2006 NBA Finals
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| Dates | June 8–20 | ||||||||||||
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| MVP |
Dwyane Wade (Miami Heat) |
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| Television | ABC (U.S.) | ||||||||||||
| Announcers | Mike Breen and Hubie Brown | ||||||||||||
| Radio network | ESPN | ||||||||||||
| Announcers | Jim Durham and Jack Ramsay | ||||||||||||
| Referees | |||||||||||||
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| Hall of Famers |
Heat: Gary Payton (2013) Alonzo Mourning (2014) Shaquille O'Neal (2016) Coaches: Pat Riley (2008) Officials: Dick Bavetta (2015) |
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| Eastern Finals | Heat defeated Pistons, 4–2 | ||||||||||||
| Western Finals | Mavericks defeated Suns, 4–2 | ||||||||||||
| Game 1: | Joe Crawford, Joe DeRosa, Bennett Salvatore |
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| Game 2: | Bob Delaney, Steve Javie, Eddie F. Rush |
| Game 3: | Dan Crawford, Ken Mauer, Jack Nies |
| Game 4: | Dick Bavetta, Mike Callahan, Bernie Fryer |
| Game 5: | Joe Crawford, Joe DeRosa, Bennett Salvatore |
| Game 6: | Dan Crawford, Steve Javie, Eddie F. Rush |
The 2006 NBA Finals was the championship series of the 2005–06 National Basketball Association season. The Miami Heat won the title in six games over the Dallas Mavericks, becoming the third team—after the 1969 Celtics and the 1977 Trail Blazers—to win a championship after trailing 0–2 in the series. Heat guard Dwyane Wade was named Most Valuable Player of the series.
This series marked the first time since 1971 that the Finals featured two teams playing in their first NBA Finals series. The two teams met again five years later in 2011, 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 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 (the Rockets lost in 1981 and 1986) against seven championships (four by the Spurs, two by the Rockets, and one by the Mavericks, who won a rematch of this Finals in 2011).
The Dallas Mavericks franchise joined the NBA in the 1980–81 season. During the mid-1980s they rose to become contenders in the Western Conference, culminating in a 1988 conference finals appearance, which they lost to the Los Angeles Lakers in seven games. The Mavericks would decline shortly after, and from 1988–2000, they missed the playoffs in eleven of those years, including a combined 24 wins from 1992–94. However, with the sale of the team to Mark Cuban, and the addition of Dirk Nowitzki, the Mavericks slowly returned to playoff prominence. The 2005–06 season would see Dallas reach even greater heights. Led by Nowitzki and coached by Avery Johnson, they won 60 games. In the playoffs, they swept the Memphis Grizzlies, then overcame their Texas archrivals the San Antonio Spurs in seven games, and made their first Finals appearance by ousting league MVP and former Mav Steve Nash and the Phoenix Suns in six games.
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