2006 NBA Finals

2006 NBA Finals

Team Coach Wins Miami Heat Pat Riley 4 Dallas Mavericks Avery Johnson 2
Dates	June 8–20
MVP	Dwyane Wade (Miami Heat)
Hall of Famers	Heat: Alonzo Mourning (2014) Shaquille O'Neal (2016) Gary Payton (2013) Dwyane Wade (2023) Mavericks: Dirk Nowitzki (2023) Coaches: Pat Riley (2008) Officials: Dick Bavetta (2015)
Eastern finals	Heat defeated Pistons, 4–2
Western finals	Mavericks defeated Suns, 4–2

The 2006 NBA Finals was the championship series of the National Basketball Association's (NBA) 2005–06 season, and the conclusion of the season's playoffs. The Dallas Mavericks were favored to win the championship over the Miami Heat. Despite these odds, the Heat won the title in six games over the Mavericks, becoming the third team—after the 1969 Celtics, the 1977 Trail Blazers and later the 2016 Cleveland Cavaliers and 2021 Milwaukee Bucks—to win a championship after trailing 0–2 in the series. Dwyane Wade of the Heat was named Most Valuable Player of the series.

The series featured two teams who had never previously appeared in the Finals for the first time since 1971, and it was consequently the first Finals since 1978 where neither team had previously won an NBA title. The next Finals appearance for both franchises would come five years later in 2011, with the Mavericks winning the rematch over the Heat.

This was the second NBA Finals match-up of teams from Florida and Texas, after the Houston Rockets and Orlando Magic contested the 1995 NBA Finals. Until the Miami Heat defeated the San Antonio Spurs in the 2013 NBA Finals, it was the last Finals loss by a team from Texas (Houston lost in 1981 and 1986) versus eight Finals victories (five by San Antonio, two by Houston, and one by Dallas) including the Spurs in 2007 and the Mavericks in 2011. This was the only Finals of the 2000s not to involve the Los Angeles Lakers or the San Antonio Spurs, and the first since 1995 not to feature either Phil Jackson or Gregg Popovich as head coach. It was also the first Finals where the same company (American Airlines) owned the naming rights to both home arenas; however, the Miami arena is now known as the Kaseya Center.

Background

The Miami Heat joined the league in the 1988–89 season, but they did not rise to prominence until they hired Pat Riley to be their head coach and president before the 1995–96 season. In Riley's first stint, the Heat were playoff regulars between 1996 and 2001, however, the Chicago Bulls and New York Knicks always thwarted Miami's dreams of a championship or even a Finals berth. However, when the team drafted Dwyane Wade fifth overall in 2003, things started to look up for the Heat. They went 42-40 under interim coach Stan Van Gundy, making the playoffs after a 2-year hiatus. They defeated the New Orleans Hornets in the first round, but they ultimately fell to the Pacers in 6 games. The 2004 offseason saw the addition of Shaquille O'Neal, and with Wade and O'Neal performing well, the Heat won 59 games in the 2004–05 season, as they took the defending champions Detroit Pistons to seven games in the conference finals. The following season, after an early 11–10 start, Van Gundy resigned and Riley returned to coaching. Though injuries and lack of chemistry hobbled the Heat initially, they still managed to win 52 games that season. After a culmination of harmony and momentum came together just before the playoffs, they started their postseason run by defeating the Bulls in six games, then eliminated the New Jersey Nets in five games, and then ousted the 64-win 4 all-star Pistons in six games to reach the NBA Finals for the first time in franchise history.

