The 2006 NBA Finals was the championship

series Series may refer to: People with the name * Caroline Series (born 1951), English mathematician, daughter of George Series * George Series (1920–1995), English physicist Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Series, the ordered sets used in ...

of the

2005–06 NBA season The 2005–06 NBA season was the 60th season of the National Basketball Association. The Miami Heat defeated the Dallas Mavericks in the NBA Finals, four games to two to win their first NBA championship. Notable occurrences * A new league dr ...

and the conclusion of the season's playoffs. The

Dallas Mavericks The Dallas Mavericks (often referred to as the Mavs) are an American professional basketball team based in Dallas. The Mavericks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Western Conference (NBA), Western Conferenc ...

were favored to win the championship over the

Miami Heat The Miami Heat are an American professional basketball team based in Miami. The Heat compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference (NBA), Eastern Conference Southeast Division (NBA), Southe ...

. 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 Dwyane Tyrone Wade Jr. (; born January 17, 1982) is an American former professional basketball player. Wade spent the majority of his 16-year career playing for the Miami Heat of the National Basketball Association (NBA) and won three NBA champi ...

of the Heat was named

Most Valuable Player In team sports, a most valuable player award, abbreviated 'MVP award', is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particu ...

of the series. This series marked the first time since

1971 * The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses ( February 25, July 22 and August 20) and two total lunar eclipses (February 10, and August 6). The world population increased by 2.1% this year, the highest increase in history. Events Ja ...

that the Finals featured two teams playing in their first NBA Finals series. It was the first occasion since

1978 Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd go ...

that two teams who had never won an NBA Championship contested the NBA Finals. The two teams met again five years later in

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

, the second Finals appearance for both franchises, with the Mavericks winning the rematch over the Heat. This was the second NBA Finals matchup of teams from Florida and Texas, after the

Houston Rockets The Houston Rockets are an American professional basketball team based in Houston. The Rockets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member team of the league's Western Conference Southwest Division. The team plays its ho ...

and

Orlando Magic The Orlando Magic are an American professional basketball team based in Orlando, Florida. The Magic compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Southeast Division. The franchise was establ ...

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 (the Rockets lost in 1981 and 1986) against eight championships (five by the Spurs, two by the Rockets, and one by the Mavericks, who won a rematch of this Finals in ). This was the only NBA Finals of the 2000s not to involve the

Los Angeles Lakers The Los Angeles Lakers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Lakers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Pacific Division. The Lakers play their ...

or the

San Antonio Spurs The San Antonio Spurs are an American professional basketball team based in San Antonio. The Spurs compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference (NBA), Western Conference Southwest Division ( ...

. It was also the first NBA Finals where both teams' home arenas had naming rights owned by the same company. That company was

American Airlines American Airlines is a major airlines of the United States, major US-based airline headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, within the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. It is the Largest airlines in the world, largest airline in the world when measured ...

Background

The Miami Heat joined the league in the 1988–89 season, but they did not rise to prominence until they hired

Pat Riley Patrick James Riley (born March 20, 1945) is an American professional basketball executive, former coach, and former player in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He has been the team president of the Miami Heat since 1995, and he also se ...

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 Shaquille Rashaun O'Neal ( ; born March 6, 1972), known commonly as "Shaq" ( ), is an American former professional basketball player who is a sports analyst on the television program ''Inside the NBA''. O'Neal is regarded as one of the greates ...

, 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 The Detroit Pistons are an American professional basketball team based in Detroit. The Pistons compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division and play their home games at Li ...

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 New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...

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

Regular-season series

The

won both games in the regular season series:

Broadcasting

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

had exclusive rights to televise the NBA Finals in the United States.

Play-by-play In sports broadcasting, a sports commentator (also known as sports announcer or sportscaster) provides a real-time commentary of a game or event, usually during a live broadcast, traditionally delivered in the historical present tense. Radio was ...

announcer

Mike Breen Michael Breen (born May 22, 1961) is an American play-by-play sports commentator for '' NBA on ABC'' and is the lead announcer for New York Knicks games on the MSG Network. Breen also calls NBA games for ESPN and was formerly a play-by-play anno ...

and

color commentator A color commentator or expert commentator is a sports commentator who assists the main (play-by-play) commentator, typically by filling in when play is not in progress. The phrase "colour commentator" is primarily used in Canadian English and t ...

