Celtics will only play twice. And, coincidentally, each time the Grizzlies play the Knicks, they'll play the Celtics the game after. The Celtics will be that second night of a road back-to-back for Memphis on November 12th, and then Boston will come to Memphis on March 20th.

Memphis and Boston split the two games between them last year, with both road teams winning.

Boston is basically taking the year off after allowing Al Horford to walk in free agency and trading Kristaps Porzingis and Jrue Holiday. Jayson Tatum is out for the year with an Achilles tear he suffered in the playoffs, so the Celtics are more focused on staying under the tax than anything.

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