2006 NBA playoffs
The 2006 NBA playoffs was the postseason tournament of the National Basketball Association's 2005–06 season. The tournament concluded with the Eastern Conference champion Miami Heat defeating the Western Conference champion Dallas Mavericks 4 games to 2 in the NBA Finals. Dwyane Wade was named NBA Finals MVP.
The Clippers were the biggest surprise, as they not only made the playoffs for the first time since 1997, but advanced to the second round for the first time since 1976, when they were the Buffalo Braves. They came within 1 game of making the conference finals for the first time, but lost Game 7 to the Suns.
2006 was the playoff debut of LeBron James, who helped the Cavaliers eke out 1-point OT victories over the Washington Wizards in Games 5 and 6 of their first-round series to advance. It was their first playoff appearance since 1998, and they earned their first playoff series win since 1993. Against the two-time defending Eastern Conference champion Detroit Pistons, the Cavs were routed in Game 1 and lost Game 2 by 6 before winning the next 3 and being 1 game away from beating the Pistons. Detroit recovered and won the last 2 to take the series in 7.
Format
With the addition of the 30th NBA franchise, the Charlotte Bobcats, in 2005, the NBA realigned its divisions. Each conference had three divisions of five teams each, and at this point in time, the winner of each division was guaranteed a top-three playoff seed regardless of whether the team had one of the top-eight records in its conference. However, the division champion was not guaranteed home-court advantage; a division-leading team could be seeded second or third but face a lower seed with a better record, and the lower seed would have home-court advantage.This was illustrated in the first round here when the 44-win Denver Nuggets won the Northwest Division and had the third seed, yet did not have home-court advantage against the sixth-seeded, 47-win Los Angeles Clippers. The Clippers had played the Memphis Grizzlies a week before the playoffs to determine the fifth and sixth seed. The loser of the game would face Denver, whereas the winner would face fourth-seeded Dallas, who had the second-best record in the conference. It was speculated that the Clippers lost on purpose to play Denver in the first round. Starting in the 2007 playoffs, being a division winner did not guarantee a top-3 playoff seed.
Playoff qualifying
Eastern Conference
Best record in NBA
The Detroit Pistons clinched the best record in the NBA, earning home-court advantage throughout the playoffs. However, when the Pistons lost to the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference Finals, home-court advantage in the NBA Finals went to the Western Conference champion Dallas Mavericks, which had a better record than the Heat.Clinched a playoff berth
The following teams clinched a playoff berth in the East:- Detroit Pistons
- Miami Heat
- New Jersey Nets
- Cleveland Cavaliers
- Washington Wizards
- Indiana Pacers
- Chicago Bulls
- Milwaukee Bucks
Western Conference
Best record in conference
The San Antonio Spurs clinched the best record in the Western Conference, and had home-court advantage throughout the Western Conference playoffs. However, when they lost to the Dallas Mavericks in the Conference Semifinals, Dallas had home court advantage in the Western Conference Finals.Clinched a playoff berth
The following teams clinched a playoff berth in the West:- San Antonio Spurs
- Phoenix Suns
- Denver Nuggets
- Dallas Mavericks
- Memphis Grizzlies
- Los Angeles Clippers
- Los Angeles Lakers
- Sacramento Kings
Bracket
TV coverage
First and second-round games were televised on ABC, TNT, ESPN, ESPN2 and NBA TV in the United States and on TSN, Rogers Sportsnet, The Score, and Raptors NBA TV in Canada; some games were also televised on local or regional TV networks. The Eastern Conference finals aired exclusively on ESPN and ABC, and the Western Conference finals aired exclusively on TNT; TSN and The Score split coverage of the Conference Finals. The NBA Finals aired exclusively on ABC in the U.S. and on TSN in Canada.Eastern Conference
First Round
(1) Detroit Pistons vs. (8) Milwaukee Bucks
| Detroit won 3–1 in the regular-season series |
This was the fourth playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Pistons winning the first three meetings.
| Detroit leads 3–0 in all-time playoff series |
(2) Miami Heat vs. (7) Chicago Bulls
| Miami won 2–1 in the regular-season series |
This was the fourth playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Bulls winning the first three meetings.
| Chicago leads 3–0 in all-time playoff series |
(3) New Jersey Nets vs. (6) Indiana Pacers
| Indiana won 2–1 in the regular-season series |
This was the second playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Nets winning the first meeting.
| New Jersey leads 1–0 in all-time playoff series |
(4) Cleveland Cavaliers vs. (5) Washington Wizards
- In Game 3, LeBron James hits the game-winner over Michael Ruffin with 5.7 seconds left, and in Game 5, he hits another game-winner from the baseline with.9 seconds left.
