NBA to begin on Christmas Day?

The NBA season is finally set to begin after players and owners reached a tentative agreement in the early hours of Saturday morning.

The 2011/12 season has yet to commence because of a dispute between the NBA owners and players and recently the whole season was in doubt.

Commissioner David Stern said the deal was "subject to a variety of approvals and very complex machinations, but we're optimistic that will all come to pass and that the NBA season will begin on 25 December".

If all does go to plan, the shortened campaign will open with the Boston Celtics at New York Knicks, followed by Miami at Dallas in a repeat of last year's NBA final before Chicago Bulls close the tripleheader against the Los Angeles Lakers.