LeBron James AFP PHOTO
NEW YORK – LeBron James’s Miami Heat will raise their championship banner to the rafters when they host the Boston Celtics on October 30, the NBA announced on Thursday.
The Heat/Celtics contest was one of 82 games the Heat will play during the 2012-13 regular season schedule that the National Basketball Association unveiled in full on Thursday.
Heat rallied from a 3-2 series deficit to beat the Celtics in last season’s Eastern Conference semi-finals.
The Heat’s banner-raising game will be followed by a contest featuring Canada’s Steve Nash playing his first game with his new team, the Los Angeles Lakers. The two-time league MVP Nash will host Dirk Nowitzki and the Dallas Mavericks.
The league will also hold five games on Christmas, including the Celtics visiting the Nets at their new facility in Brooklyn. The Heat host the Oklahoma City Thunder in a rematch of last year’s NBA finals.
Christmas games also include the Lakers playing the New York Knicks at Staples Center arena, the Houston Rockets taking on the Chicago Bulls and the Denver Nuggets squaring off against the Los Angeles Clippers.