The 2005–06 Cleveland Cavaliers season was the 36th season of NBA basketball in Cleveland, Ohio. The Cavaliers finished the season with a 50–32 record, a second-place finish in the Central Division, and reached the semi-finals of the Eastern Conference. LeBron James was the team's leading scorer and was named to the All-NBA first team.

Key Dates:

Cleveland did not have a draft pick in the 2005 NBA Draft due to trades from previous seasons.

Record: 10–4; Home: 7–1; Road: 3–3

Record: 8–6; Home: 6–2; Road: 2–4

Record: 8–7; Home: 3–2; Road: 5–5

Record: 6–8; Home: 4–4; Road: 2–4

Record: 10–4; Home: 7–1; Road: 3–3

Record: 8–3; Home: 4–0; Road: 4–3

Note: GP= Games played; GS = Games started; MIN= Minutes; FG% = field goal %, FT% = free throw %, 3FG% = 3 point % STL= Steals; BLK = Blocks; AST = Assists; REB = Rebounds; PTS = Points

Regular Season

Playoffs

^*Waived by team mid-season and later re-signed to two 10-day contracts.
^**Signed to two successive 10-day contracts and then the remainder of the season.
^***Traded for and then immediately waived before playing in a game.

(4) Cleveland Cavaliers vs. (5) Washington Wizards

(CLE-WAS)

*Required overtime

(1) Detroit Pistons vs. (4) Cleveland Cavaliers

(DET-CLE)

2006 marked the first time LeBron James made the playoffs in his career, and the first time the Cavaliers had made the playoffs since 1998 with Shawn Kemp. They came off a playoff series win vs the Wizards, while the Pistons came in off a 4–1 win vs the 8th seeded Bucks. Detroit was expected to win the series, and took a commanding two games to none lead with two wins at the Palace of Auburn Hills. James and the Cavaliers would not be intimidated however, and won their two games at home to tie the series 2–2. Coming into game 5, both teams were confident, but the Pistons were expected to pull out the win easily. The game was low scoring throughout as usual in this series, with Cleveland holding a 68 to 66 lead throughout 3 quarters. With the game tied at 84 with 26 seconds left in regulation, Drew Gooden came through and hit a layup to give Cleveland the lead that they would never squander. James led the Cavs with 32 and this brought the series to Cleveland up 3–2, quite shockingly. Detroit held on to a 2-point win to win game 6, and won game 7 at home to seal the deal, but this was the coming out party for the Cavaliers in the playoffs, scaring the 2004 champs.

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