- In Game 6, Gilbert Arenas forces overtime with a three from 32 feet with 2.3 seconds left, and in OT, Damon Jones hits the series-winning shot with 4.8 seconds left.
| Regular-season series |
| Washington won 3–1 in the regular-season series |
This was the third playoff meeting between these two teams, with each team winning one series apiece.
| Tied 1–1 in all-time playoff series |
Conference Semifinals
(1) Detroit Pistons vs. (4) Cleveland Cavaliers
2006 marked the first time the Cavaliers had made the playoffs since 1998 with Shawn Kemp, and the first time that major professional teams from Michigan and Ohio met in a postseason series or game since 1957. 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 weren't intimidated however, and won their two home games to tie the series at 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 68-66 lead through 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 never squandered. James led the Cavs with 32 and this brought the series to Cleveland up 3–2, quite shockingly. In the final minute of Game 6, Richard Hamilton grabbed two offensive rebounds and passed the ball to Rasheed Wallace, who was fouled. Detroit held on to win Game 6 by 2, and won Game 7 at home to advance.| Detroit won 3–1 in the regular-season series |
This was the first playoff meeting between the Cavaliers and the Pistons.
(2) Miami Heat vs. (3) New Jersey Nets
| New Jersey won 3–1 in the regular-season series |
This was the second playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Heat winning the first meeting.
| Miami leads 1–0 in all-time playoff series |
Conference Finals: (1) Detroit Pistons vs. (2) Miami Heat
| Detroit won 3–1 in the regular-season series |
This was the third playoff meeting between these two teams, with each team winning one series apiece.
| Tied 1–1 in all-time playoff series |
Western Conference
First Round
(1) San Antonio Spurs vs. (8) Sacramento Kings
- In Game 2, Brent Barry hit a wild 3 with 4 seconds left to force OT.
- In Game 3, Kevin Martin hit the game-winning lay-up at the buzzer.
| San Antonio won 2–1 in the regular-season series |
This was the first playoff meeting between the Kings and the Spurs.
(2) Phoenix Suns vs. (7) Los Angeles Lakers
- In Game 4, Kobe Bryant hit both a lay-up with 0.7 seconds left to force OT, and the game-winning jump shot at the buzzer in overtime.
- In Game 6, Tim Thomas hit a 3-pointer with 6.3 seconds left to force OT.
- The Suns became the 8th team in NBA history to overcome a 3–1 series deficit.
- This was the first playoff series a Phil Jackson coached team lost after taking a series lead, prior to this his record was 44-0.
| Phoenix won 3–1 in the regular-season series |
This was the tenth playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Lakers winning seven of the first nine meetings.
| Los Angeles leads 7–2 in all-time playoff series |
(3) Denver Nuggets vs. (6) Los Angeles Clippers
| Los Angeles won 3–1 in the regular-season series |
This was the first playoff meeting between the Nuggets and the Clippers.
(4) Dallas Mavericks vs. (5) Memphis Grizzlies
- In Game 3, Dirk Nowitzki hit the game-tying 3 with 15.7 seconds left to force OT.
| Dallas won 3–1 in the regular-season series |
This was the first playoff meeting between the Mavericks and the Grizzlies.
Conference Semifinals
(1) San Antonio Spurs vs. (4) Dallas Mavericks
The Mavericks almost blew a 3-1 series lead to the defending champion San Antonio Spurs, but managed to pull out a Game 7 overtime win in San Antonio to close out the series and become the 5th NBA road team to win Game 7 after leading series 3–1. This was also the second time in NBA history that the road team won a Game 7 in overtime; the Los Angeles Lakers defeated the Sacramento Kings in the same manner in the 2002 Western Conference Finals.| Tied 2–2 in the regular-season series |
This was the third playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Spurs winning the first two meetings.
| San Antonio leads 2–0 in all-time playoff series |
(2) Phoenix Suns vs. (6) Los Angeles Clippers
- In Game 4, Sam Cassell hit two three-pointers down the stretch, including one with 27 seconds left, after the Suns had rallied from 13 down to within one with under a minute to play.
- In Game 5, Raja Bell tied the game at 111 on a three-pointer from the corner with 1.1 seconds left to force the second overtime, this after telling his teammates during a timeout he would make it. The Suns, who blew a 19-point third quarter lead, never trailed in the second extra session.
| Tied 2–2 in the regular-season series |
This was the first playoff meeting between the Clippers and the Suns.
Conference Finals: (2) Phoenix Suns vs. (4) Dallas Mavericks
| Tied 2–2 in the regular-season series |
This was the second playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Suns winning the first meeting.
| Phoenix leads 1–0 in all-time playoff series |
NBA Finals: (W4) Dallas Mavericks vs. (E2) Miami Heat
| Dallas won 2–0 in the regular-season series |
This was the first playoff meeting between the Mavericks and the Heat.
This NBA Finals featured two teams that never made it to the finals before. The last time this happened was in 1971, when the Milwaukee Bucks met the Baltimore Bullets.