Heat-Lakers game sets new ratings mark for ABC (Agencies) Updated: 2004-12-28 09:09
The much-heralded Christmas Day matchup between Kobe Bryant's Los Angeles
Lakers and Shaquille O'Neal's Miami Heat was the highest-rated regular season
basketball game on television in nearly seven years, broadcaster ABC said on
Monday.
![](xin_041201280903520125502.jpg) Shaquille O'Neal of
the Miami Heat (R) and his former teammate Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles
Lakers embrace prior to the start their Christmas day NBA game in Los
Angeles, December 25, 2004. [Reuters] | Citing
data from Nielsen Media Research, ABC said it was the highest-rated regular
season game since Feb. 1998 and the highest-rated Christmas basketball game
since at least 1996.
The game drew an 8 rating in metered markets, where each ratings point
represents 1 percent of the 109.6 million homes with television sets nationwide.
Bryant and O'Neal had a turbulent relationship during the years when O'Neal
starred with the Lakers. Saturday's game marked O'Neal's return to Los Angeles
and the first matchup between him and Bryant since he was traded to the Heat.
Fans expected sparks after O'Neal described himself as a brick wall and said
Bryant was a Corvette, and suggested the inevitable conclusion when one hits the
other.
The game was relatively incident-free, though, and the Heat won 104-102 in
overtime.
ABC is a unit of the Walt Disney Co.
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