Path to the Finals

Main article: 2006 NBA Playoffs

Dallas Mavericks (Western Conference champion)			Miami Heat (Eastern Conference champion)
# Western Conference Team W L PCT GB 1 c-San Antonio Spurs 63 19 .768 - 2 y-Phoenix Suns 54 28 .659 9 3 y-Denver Nuggets 44 38 .537 19 4 x-Dallas Mavericks 60 22 .732 3 5 x-Memphis Grizzlies 49 33 .598 14 6 x-Los Angeles Clippers 47 35 .573 16 7 x-Los Angeles Lakers 45 37 .549 18 8 x-Sacramento Kings 44 38 .537 19 9 Utah Jazz 41 41 .500 22 10 New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets 38 44 .463 25 11 Seattle SuperSonics 35 47 .427 28 12 Golden State Warriors 34 48 .415 29 13 Houston Rockets 34 48 .415 29 14 Minnesota Timberwolves 33 49 .402 30 15 Portland Trail Blazers 21 61 .256 42 4th seed in the West, 3rd best league record	Regular season			Eastern Conference # Team W L PCT GB 1 z-Detroit Pistons 64 18 .780 - 2 y-Miami Heat 52 30 .634 12 3 y-New Jersey Nets 49 33 .598 15 4 x-Cleveland Cavaliers 50 32 .610 14 5 x-Washington Wizards 42 40 .512 22 6 x-Indiana Pacers 41 41 .500 23 7 x-Chicago Bulls 41 41 .500 23 8 x-Milwaukee Bucks 40 42 .488 24 9 Philadelphia 76ers 38 44 .463 26 10 Orlando Magic 36 46 .439 28 11 Boston Celtics 33 49 .402 31 12 Toronto Raptors 27 55 .329 37 13 Charlotte Bobcats 26 56 .317 38 14 Atlanta Hawks 26 56 .317 38 15 New York Knicks 23 59 .280 41 2nd seed in the East, 5th best league record
Defeated the (5) Memphis Grizzlies, 4–0	First Round			Defeated the (7) Chicago Bulls, 4–2
Defeated the (1) San Antonio Spurs, 4–3	Conference Semifinals			Defeated the (3) New Jersey Nets, 4–1
Defeated the (2) Phoenix Suns, 4–2	Conference Finals			Defeated the (1) Detroit Pistons, 4–2

Regular-season series

The Dallas Mavericks won both games in the regular season series:

November 25, 2005

Dallas Mavericks 103, Miami Heat 90

American Airlines Arena, Miami

February 9, 2006

Miami Heat 76, Dallas Mavericks 112

American Airlines Center, Dallas

Rosters

Miami Heat

2005–06 Miami Heat roster

Players

Coaches

Pos. No. Name Height Weight DOB From SG 5 Anderson, Derek 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 194 lb (88 kg) 1974–07–18 Kentucky SF 49 Anderson, Shandon 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 208 lb (94 kg) 1973–12–31 Georgia C 30 Barron, Earl 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) 250 lb (113 kg) 1981–08–14 Memphis C 51 Doleac, Michael 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 262 lb (119 kg) 1977–06–15 Utah PF 40 Haslem, Udonis 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 235 lb (107 kg) 1980–06–09 Florida SF 24 Kapono, Jason 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 213 lb (97 kg) 1981–02–04 UCLA C 33 Mourning, Alonzo 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 240 lb (109 kg) 1970–02–08 Georgetown C 32 O'Neal, Shaquille 7 ft 1 in (2.16 m) 325 lb (147 kg) 1972–03–06 LSU PG 20 Payton, Gary 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 180 lb (82 kg) 1968–07–23 Oregon State SF 42 Posey, James 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 215 lb (98 kg) 1977–01–13 Xavier PF 25 Simien, Wayne 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 255 lb (116 kg) 1983–03–09 Kansas SG 3 Wade, Dwyane 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 220 lb (100 kg) 1982–01–17 Marquette PF 8 Walker, Antoine 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 224 lb (102 kg) 1976–08–12 Kentucky PG 55 Williams, Jason 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1975–11–18 Florida SF 1 Wright, Dorell 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 200 lb (91 kg) 1985–12–02 South Kent School (CT)

Head coach Pat Riley Assistant coach(es) Keith Askins Bob McAdoo Ron Rothstein Erik Spoelstra Bill Foran Legend (DP) Unsigned draft pick (FA) Free agent (S) Suspended (DL) On assignment to D-League affiliate Injured

Dallas Mavericks

2005–06 Dallas Mavericks roster

Players

Coaches

Pos. No. Name Height Weight DOB From PG 10 Armstrong, Darrell 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 170 lb (77 kg) 1968–06–22 Fayetteville State C 25 Dampier, Erick 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 265 lb (120 kg) 1975–07–14 Mississippi State SG 6 Daniels, Marquis 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 200 lb (91 kg) 1981–01–07 Auburn C 7 Diop, DeSagana 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) 300 lb (136 kg) 1982–01–30 Oak Hill Academy (VA) SG 44 Griffin, Adrian 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 217 lb (98 kg) 1974–07–04 Seton Hall PG 34 Harris, Devin 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 192 lb (87 kg) 1983–02–27 Wisconsin SF 5 Howard, Josh 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 210 lb (95 kg) 1980–04–28 Wake Forest C 28 Mbenga, D. J. 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) 245 lb (111 kg) 1980–12–30 Belgium PF 41 Nowitzki, Dirk 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) 245 lb (111 kg) 1978–06–19 Germany PF 33 Powell, Josh 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 225 lb (102 kg) 1983–01–25 NC State SG 42 Stackhouse, Jerry 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 218 lb (99 kg) 1974–11–5 North Carolina PG 31 Terry, Jason 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1977–09–15 Arizona SF 2 Van Horn, Keith 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 220 lb (100 kg) 1975–10–23 Utah