Hubie Brown Hubert Jude Brown (born September 25, 1933) is an American retired basketball coach and player and a current television analyst. Brown is a two-time NBA Coach of the Year, the honors being separated by 26 years. Brown was inducted into the Naism ...

called the action, with courtside reporting by

Lisa Salters Lisa Salters is an American journalist and former college basketball player. She has been a reporter for ESPN and ESPN on ABC since 2000. Previously, she covered the O. J. Simpson murder case for ABC and worked as a reporter at WBAL-TV in Ba ...

and

Stuart Scott Stuart Orlando Scott (July 19, 1965 – January 4, 2015) was an American Sports commentator, sportscaster and anchor on ESPN, most notably on ''SportsCenter''. Well known for his hip-hop style and use of catchphrases, Scott was also a regular ...

. Radio counterpart

ESPN Radio ESPN Radio, which is alternately platform-agnostically branded as ESPN Audio, is an American sports radio network and extension of the ESPN television network. It was launched on January 1, 1992, under the original banner of "SportsRadio ESPN". ...

broadcast the Finals, with Jim Durham and Dr. Jack Ramsay calling the action. The featured song, aired throughout the

playoffs The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...

, was

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers were an American rock band from Gainesville, Florida. Formed in 1976, the band originally comprised lead singer and rhythm guitarist Tom Petty, lead guitarist Mike Campbell, keyboardist Benmont Tench, drummer S ...

' "

Runnin' Down a Dream "Runnin' Down a Dream" is a song co-written and recorded by Tom Petty. It was released in July 1989 as the second single from his first solo album ''Full Moon Fever''. "Runnin' Down a Dream" achieved reasonable chart success, reaching number 23 b ...

." This marked the first of 16 consecutive NBA Finals called by Breen, currently the most among NBA play-by-play voices. 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 Mike Tirico (; born December 13, 1966) is an American sportscaster. He is currently the NFL play-by-play announcer on NBC's '' Sunday Night Football'', having replaced Al Michaels in 2022. From 2006 to 2015, Tirico served as a play-by-play an ...

(the pair would also call ESPN Radio's NBA Finals broadcasts that season), while Mark Jackson and

Jeff Van Gundy Jeffrey William Van Gundy (born January 19, 1962) is an American commentator for ESPN and former basketball coach. He served as head coach of the New York Knicks and the Houston Rockets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). During his t ...

(the latter after his dismissal as

head coach) joined Breen on the lead team. Game 2 of the Finals, which took place the same evening as the

60th Tony Awards The 60th Annual Tony Awards were held at Radio City Music Hall on June 11, 2006. The award ceremony was broadcast live on the CBS television network in the United States. The 2006 Tony Awards did not feature a host, but instead over 60 stars pres ...

, 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 finals were shown on

Sky Sports Sky Sports is a group of British subscription sports channels operated by the satellite pay television company Sky Group (a division of Comcast), and is the dominant subscription television sports brand in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It ...

in the UK and Ireland.

Rosters

Miami Heat

Dallas Mavericks

*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

and four times with the

, while Payton played in the 1996 NBA Finals with the

Seattle SuperSonics The Seattle SuperSonics (commonly known as the Seattle Sonics) were an American professional basketball team based in Seattle. The SuperSonics competed in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member club of the league's Western Confe ...

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 Daniel Ray Ainge ( ; born March 17, 1959) is an American former professional basketball player, coach, and former professional baseball player who serves as an executive for the Utah Jazz of the National Basketball Association (NBA). A three-sp ...

Sam Perkins Samuel Bruce Perkins (born June 14, 1961) is an American former professional basketball player and executive. Perkins was a three-time college All-American, was a member of the 1982 national champion North Carolina Tar Heels, and won a gold me ...

John Salley John Thomas Salley (born May 16, 1964) is an American former professional basketball player, talk show host, and actor. He was the first player in NBA history to win championships with three franchises (since joined by Robert Horry, Danny Green ...

