2006 NBA Finals
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Dates | June 8–20 | |||||||||
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Western Finals | Mavericks defeated Suns, 4–2 | |||||||||
The 2006 NBA Finals was the championship
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
Path to the Finals
Dallas Mavericks (Western Conference champion) | Miami Heat (Eastern Conference champion) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Regular season |
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Defeated the (5) 4–0
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First Round | Defeated the (7) 4–2
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Defeated the (1) 4–3
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Conference Semifinals | Defeated the (3) 4–1
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Defeated the (2) 4–2
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Conference Finals | Defeated the (1) 4–2
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Regular-season series
The Dallas Mavericks won both games in the regular season series:
Rosters
Miami Heat
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Dallas Mavericks
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- 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 the previous year's team, his final season before retiring.
Series summary
Game | Date | Road team | Result | Home team |
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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 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.
June 8
9:00pm (8:00 pm CDT) |
1 at the Wayback Machine (archived December 1, 2010)
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Miami Heat 80, Dallas Mavericks 90 | ||
Scoring by quarter: 31–23, 13–23, 24–24, 12–20 | ||
7 | Pts: Jason Terry 32 Rebs: Josh Howard 12 Asts: Nowitzki, Howard 5 each | |
Dallas leads series, 1–0 |
Dallas, Texas Attendance: 20,475 Referees:
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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.
June 11
9:00pm (8:00 pm CDT) |
2 at the Wayback Machine (archived December 1, 2010)
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Miami Heat 85, Dallas Mavericks 101 | ||
Scoring by quarter: 17–20, 17–32, 24–32, 27–17 | ||
5 each | Pts: Dirk Nowitzki 30 Rebs: Dirk Nowitzki 12 Asts: Jason Terry 8 | |
Dallas leads series, 2–0 |
Game 3
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.
June 13
9:00pm |
3 at the Wayback Machine (archived December 1, 2010)
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Dallas Mavericks 96, Miami Heat 98 | ||
Scoring by quarter: 21–29, 22–23, 34–16, 19–30 | ||
5 | Pts: Dwyane Wade 42 Rebs: Dwyane Wade 13 Asts: Shaquille O'Neal 5 | |
Dallas leads series, 2–1 |
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.
June 15
9:00pm |
4 at the Wayback Machine (archived December 1, 2010)
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Dallas Mavericks 74, Miami Heat 98 | ||
Scoring by quarter: 25–30, 19–24, 23–24, 7–20 | ||
4 | Pts: Dwyane Wade 36 Rebs: Shaquille O'Neal 13 Asts: Jason Williams 6 | |
Series tied, 2–2 |
Miami, Florida Attendance: 20,145 Referees:
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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[4]), 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.[5] 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.[6]
June 18
9:00pm |
Dallas Mavericks 100, Miami Heat 101 (OT) | ||
Scoring by quarter: 21–24, 30–19, 20–27, 22–23, Overtime: 7–8 | ||
4 | Pts: Dwyane Wade 43 Rebs: Shaquille O'Neal 12 Asts: Wade, Williams 4 each | |
Miami leads series, 3–2 |
Miami, Florida Attendance: 20,145 Referees:
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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).
June 20
9:00pm (8:00 pm CDT) |
Miami Heat 95, Dallas Mavericks 92 | ||
Scoring by quarter: 23–30, 26–18, 22–20, 24–24 | ||
7 | Pts: Dirk Nowitzki 29 Rebs: Dirk Nowitzki 15 Asts: Jason Terry 5 | |
Miami wins NBA Finals, 4–2 |
Dallas, Texas Attendance: 20,522 Referees:
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Player statistics
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
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- Miami Heat
Player | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3FG% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
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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
Player | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3FG% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
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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
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.
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.[8] On June 20, Game 6 had a 4.4/13 among viewers aged 18–49.[9]
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
The Heat would lose convincingly by 42 points to the
The
As of 2013[update], this was Miami's fifth championship out of a total of seven 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. 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.
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 2020, the city's NHL teams, the Stars and Panthers, have not met in the playoffs, as are their MLB counterparts the Rangers and Marlins.
References
- ^ "2006 NBA Playoffs Series Prices". Sports Odds History. Retrieved May 28, 2021.
- ^ "2006 NBA Finals, Heat vs Mavericks". Basketball-Reference.com.
- ^ http://nba-historical-teams.pointafter.com/l/284/2003-2004-Miami-Heat[permanent dead link]
- NBA.com. Archived from the originalon December 1, 2010. Retrieved June 19, 2006.
- ^ usatoday.com, No backcourt violation on winning possession, NBA says, accessed May 5, 2007.
- ^ espn.com, Cuban fined $250K for actions after Game 5, accessed May 5, 2007.
- ^ nba.com, NBA Announces 2005–06 Game And Television Schedule, accessed May 5, 2007.
- ^ Stropoli, Rebecca (June 12, 2006). "NBA Finals a Slam Dunk for ABC". Broadcasting & Cable. Retrieved June 10, 2011.
- ^ Stropoli, Rebecca (June 21, 2006). "Basketball Gives ABC Some "Heat"". Broadcasting & Cable. Retrieved June 10, 2011.