Head coach Avery Johnson Assistant coach(es) Rolando Blackman Del Harris Joe Prunty Larry Riley Brad Davis Legend (DP) Unsigned draft pick (FA) Free agent (S) Suspended (DL) On assignment to D-League affiliate Injured

• Shaquille O'Neal and Gary Payton became the 6th and 7th players to play in the NBA Finals for three different teams. O'Neal played in the 1995 NBA Finals with the Orlando Magic and four times with the Los Angeles Lakers, while Payton played in the 1996 NBA Finals with the Seattle SuperSonics and with O'Neal on the 2004 Lakers team that lost to the Pistons. The other five players to play in the Finals for three teams are: Danny Ainge, Sam Perkins, John Salley, Horace Grant and Robert Horry.
• Also, O'Neal and Alonzo Mourning achieved the rare feat of being the former first-round picks from the same year (1992) to win a championship with the same team. O'Neal was the first overall draft pick of the Orlando Magic, while Mourning went second to the Charlotte Hornets. Ironically, the third pick in that draft, Christian Laettner (who was selected by the Minnesota Timberwolves), was a member of the previous year's team, his final season before retiring.

Series summary

Game	Date	Road team	Result	Home team
Game 1	June 8	Miami Heat	80–90 (0–1)	Dallas Mavericks
Game 2	June 11	Miami Heat	86–99 (0–2)	Dallas Mavericks
Game 3	June 13	Dallas Mavericks	96–98 (2–1)	Miami Heat
Game 4	June 15	Dallas Mavericks	74–98 (2–2)	Miami Heat
Game 5	June 18	Dallas Mavericks	100–101 (OT) (2–3)	Miami Heat
Game 6	June 20	Miami Heat	95–92 (4–2)	Dallas Mavericks

The Heat became the second team since 1985 to sweep the middle three games at home, the 2004 Detroit Pistons being the first. In 1985 the NBA switched the Finals to the 2-3-2 format, which was changed back to the 2-2-1-1-1 format for the 2014 NBA Finals.

Game summaries

All times are in Eastern Daylight Time (UTC−4). If the venue is located in a different time zone, the local time is also given.

Game 1

Dallas' Jason Terry scored a playoff-high 32 points as the Mavericks overcame a 31–23 deficit at the end of the first quarter.

ABC

June 8 9:00pm (8:00 pm CDT)

1 at the Wayback Machine (archived December 1, 2010)

Miami Heat 80, Dallas Mavericks 90
Scoring by quarter: 31–23, 13–23, 24–24, 12–20
Pts: Dwyane Wade 30 Rebs: Udonis Haslem 8 Asts: Dwyane Wade 7		Pts: Jason Terry 32 Rebs: Josh Howard 12 Asts: Nowitzki, Howard 5 each
Dallas leads series, 1–0

American Airlines Center, Dallas, Texas Attendance: 20,475 Referees: No. 17 Joe Crawford No. 14 Joe DeRosa No. 15 Bennett Salvatore

Game 2

Dirk Nowitzki had a stellar 30 point and 12 rebound performance, and the Mavericks cruised past the Heat to take a 2–0 series lead.

ABC

June 11 9:00pm (8:00 pm CDT)

2 at the Wayback Machine (archived December 1, 2010)

Miami Heat 85, Dallas Mavericks 101
Scoring by quarter: 17–20, 17–32, 24–32, 27–17
Pts: Dwyane Wade 21 Rebs: Dwyane Wade 8 Asts: Payton, Williams 5 each		Pts: Dirk Nowitzki 30 Rebs: Dirk Nowitzki 12 Asts: Jason Terry 8
Dallas leads series, 2–0

American Airlines Center, Dallas, Texas Attendance: 20,459 Referees: No. 26 Bob Delaney No. 29 Steve Javie No. 32 Eddie F. Rush

Game 3

Game 3 of the 2006 NBA Finals

Led by Dwyane Wade's 42 points and 13 rebounds, the Heat rallied from a 13-point deficit with six minutes to go in the fourth quarter. The momentum-changing comeback was capped by a Gary Payton field goal from just inside the three-point line with 9.3 seconds left. Dirk Nowitzki had a chance to tie the game at the free throw line with 3.4 seconds to go, but missed 1 of 2, sealing the win for Miami.