Horace Grant Horace Junior Grant Sr. (born July 4, 1965) is an American former professional basketball player who is a special advisor for Michael Reinsdorf, the president and chief operating officer of the Chicago Bulls. He attended and played college baske ...

and

Robert Horry Robert Keith Horry (; born August 25, 1970) is an American former professional basketball player and current sports commentator. He played 16 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA), winning seven championships, the most of any pla ...

. *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

, while Mourning went second to the

Charlotte Hornets The Charlotte Hornets are an American professional basketball team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Hornets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Southeast Division, and pla ...

. Ironically, the third pick in that draft,

Christian Laettner Christian Donald Laettner (, ; born August 17, 1969) is an American former professional basketball player. His college career for the Duke Blue Devils is widely regarded as one of the best in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) hi ...

, was a member of the previous year's team, his final season before retiring.

Series summary

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 The Eastern Time Zone (ET) is a time zone encompassing part or all of 23 states in the eastern part of the United States, parts of eastern Canada, the state of Quintana Roo in Mexico, Panama, Colombia, mainland Ecuador, Peru, and a small por ...

( UTC−4). If the venue is located in a different time zone, the local time is also given.''

Game 1

Dallas'

Jason Terry Jason Eugene Terry (born September 15, 1977) is an American former professional basketball player and current assistant coach for the Utah Jazz of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played 19 seasons in the NBA as a combo guard and is ...

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

Game 2

Dirk Nowitzki Dirk Werner Nowitzki (, ; born June 19, 1978) is a German former professional basketball player who is a special advisor for the Dallas Mavericks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Listed at , he is widely regarded as one of the gr ...

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

Game 3

Led by

'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 Gary Dwayne Payton Sr. (born July 23, 1968) is an American former professional basketball player who played the point guard position. Widely considered one of the greatest point guards of all time, he is best known for his 13-year tenure with ...

field goal from just inside the three-point line with 9.3 seconds left.

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.

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 Jerry Darnell Stackhouse (born November 5, 1974) is an American basketball coach and former professional player who is the head coach of the Vanderbilt Commodores men's team. He played 18 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA) and ...

caught

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 The NBA Finals is the annual championship series of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The Eastern and Western Conference champions play a best-of-seven game series to determine the league champion. The team that wins the series is awa ...

until

Draymond Green Draymond Jamal Green Sr. (born March 4, 1990) is an American professional basketball player for the Golden State Warriors of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Green, who plays primarily at the power forward position, is a four-time N ...

was suspended in the 2016 NBA Finals.

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 Joshua Jay Howard (born April 28, 1980) is an American basketball coach and former professional player who is the head coach of the UNT Dallas Trailblazers men's basketball team. He played college basketball for the Wake Forest Demon Deacons. H ...

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 Devin Lamar Harris (born February 27, 1983) is an American former professional basketball player. Harris attended the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Harris was selected with the fifth pick in the 2004 NBA draft by the Washington Wizards. E ...

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.

added a double-double with 18 points and 12 rebounds. Miami converted 32 of its 49 attempts from the free throw line.

led Dallas with 35 points in a losing effort, while Howard added 25. After the game, a frustrated

kicked a ball into the stands and Mavericks owner

Mark Cuban Mark Cuban (born July 31, 1958) is an American billionaire entrepreneur, television personality, and media proprietor whose net worth is an estimated $4.8 billion, according to ''Forbes'', and ranked No. 177 on the 2020 ''Forbes'' 400 list ...

caused many "acts of misconduct" resulting in fines of $5,000 and $250,000, respectively, for the two men.espn.com
Cuban fined $250K for actions after Game 5
accessed May 5, 2007.

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).

