Lakers, this time with Luka Doncic, return to Acrisure Arena to face Phoenix

The Los Angeles Lakers have long been a fixture in the Coachella Valley, having trained in the area at College of the Desert through most of the 1980s and into the 1990s when the team was known as Showtime and was winning NBA championships.

Now the Lakers are a fixture in a different way, playing preseason exhibition games in the desert at Acrisure Arena. For the third year in a row, the Lakers will play a tune-up game at the local arena, this time playing just one game in the desert after playing two games in the area last year.