ABC

June 13 9:00pm

3 at the Wayback Machine (archived December 1, 2010)

Dallas Mavericks 96, Miami Heat 98
Scoring by quarter: 21–29, 22–23, 34–16, 19–30
Pts: Dirk Nowitzki 30 Rebs: Erick Dampier 9 Asts: Jason Terry 5		Pts: Dwyane Wade 42 Rebs: Dwyane Wade 13 Asts: Shaquille O'Neal 5
Dallas leads series, 2–1

American Airlines Arena, Miami, Florida Attendance: 20,145 Referees: No. 43 Dan Crawford No. 41 Ken Mauer No. 35 Jack Nies

Game 4

Dwyane Wade shined again for the Heat with 36 points, and Miami held Dallas to just seven points in the fourth quarter en route to a series-tying, blowout victory. The Mavericks' fourth quarter was the lowest ever by any team during the NBA Finals. Jerry Stackhouse caught Shaquille O'Neal with a flagrant foul that resulted in his suspension for Game 5. Stackhouse was the final NBA player to be suspended in the NBA Finals until Draymond Green was suspended in the 2016 NBA Finals.

ABC

June 15 9:00pm

4 at the Wayback Machine (archived December 1, 2010)

Dallas Mavericks 74, Miami Heat 98
Scoring by quarter: 25–30, 19–24, 23–24, 7–20
Pts: Jason Terry 17 Rebs: Dirk Nowitzki 9 Asts: Jerry Stackhouse 4		Pts: Dwyane Wade 36 Rebs: Shaquille O'Neal 13 Asts: Jason Williams 6
Series tied, 2–2

American Airlines Arena, Miami, Florida Attendance: 20,145 Referees: No. 27 Dick Bavetta No. 14 Mike Callahan No. 7 Bernie Fryer

Game 5

Dwyane Wade shot 25 free throws - as many free throws as all the Mavericks combined (a fact that did not sit well with Mavericks head coach Avery Johnson), leading the Heat to their third straight win over Dallas after being down 0–2 in the series.

With 9.1 seconds left in overtime and the Heat trailing by 1 point, they inbounded the ball to Wade, who caught the ball in the air and then landed in the backcourt. Mavericks' team owner Mark Cuban felt Wade had therefore committed a backcourt violation after receiving the ball.

Dallas was then penalized with a controversial foul call that sent Wade to the line to shoot the go-ahead free throws with 1.9 seconds left on the overtime game clock. Wade hit the first free throw, and Dallas Mavericks coach Avery Johnson signaled to his team to call a timeout after Wade's second attempt. Josh Howard then made a timeout gesture with his hands and began to walk off the floor, and the referees called the Mavericks' last remaining timeout, which prevented them from advancing the ball after the second attempt if Wade converted. After the timeout, Wade made the second free throw to give his team a one-point lead, after which Devin Harris missed a Hail Mary half-court shot as time expired. Wade finished the game with 43 points while setting an NBA Finals record for most made free throws in a game with 21. Shaquille O'Neal added a double-double with 18 points and 12 rebounds. Miami converted 32 of its 49 attempts from the free throw line.

Jason Terry led Dallas with 35 points in a losing effort, while Howard added 25. After the game, a frustrated Dirk Nowitzki kicked a ball into the stands and Mavericks owner Mark Cuban caused many "acts of misconduct" resulting in fines of $5,000 and $250,000, respectively, for the two men.

ABC

June 18 9:00pm

"5". NBA.com. Archived from the original on December 1, 2010. Retrieved February 4, 2016.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)

Dallas Mavericks 100, Miami Heat 101 (OT)
Scoring by quarter: 21–24, 30–19, 20–27, 22–23, Overtime: 7–8
Pts: Jason Terry 35 Rebs: Josh Howard 10 Asts: Marquis Daniels 4		Pts: Dwyane Wade 43 Rebs: Shaquille O'Neal 12 Asts: Wade, Williams 4 each
Miami leads series, 3–2

American Airlines Arena, Miami, Florida Attendance: 20,145 Referees: No. 17 Joe Crawford No. 14 Joe DeRosa No. 15 Bennett Salvatore

Game 6

Behind Dwyane Wade's 36 points, Miami rallied from a 14-point first half deficit to edge Dallas and win their first championship in franchise history as Jason Terry missed a critical 3-pointer that would've sent the game to overtime. Averaging 34.7 points per game in the championship series, Wade was named NBA Finals MVP (Most Valuable Player).

