The 2006 Miami Heat & Their NBA Championship Run

After a good run in the late 1990s, Miami bottomed out. They used the higher draft position to get Dwayne Wade in 2003 and immediately got back into the playoffs. In 2005, they went out and got the biggest name veteran anyone could think of—center Shaquille O’Neal, who had won three straight NBA titles with the Los Angeles Lakers. The Heat reached the conference finals before losing a home Game 7. The 2006 Miami Heat needed one last piece of the puzzle—early in the season, Hall of Fame coach Pat Riley came down from the front office and went back on the sidelines. It was all enough to give the Heat their first-ever NBA championship.

Wade poured in 27 points per game, got six rebounds, and dished out seven assists. Shaq might have been 33-years-old, but the big man was still good for 20 points/9 rebounds. D-Wade and Shaq basically carried a team that included a double-digit scorer in Jason Williams and a good rebounder in Udonis Haslem.

Miami did not start the season well, and at 11-10 Riley made the big decision. He fired head coach Stan Van Gundy and took over himself. The coaching change triggered a 9-3 run through the end of the calendar year. That stretch included a Christmas Day win over the Los Angeles Lakers that had to have been sweet for Shaq, as he beat his old Laker running mate, Kobe Bryant, on national television.

The Heat went west in the early part of January and were able to win four of seven games. They lost a high-profile home game to the defending champion San Antonio Spurs. At 23-17, Miami looked like a good team. But they did not look capable of challenging the two-time defending Eastern Conference champion Detroit Pistons, and certainly not the several contenders coming out of a superior Western Conference.

But the season wasn’t even half over. Miami won six of seven and settled into joust with the Cleveland Cavaliers—where LeBron James was en route to his first postseason appearance—for the 2-seed in the East. Miami blew out Cleveland 101-73 in February to nudge into second place. Over the latter part of February and early March, the Heat ripped off ten straight wins. They took control of the race for the 2-seed and finished 52-30. They were playing their best basketball at the right time.

The Chicago Bulls were the first playoff opponent. With a record of 41-41, and middle-of-the-league rankings in both offensive and defensive efficiency, the Bulls were the essence of mediocrity. They were also young, with key players like Luol Deng and Ben Gordon being in their early twenties.

Wade was ready for the playoff spotlight. He dropped 30 points and dished 11 assists in Game 1. Shaq posted 27 points/16 rebounds. Williams knocked down 17. The Heat defense left a little bit to be desired, but they won the opener 111-106. In Game 2, they got at least 11 points from six different players, with Shaq, Wade and Williams combining for 65. Miami led this one by 19 after three quarters and closed out a 115-108 win.

But the Windy City would not be kind. The Heat only shot 42 percent in Game 3 and turned the ball over 19 times. They lost 109-90. In Game 4, they again shot 42 percent and only got to the line five times. A 93-87 loss meant this was a series again.

Miami had given Chicago new life and Game 5 back at home was tied after three quarters. But the Heat were playing with more defensive intensity. The limited the Bulls to 35 percent shooting and forced 20 turnovers. Wade scored 28 and Miami pulled away down the stretch to a 92-78 win.

That fourth quarter effectively broke Chicago’s resistance. The Heat went on the road and took a 14-point lead by halftime of Game 6. Shaq’s 30/20 night keynoted domination of the interior, while Haslem added 14 rebounds of his own. Wade scored 23 and the 113-96 win closed out the series.

The New Jersey Nets were up next. Led by veteran point guard Jason Kidd, the Nets had gone to the NBA Finals in both 2002 and 2003 and continued to contend in the ensuing years. Kidd was surrounded by an explosive scorer in Vince Carter and a solid forward in Richard Jefferson. They had won 49 games, ranked sixth in the league for defensive efficiency, and this had the potential to be a good series.

Miami shot horribly in Game 1, missing 18 of 22 three-point attempts. While Wade and Shaq combined for 45, it wasn’t enough to avert a 100-88 loss. Homecourt advantage had been given away, at least for the time being. And the season was effectively on the line in Game 2.

The Heat stormed out to a 41-19 lead in this must-win home game. They held the Nets to 40 percent shooting, and Wade knocked down 31 points. Miami won it, 111-89.

On the road for Game 3, the Heat and Nets were tied after three quarters. Wade was having a huge night, scoring 30 points, and dishing 10 assists. James Posey came off the bench to get ten rebounds. And Miami was getting to the foul line—a 34-12 advantage in free throw scoring was too much to overcome. They dominated the fourth quarter and won 103-92.

