<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>Lakers And Heat To Meet On Christmas For 3rd Straight Year22nd July, 2006 - 8:34 pmLos Angeles Times - A league source has confirmmed to the L.A. Times that the Lakers and Heat will meet again on Christmas Day for the third consecutive year. The Heat have won three out of the four games against the Lakers since Shaquille O'Neal was traded to Miami.</div>LINKI'm loving this,always enjoy the Lakers playing on Christmas.
I think this is played out. It wont be nearly as exciting as their 1st match. I know I watched intently that game. I think they need to stop doing this. I dont think there is any real rivalry there. It's all washed up media hype.
There going to make it a kobe-wade matchup which isn't fair for wade. Once that happens, kobe will destroy him and then reports will be "Kobe bryant cools down the heat/wade" or something along those line.
Even if Kobe does destroy Wade, the Heat will probably win anyways. Lets not forget in there last game Kobe scored 37 and Wade scored 34.
This is just because they have big markets and it will get watched more which means more money....basically, there is no rivalry between these 2 teams. Like CB4 said, it is blown out of proportion by the media....but, it should be a good game actually. I know that it was last year
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Heatfan32 @ Jul 23 2006, 12:48 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Even if Kobe does destroy Wade, the Heat will probably win anyways. Lets not forget in there last game Kobe scored 37 and Wade scored 34.</div>i don't think last year's odom will resurface again.Oh, dwayne finished with 11-24 whilst kobe 13-24, i thought it was the opposite.
It's still pretty interesting. Kobe playing Wade is one of the funnest matchups to watch in the league. And who can forget about Bynum and Shaq's little scuffle.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (CB4AllStar @ Jul 22 2006, 09:07 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>I think this is played out. It wont be nearly as exciting as their 1st match. I know I watched intently that game. I think they need to stop doing this. I dont think there is any real rivalry there. It's all washed up media hype.</div>Why would they need to stop this?It's not washed up at all, it is very entertaining. It is not even about Shaq anymore, it's about 2 out of the 3 best shooting guards in the league going toe to toe.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Island @ Jul 23 2006, 01:09 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Why would they need to stop this?It's not washed up at all, it is very entertaining. It is not even about Shaq anymore, it's about 2 out of the 3 best shooting guards in the league going toe to toe.</div>Yeah, I havn't been disappointed yet. People just have to realize it's not only Shaq-Kobe anymore. A few other players have got into the mix of things, which keeps it interesting. Lakers will be looking for some revenge this time.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (LightsOut @ Jul 22 2006, 10:16 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Yeah, I havn't been disappointed yet. People just have to realize it's not only Shaq-Kobe anymore. A few other players have got into the mix of things, which keeps it interesting. Lakers will be looking for some revenge this time.</div>Revenge because of being beaten in a regular season game. But seriously, it's great to watch the two best shooting guards in the league go at it.
If Wade does well to start out this year, I think they'll play this game out o be less of "Shaq verse Kobe" and more "Kobe vs Wade".
I heard the that the Lakers are going to play the Pheonix Suns for the first game of the season.I'm already planning on going just to harrass Raja Bell Also,the game will be on Halloween night...very cool.<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>LA Daily News Blog: This is the time of year when the draft schedule for the upcoming NBA season starts making the rounds, which means there are rumblings about what is likely ahead for the Lakers. Everything is subject to change, please remember, until the NBA releases the official schedule, which took place on Aug. 8 last year and Aug. 2 the year before that. The Lakers are supposed to open the season Tuesday, Oct. 31 against Phoenix at Staples Center, a rematch of their first-round playoff series. I'm not a gambler, but I saw a site recently that had the Suns, Mavericks and Heat all 9-2 favorites to win the 2007 title. The Lakers were at 40-1. It should be an interesting opener, especially with Amare Stoudemire back for the Suns. They will play at Miami in the NBA's marquee Christmas Day game, the third year in a row the league has brought together Kobe and Shaq on the holiday. They push this rivalry so much, the NBA might as well have the Lakers open the season in Miami and watch the Heat get its rings. There is a marathon eight-game road trip set for early February. You have to go back to December 1989 to find a trip that long in Lakers history. It's one-fifth of their entire road schedule in one trip. The Lakers also are playing a New Year's Eve game, their first on that date home or away since 1968. Their schedule looks like it will be front-loaded with home games this season. The Lakers could play as many as 15 of their first 20 games at home. I don't know whether that includes any road games against the Clippers at Staples. If you win two-thirds of your home games and split your road games, you should finish about 48-34 for the season. That would have been good enough for fifth in the Western Conference last season. But if the Lakers schedule has that many home games in November and December, the team will have to come together quickly. Just to stay on pace for 48 wins, the Lakers would want to open 13-7. It's the exact opposite from last season, when the Lakers were a .500 team until March 19 but took advantage of a schedule that had them playing 10 of their last 13 games at home. They made a little run, finished 45-37, and nearly pulled off a playoff upset. Maybe the Lakers will be build some confidence at home early that will benefit them for the rest of the season. If they do play 15 of their first 20 at home, they can't afford a slow start to the season. We'll know everything for sure once the NBA schedule becomes official.</div>
Damn, if it was here in Phoenix, I'd be sure to go and watch Amare dominate some more(assuming he returns well)The whole kobe/shaq thing is way played out, as mentioned by not-me. I certainly won't watch, and I'm guessing not very many other people will either. It's to the point it's boring. The games are easily won by Miami, and barely any thrillers come. what's the other christmas game? Suns-Spurs or Suns-Mavs would be good. I would've thought they'd do Mavs-Heat on the X-mas since they did the Pistons-Spurs last year. Stick to a Finals rematch and then the next 2 exciting teams, perhaps the CF losers, Suns vs Pistons
[quote name='Something-To-Say' post='124253' date='Jul 25 2006, 09:01 PM']Damn, if it was here in Phoenix, I'd be sure to go and watch Amare dominate some more(assuming he returns well)The whole kobe/shaq thing is way played out, as mentioned by not-me. I certainly won't watch, and I'm guessing not very many other people will either.[/quote]Something tells me you're gessing wrong.[quote name='Something-To-Say' post='124253' date='Jul 25 2006, 09:01 PM']The games are easily won by Miami[/quote]The Lakers won the last game they played, the first game they played was decided by a point, and the third game was decided by 3 points.[quote name='Something-To-Say' post='124253' date='Jul 25 2006, 09:01 PM']and barely any thrillers come.[/quote] You've gotta be kidding me.[quote name='Something-To-Say' post='124253' date='Jul 25 2006, 09:01 PM']Suns-Spurs or Suns-Mavs would be good.[/quote]The Spurs almost always beat the Suns unentertainingly when healthy, and we've seen the Suns and Mavs play 20 times in the last 2 years, seriously, you wanna talk about played out?
Put me also on the list that the Lakers/Heat is not the most exciting matchup or even close. I think a Heat/Mavs game would be the best and than the Spurs and Mavs or Spurs and Heat.