ABC

June 20 9:00pm (8:00 pm CDT)

"6". NBA.com. Archived from the original on December 1, 2010. Retrieved June 21, 2006.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)

Miami Heat 95, Dallas Mavericks 92
Scoring by quarter: 23–30, 26–18, 22–20, 24–24
Pts: Dwyane Wade 36 Rebs: Shaquille O'Neal 12 Asts: Jason Williams 7		Pts: Dirk Nowitzki 29 Rebs: Dirk Nowitzki 15 Asts: Jason Terry 5
Miami wins NBA Finals, 4–2

American Airlines Center, Dallas, Texas Attendance: 20,522 Referees: No. 43 Dan Crawford No. 29 Steve Javie No. 32 Eddie F. Rush

Player statistics

Legend

GP	Games played	GS	Games started	MPG	Minutes per game
FG%	Field-goal percentage	3P%	3-point field-goal percentage	FT%	Free-throw percentage
RPG	Rebounds per game	APG	Assists per game	SPG	Steals per game
BPG	Blocks per game	PPG	Points per game

Miami Heat

Miami Heat statistics

Player	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
Shandon Anderson	4	0	7.7	.333	.000	.500	1.8	0.8	0.0	0.0	1.5
Michael Doleac	1	0	1.2	.000	.000	.000	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Udonis Haslem	6	6	29.2	.500	.000	.300	6.2	0.3	1.2	0.0	6.5
Jason Kapono	1	0	1.5	.000	.000	.000	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Alonzo Mourning	6	0	11.0	.692	.000	.667	3.2	0.0	0.3	1.5	4.3
Shaquille O'Neal	6	6	35.2	.607	.000	.292	10.2	2.8	0.5	0.8	13.7
Gary Payton	6	0	22.3	.368	.143	.333	2.0	2.0	1.0	0.0	2.7
James Posey	6	0	29.5	.419	.400	.769	6.0	0.3	1.0	0.0	7.3
Dwyane Wade	6	6	43.5	.468	.273	.773	7.8	3.8	2.7	1.0	34.7
Antoine Walker	6	6	36.6	.391	.270	.556	5.5	2.2	0.7	0.5	13.8
Jason Williams	6	6	31.3	.360	.345	.636	1.8	4.7	0.5	0.0	8.8

Dallas Mavericks

Dallas Mavericks statistics

Player	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
Darrell Armstrong	1	0	6.3	.000	.000	.000	1.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Erick Dampier	6	0	24.6	.722	.000	.500	8.2	0.3	1.0	0.7	5.7
Marquis Daniels	6	0	8.8	.545	.333	.800	0.5	1.3	0.0	0.0	2.8
DeSagana Diop	6	6	15.7	.500	.000	.500	3.3	0.2	0.3	0.8	1.7
Adrian Griffin	6	3	13.7	.563	.000	.000	3.2	0.8	0.8	0.0	3.0
Devin Harris	6	3	24.5	.364	.000	.750	0.8	2.8	0.8	0.0	7.3
Josh Howard	6	6	38.4	.388	.263	.808	8.2	1.8	1.2	0.7	14.7
D. J. Mbenga	2	0	4.5	.000	.000	.000	1.5	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Dirk Nowitzki	6	6	43.7	.390	.250	.891	10.8	2.5	0.7	0.7	22.8
Josh Powell	1	0	3.6	.000	.000	.000	1.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Jerry Stackhouse	5	0	30.0	.355	.368	.929	3.4	3.0	0.8	0.6	12.8
Jason Terry	6	6	40.0	.478	.317	.733	2.2	3.5	1.8	0.0	22.0
Keith Van Horn	5	0	7.8	.273	.167	.0000	1.2	0.0	0.0	0.0	1.4

Broadcasting

ABC had exclusive rights to televise the NBA Finals in the United States. Play-by-play announcer Mike Breen and color commentator Hubie Brown called the action, with courtside reporting by Lisa Salters and Stuart Scott. Radio counterpart ESPN Radio broadcast the Finals, with Jim Durham and Dr. Jack Ramsay calling the action. The featured song, aired throughout the playoffs, was Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers' "Runnin' Down a Dream."

