2006 NBA Finals

The 2006 NBA Finals was the championship series of the National Basketball Association's (NBA) 2005–06 season, and the conclusion of the season's playoffs. It featured the Dallas Mavericks of the Western Conference and the Miami Heat of the Eastern Conference. The Heat overcame a two-games-to-none series deficit to defeat the Mavericks in six games, winning their first NBA championship in franchise history. The Mavericks were heavy favorites to win the championship over the Heat. Despite these odds, the Heat pulled off the upset, 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 of the Heat was named Most Valuable Player of the series. For the first time since 1971, the series featured two teams that had never previously appeared in the Finals; and it was the first Finals since 1978 where neither team had previously won an NBA title. As of 2026, this is the last NBA Finals between teams that have never previously won a championship before. 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 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...