Player statistics

;Miami Heat , - , align="left" , , , 4 , , 0 , , 7.7 , , .333 , , .000 , , .500 , , 1.8 , , 0.8 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 1.5 , - , align="left" , , , 1 , , 0 , , 1.2 , , .000 , , .000 , , .000 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , - , align="left" , , , 6 , , 6 , , 29.2 , , .500 , , .000 , , .300 , , 6.2 , , 0.3 , , 1.2 , , 0.0 , , 6.5 , - , align="left" , , , 1 , , 0 , , 1.5 , , .000 , , .000 , , .000 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , - , align="left" , , , 6 , , 0 , , 11.0 , , .692 , , .000 , , .667 , , 3.2 , , 0.0 , , 0.3 , , 1.5 , , 4.3 , - , align="left" , , , 6 , , 6 , , 35.2 , , .607 , , .000 , , .292 , , 10.2 , , 2.8 , , 0.5 , , 0.8 , , 13.7 , - , align="left" , , , 6 , , 0 , , 22.3 , , .368 , , .143 , , .333 , , 2.0 , , 2.0 , , 1.0 , , 0.0 , , 2.7 , - , align="left" , , , 6 , , 0 , , 29.5 , , .419 , , .400 , , .769 , , 6.0 , , 0.3 , , 1.0 , , 0.0 , , 7.3 , -! style="background:#FDE910;" , align="left" , , , 6 , , 6 , , 43.5 , , .468 , , .273 , , .773 , , 7.8 , , 3.8 , , 2.7 , , 1.0 , , 34.7 , - , align="left" , , , 6 , , 6 , , 36.6 , , .391 , , .270 , , .556 , , 5.5 , , 2.2 , , 0.7 , , 0.5 , , 13.8 , - , align="left" , , , 6 , , 6 , , 31.3 , , .360 , , .345 , , .636 , , 1.8 , , 4.7 , , 0.5 , , 0.0 , , 8.8 ;Dallas Mavericks , - , align="left" , , , 1 , , 0 , , 6.3 , , .000 , , .000 , , .000 , , 1.0 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , - , align="left" , , , 6 , , 0 , , 24.6 , , .722 , , .000 , , .500 , , 8.2 , , 0.3 , , 1.0 , , 0.7 , , 5.7 , - , align="left" , , , 6 , , 0 , , 8.8 , , .545 , , .333 , , .800 , , 0.5 , , 1.3 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 2.8 , - , align="left" , , , 6 , , 6 , , 15.7 , , .500 , , .000 , , .500 , , 3.3 , , 0.2 , , 0.3 , , 0.8 , , 1.7 , - , align="left" , , , 6 , , 3 , , 13.7 , , .563 , , .000 , , .000 , , 3.2 , , 0.8 , , 0.8 , , 0.0 , , 3.0 , - , align="left" , , , 6 , , 3 , , 24.5 , , .364 , , .000 , , .750 , , 0.8 , , 2.8 , , 0.8 , , 0.0 , , 7.3 , - , align="left" , , , 6 , , 6 , , 38.4 , , .388 , , .263 , , .808 , , 8.2 , , 1.8 , , 1.2 , , 0.7 , , 14.7 , - , align="left" , , , 2 , , 0 , , 4.5 , , .000 , , .000 , , .000 , , 1.5 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , - , align="left" , , , 6 , , 6 , , 43.7 , , .390 , , .250 , , .891 , , 10.8 , , 2.5 , , 0.7 , , 0.7 , , 22.8 , - , align="left" , , , 1 , , 0 , , 3.6 , , .000 , , .000 , , .000 , , 1.0 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , - , align="left" , , , 5 , , 0 , , 30.0 , , .355 , , .368 , , .929 , , 3.4 , , 3.0 , , 0.8 , , 0.6 , , 12.8 , - , align="left" , , , 6 , , 6 , , 40.0 , , .478 , , .317 , , .733 , , 2.2 , , 3.5 , , 1.8 , , 0.0 , , 22.0 , - , align="left" , , , 5 , , 0 , , 7.8 , , .273 , , .167 , , .0000 , , 1.2 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 1.4

Aftermath

The Mavericks would post the league's best record with 67 victories in the

2006–07 NBA season The 2006–07 NBA season was the 61st season of the National Basketball Association. The San Antonio Spurs were crowned the champions after sweeping the Cleveland Cavaliers in the NBA Finals. Notable occurrences *The first NBA draft under the ne ...

but were ousted by the eight-seeded

Golden State Warriors The Golden State Warriors are an American professional basketball team based in San Francisco. The Warriors compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA), as a member of the league's Western Conference Pacific Division. Founded in 194 ...