This marked the first of 18 consecutive NBA Finals called by Breen, currently the most among NBA play-by-play voices; the only games he would not call during this period was Games 1 and 2 of the 2022 NBA Finals, when Mark Jones took over due to Breen's quarantine as a result of COVID-19. However, it was the only NBA Finals to feature Breen with Hubie Brown. The following season, Brown slid down to ESPN's secondary team with Mike Tirico (the pair would also call ESPN Radio's NBA Finals broadcasts that season), while Mark Jackson and Jeff Van Gundy (the latter after his dismissal as Houston Rockets head coach) joined Breen on the lead team. However, by the end of the 2023 NBA Finals, Jeff Van Gundy and Mark Jackson were let go of the network and were replaced by Doris Burke and Doc Rivers at the start of the 2023–24 NBA season; after Rivers was hired as the head coach of the Milwaukee Bucks in January 2024 he was replaced by JJ Redick.

Game 2 of the Finals, which took place the same evening as the 60th Tony Awards, was the most-watched program of June 11, 2006. ABC won the night with 3.5 rating and 10 share, CBS came in fourth with a 1.5/4 for the Tonys. On June 20, Game 6 had a 4.4/13 among viewers aged 18–49. The local ABC affiliates of the participating teams were WPLG in Miami and WFAA in Dallas.

The finals were shown on Sky Sports in the UK and Ireland.

Aftermath

The Mavericks would post the league's best record with 67 victories in the 2006–07 NBA season but were ousted by the eight-seeded Golden State Warriors in a six-game first round of the 2007 NBA Playoffs. The Mavs' playoff defeat marked the first time a top seed was eliminated in a seven-game first round series since it was implemented in 2003. Still, Dirk Nowitzki was named the regular season MVP at season's end. After another playoff loss to the New Orleans Hornets in 2008, in which the Mavericks brought back Jason Kidd, head coach Avery Johnson was fired and replaced by Rick Carlisle. After another two early playoff exits, the Mavericks won 57 games in the 2010–11 season and returned to the Finals.

The Heat would lose convincingly by 42 points to the Chicago Bulls in the opening night of the 2006–07 season, the worst opening-day margin of defeat for a defending champion in NBA history. Injuries would keep the team from surpassing or even equaling last season's total, yet they still won the Southeast Division despite winning only 44 games. The Bulls would oust them in a four-game sweep in the first round of the playoffs, the first such occurrence since 1957. The following year, Miami completed its two-year turnaround from NBA champion to the NBA's worst team by winning only 15 games, equaling the mark set by the team in their inaugural season, which saw Shaquille O'Neal traded to the Phoenix Suns in mid-season and Dwyane Wade missing 31 games. The Heat gradually climbed back to contention in the Erik Spoelstra era, culminating in the much-publicized free-agent acquisitions of LeBron James and Chris Bosh. The Heat won 58 games in the 2010–11 season, and along with the Mavericks, returned to the Finals in 2011.

The 2011 NBA Finals, which was a rematch of 2006, saw the Mavericks win in six games after trailing 2–1 in the Finals. It was the Mavericks' first NBA championship, as well as both teams' second appearances in the Finals. Dirk Nowitzki was named Finals MVP. Like the Heat in 2006, the Mavericks experienced a post-championship letdown, getting swept by the Oklahoma City Thunder in the opening round of the 2012 NBA Playoffs, and then missed the postseason entirely in 2013.

As of 2024, this was Miami's fifth championship out of a total of eight among the Big Four sports leagues; the MLB's National League Florida (now Miami) Marlins won the World Series in 1997 and 2003 while the NFL's Miami Dolphins won the Super Bowl in 1973 and 1974, and the NHL's Florida Panthers later joined this company by winning the Stanley Cup in 2024. The Miami Heat would go on to win a second championship in 2012 against the Thunder in 5 games and a third championship in 2013 against the San Antonio Spurs in 7 games before falling in 2014 against the same Spurs team in 5 games. More recently, the Heat lost the 2020 NBA Finals and the 2023 NBA Finals to the Los Angeles Lakers and Denver Nuggets, respectively. The Mavericks lost to the Boston Celtics in the 2024 NBA Finals; coincidentally, the head coach Jason Kidd won a championship in 2011 with the team.

This was the second "Big Four" postseason game or series to pit a team from Miami against a team from Dallas. In 1971, the Dallas Cowboys defeated the Dolphins to claim their first of five Super Bowls. As of 2024, neither the city's NHL teams, the Stars and Panthers, nor their MLB counterparts, the Rangers and Marlins, have met in the postseason.

External links

• "Official website". NBA.com. Archived from the original on November 19, 2010. Retrieved December 9, 2011.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)