Christmas Repeat For Lakers-Heat
2nd August, 2005 - 6:16 am
Daily News - The NBA schedule for the 2005-06 season won't be released for another week, but Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant will meet in a Christmas Day showdown on ABC for the second consecutive year, sources said Monday.
It will be the seventh consecutive season that the Lakers have played on Dec. 25 for a network telecast, but this year's game will take place in Miami rather than Staples Center. The cast of characters also has grown to include Phil Jackson, welcomed back as Lakers coach this summer.
And for those who can't help but watch a car wreck, it will be a second chance for the Corvette and brick wall to have at it.
The Lakers lost 104-102 to the Heat in overtime last season, the first meeting between Bryant and O'Neal since their breakup the previous summer. It was the highest-rated NBA regular-season game in nearly seven years and possibly the most-hyped in history.