Wade went off for 31 in Game 4. Haslem’s 20 points/11 rebounds keyed a teamwide rebounding edge of 48-39. The Heat won 102-92. They had not only reclaimed homecourt, they had delivered the Nets a shattering blow.

The Heat finished the job in a thrilling and well-played Game 5 back at home. Both teams shot in the mid-50s percentage-wise. Wade scored 21, Antoine Walker added 23, and Miami pulled out a 106-105 win. They were going back to the conference finals for a crack at Detroit, who had ruined their 2005 season when they came into South Beach to win the seventh game of this same round.

The Pistons had won the title in 2004, reached Game 7 of the NBA Finals in 2005, and were well-balanced. Chauncey Billups was the leader at the point, but they could beat you with anyone from Rip Hamilton to Tayshaun Prince to Rasheed Wallace. And center Ben Wallace was one of the league’s best rebounders, the anchor for a top defense. Miami would have their hands full.

Or would they? The Heat went on the road, shot 56 percent, took control of Game 1 early and won 91-86 behind 25 points from Wade. Even though they lost Game 2, with Wade and Shaq the only ones having worthwhile performances, Miami had seized homecourt advantage.

Wade came back home and was in fire, shooting 13-for-17 from the floor in Game 3, en route to 35 points. Shaq racked up 27 points and hauled in 12 rebounds. The Heat got an easy 98-83 win. In Game 4, they shot 55 percent. Wade went for a 31/6/5 line, while Shaq added 21 points and 9 boards. Miami won 89-78. They were in control of this series at 3-1.

Wade played well in Game 5, but Shaq only got five shots from the floor, as the desperate Pistons brought their best effort at home. The clinching was delayed, with a 91-78 loss. But Miami came back home and dominated Game 6. They shot 56 percent and controlled the boards. Even with Wade being a little cold from the floor, he still handed out ten assists. Williams scored 21, and Shaq led the way with a 28/16 night. Miami’s 95-78 win exorcised the demons of last year’s disappointment and sent them to their first NBA Finals.

The Dallas Mavericks had won 60 games. It was the third-best record in the NBA, and they had beaten 63-win San Antonio and the explosive Phoenix Suns to get through the Western Conference. The Mavs were built around Dirk Nowitzki, and the big center finished third in the MVP voting. The last hurdle for Miami would be a difficult one.

On the road, the Heat took an eight-point lead after the first quarter of Game 1. But the game evened up, and Miami did not execute down the stretch—only 12 fourth quarter points and they only made 7/19 free throw attempts. It ended as a 90-80 loss.

Game 2 was worse. The Heat dug themselves a big hole in the second and third quarters, and even the 99-85 final doesn’t tell how lopsided this was. Wade went 6-for-19, Shaq was a non-factor and Miami went home in an 0-2 series hole. If nothing else, they had three in a row ahead on their home floor—from 1985 to 2013, the NBA used a 2-3-2 scheduling format exclusively for the Finals.

Wade was ready to meet the moment. He poured in 42 points and grabbed 13 rebounds in the must-win Game 3. The Heat pounded the glass, outrebounding the Mavs 49-34. No one else had a big night offensively, but Wade was enough to pull out a 98-96 win. The Heat were still alive.

Miami’s defense dominated Game 4. They forced the Mavs into 32 percent shooting. Wade dumped in 36 points. Shaq led another teamwide effort that controlled the glass. The result was a 98-74 rout. Now, we had a tied series and the Heat still at home for Game 5.

Game 5 would be awash in both controversy and drama. Wade would shoot 25 free throws in Game 5, a figure that matched what was attempted by the entire Dallas team. With the NBA already having a well-earned reputation for playing favorites, and Mavericks owner Mark Cuban decidedly out of favor with the league office, there was fertile ground for conspiracy theorists.

Nor could such talk be faulted when Miami trailed 100-99 in the closing seconds and a phantom foul was called on Wade with one second left and he hit two free throws to win it. Wade’s 43 points were a performance to remember on the merits, but there’s no denying the questionable circumstances that surrounded Miami’s win.

The Heat still had to get one on the road. As expected, Dallas came out ready in Game 6 and took a seven-point lead after the first quarter. Miami nudged out by a point at halftime. More important is that Wade was now thoroughly dialed in. He would pour in 36 points, grab 10 rebounds and pass for five assists. Haslem was coming up big, delivering 17 points/10 rebounds and keying a 56-50 rebounding advantage. Miami pulled out a 95-92 win and won the NBA championship.

Wade was the easy choice for Finals MVP. It gave him the kind of reputation that made it possible to lure LeBron James to South Beach five years later, and the Heat would win two more titles and make the Finals four consecutive years. It all began with the breakthrough of 2006.