O’Neal, Bryant to Get Together for Holiday

Those old chums Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal are set for another Christmas Day reunion, but this time at Shaq’s place.

The NBA released its 2005-06 schedule Monday, revealing that the Lakers will play the Miami Heat on Dec. 25 at Miami, a repeat of last year’s yuletide encounter at Staples Center won by the Heat in overtime.

Other highlights of the Laker schedule, which opens Nov. 2 at Denver, are Coach Phil Jackson’s home re-debut Nov. 3 against the Phoenix Suns at Staples Center and a rematch against O’Neal and the Heat on Jan. 16 at Staples Center.

Newest Laker Kwame Brown, booed last winter in his final season with the Washington Wizards, returns to the capital for a Dec. 26 game.

The Clippers open the season Nov. 2 at Seattle and play the Atlanta Hawks two nights later in their home opener. They’ll face former teammate Bobby Simmons for the first time when the Milwaukee Bucks make a Nov. 15 visit to Staples Center. They will make no trip longer than six games after having made trips of eight and seven games in the second half of last season, helping to derail their playoff hopes.

The first of four Laker-Clipper games will be played Nov. 18.

The season opens Nov. 1, with the defending champion San Antonio Spurs facing the Denver Nuggets in one of three games. The Spurs also are scheduled to play on Christmas Day, against the Detroit Pistons in a rematch of last season’s NBA Finals. The Pistons, now coached by Flip Saunders, will take on their former coach, Larry Brown, for the first time when they face the New York Knicks on Dec. 2.

The Lakers and Heat will make 33 national television appearances, the most allowed by league rules. The Lakers will appear on ABC five times, ESPN 10 times, TNT nine times and league-owned NBA TV nine times.

The Clippers are scheduled to make four national TV appearances, a Feb. 24 game against the Lakers on ESPN and three other games on NBA TV.