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 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...

. Still,

was named the regular season MVP at season's end. After another playoff loss to the

New Orleans Hornets New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

, in which the Mavericks brought back

Jason Kidd Jason Frederick Kidd (born March 23, 1973) is an American professional basketball coach and former player who is the head coach for the Dallas Mavericks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Regarded as one of the greatest point guards ...

, head coach Avery Johnson was fired and replaced by

Rick Carlisle Richard Preston Carlisle ( ; born October 27, 1959) is an American basketball coach and former player who is the head coach for the Indiana Pacers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He has previously served as head coach of the Detroi ...

. After another two early playoff exits, the Mavericks won 57 games in the 2010–11 season and returned to the

Finals Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...

. The Heat would lose convincingly by 42 points to the

Chicago Bulls The Chicago Bulls are an American professional basketball team based in Chicago. The Bulls compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division. The team was founded on January 1 ...

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 1957 ( MCMLVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1957th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 957th year of the 2nd millennium, the 57th year of the 20th century, and the 8th y ...

. 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 The Phoenix Suns are an American professional basketball team based in Phoenix, Arizona. They compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA), as a member of the league's Western Conference Pacific Division. The Suns are the only team in t ...

in mid-season and Dwyane Wade missing 31 games. The Heat gradually climbed back to contention in the

Erik Spoelstra Erik Jon Spoelstra ( ; born November 1, 1970) is an American professional basketball coach who is the head coach for the Miami Heat of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He has won two NBA championships as the head coach of the Heat. A Fi ...

era, culminating in the much-publicized free-agent acquisitions of

LeBron James LeBron Raymone James Sr. (; born December 30, 1984) is an American professional basketball player for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Nicknamed "King James", he is widely considered one of the greatest pl ...

and

Chris Bosh Christopher Wesson Bosh (born March 24, 1984) is an American former professional basketball player. A Texas Mr. Basketball in high school, he played one season of college basketball for Georgia Tech before declaring for the 2003 NBA draft. Bos ...

. The Heat won 58 games in the 2010–11 season, and along with the Mavericks, returned to the Finals in

. 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 The Oklahoma City Thunder are an American professional basketball team based in Oklahoma City. The Thunder compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Northwest Division. The team plays i ...

in the opening round of the 2012 NBA Playoffs, and then missed the postseason entirely in . , this was

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...

's fifth championship out of a total of seven among the Big Four sports leagues; the

MLB Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...

Florida (now

) Marlins won the

World Series The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, contested since 1903 between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winner of the World ...

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of t ...

and

while the NFL's

Miami Dolphins The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member team of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The team pla ...

won the

Super Bowl The Super Bowl is the annual final playoff game of the National Football League (NFL) to determine the league champion. It has served as the final game of every NFL season since 1966, replacing the NFL Championship Game. Since 2022, the game ...

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, me ...

and

1973 Events January * January 1 - The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union. * January 15 – Vietnam War: Citing progress in peace negotiations, U.S. ...

. The

would go on to win a second championship in

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

against the Thunder in 5 games and a third championship in

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

against the

in 7 games before falling in

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

against the same Spurs team in 5 games. This was the second "Big Four" postseason game or series to pit a team from Miami against a team from Dallas. In

, the

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divisi ...

defeated the Dolphins to claim their first of five Super Bowls. As of 2020, the city's

NHL The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

teams, the

Stars A star is an astronomical object comprising a luminous spheroid of plasma held together by its gravity. The nearest star to Earth is the Sun. Many other stars are visible to the naked eye at night, but their immense distances from Earth ma ...

and

Panthers Panther may refer to: Large cats *Pantherinae, the cat subfamily that contains the genera ''Panthera'' and ''Neofelis'' **''Panthera'', the cat genus that contains tigers, lions, jaguars and leopards. ***Jaguar (''Panthera onca''), found in Sout ...

, have not met in the playoffs, as are their MLB counterparts the Rangers and Marlins.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:2006 Nba Finals National Basketball Association Finals

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...

N N 2000s in Dallas 2006 in Texas N Sports competitions in Miami Sports competitions in Dallas National Basketball Association controversies