Spurs - Rockets, maybe. Spurs - Heat as well. Phoenix - Dallas could be. But the Rockets post two of the coolest TV matchups for the NBA, so Rockets on Christmas will be my hope.
I don't want the Rockets to play on Christmas, because if they lose, it puts a huge damper on Christmas.
Exactly....it has to be Heat @ Lakers for Christmas day. Shaq versus Kobe and Phil...I can already see the week of overhyped hoopla filling SportsCenter's agenda preceding the matchup. But the early game most likely will feature the Rockets, probably against Phoenix or San Antonio. Also curious to see if the NBA will have the Rockets opening the season against the defending champion like they had us last year against the Stones. I feel the Rockets watching another banner hanging ceremony could really give them motivation, perhaps opening this season with a bang this time around.
prediction: Opening Week: Tue: lal@sa (tnt) det@pho(tnt) phi@bos Wed: mia@ind(espn) det@den(espn) no@cle Thu: was@mia(tnt) dal@sea(tnt) fri: sa@cle(espn) hou@lal(espn)
i would be shocked if they don't do Lakers/Heat again. the hype and ratings for that were huge the first time. plus the game had kobe dropping 48, it went to OT, and kobe had a 3 at the buzzer to win the game. how much more could the nba have hoped for? if we faced off against the Heat it would be in miami. we're not quite marquee enough to take homecourt away from miami. i say either phoenix/SA or indy/det gets the other game, though we could sneak in there. or they may just do the way they used to before the east started sucking too much, where they just had the conference finals rematches on Christmas.
You do have to remember that XMas comes on a Sunday, so that means football. Just two games though. You have Chicago at Green Bay, 5:00 p.m. Minnesota at Baltimore, 8:30 p.m, east time. Chicago at Green Bay is a FOX game, with Minny, and Bmore being on ESPN. Usually, they have a day game on ESPN, with some kind of double header on ABC. I don't see it this year. I just see LA at Miami. Could be all wrong and stuff.
Sweet, I've been chomping at the bit waiting for the schedule to hit, can't wait to see what games me and the wife can make it to.
I love how so many people in this thread are just ignoring all the posters who are pointing out that it was ALREADY ANNOUNCED that Heat - Lakers 2 will happen on Christmas with CBS airing it. Evan
Great calls, but remember, there are NBA freaks like us that will watch anything. I still see a three-game sked, first game on espen, the other two on ABC. ABC isn't going into this (or any other SAT/SUN) thinking they're going to be kicking ass in ratings -- they just want to make a solid profit. Like you, and others, I'm guessing Lakers/Heat. Though Indiana and Detroit should be the favorites in the East, the Heat have the most star power and are the on-paper favorites. That doesn't mean I disagree with the Walker/Posey deal, that's just how it is. The NBA wanted to see a few offseason deals go through before finishing the schedule. I also know for a fact that the NHL nastiness contributed to the delay. Usually, the schedule is released in the last week of July or beginning of August. Juggling new NHL dates with the usual circus/arena rock dates added to the extended week. There was a Christmas on Sunday in 1994, I don't remember this because I'm a Santa-loving Catholic (not saying I'm not ) but because there was an NBC double-header that also included a Knicks-Bulls game (OT, I think), another NBA game, and I think there was a spate of playoff games during the afternoon (back when NBC had football) on the peacock and other channels.