2011 NBA Finals

2011 Finals

File:Official 2011 NBA Finals Logo.PNG
Team Coach Wins {{{champion}}} {{{champion_coach}}} {{{champion_games}}} {{{runnerup}}} {{{runnerup_coach}}} {{{runnerup_games}}}
Dates	May 31 – June 12
MVP	Dirk Nowitzki (Dallas Mavericks)
Eastern finals	Heat defeated Bulls, 4–1
Western finals	Mavericks defeated Thunder, 4–1

The 2011 NBA Finals was the championship series of the 2010–11 season of the National Basketball Association (NBA) and the conclusion of the season's playoffs. The Western Conference champion Dallas Mavericks defeated the Eastern Conference champion Miami Heat, 4–2, to win their first NBA title. Dallas became the latest NBA team from Texas to win its first title, after the Houston Rockets won back-to-back titles in 1994 and 1995, and the San Antonio Spurs won in 1999, 2003, 2005, and 2007; all three Texas NBA teams have now won at least one NBA Championship.

The series was held from May 31 to June 12, 2011. Under a 2–3–2 rotation, the Miami Heat had the home court advantage; the Heat hosted Games 1, 2, 6 and was set to host a deciding Game 7 (had one been necessary). German player Dirk Nowitzki was named Finals most valuable player. Nowitzki was the second European to win the award, after Tony Parker (2007).

Going into the series the Heat were heavy favorites with their newly acquired stars of LeBron James and Chris Bosh along with Dwyane Wade. The series was a rematch of the 2006 finals won by the Heat in 6 games after Dallas had been up 2 games to 0.

The Dallas Mavericks became the first team in NBA history since the 2–3–2 format to enter Game 3 tied 1–1, lose Game 3 and still win the Finals. The previous 11 times this has occurred, the Game 3 winner went on to win the series.

Background

See also: 2010–11 Dallas Mavericks season and 2010–11 Miami Heat season

Both the Mavericks and Heat made their second appearance in the NBA Finals, the first for both teams being the 2006 NBA Finals. This Finals marked a rematch of the 2006 Finals, won by Miami in six games, after the Mavericks were up 2–0 early on.

It was also the first time since 2006 that neither the Los Angeles Lakers nor the San Antonio Spurs represented the Western Conference in the Finals and only the second time since 1998, and also the thirteenth consecutive NBA Finals to feature a Western Conference Champion from either the states of California or Texas.

The Mavericks' appearance also meant that three of North America's four major professional sports championships were played in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex in a span of 8 months, with the 2010 World Series and Super Bowl XLV both occurring in nearby Arlington.

The Heat had home-court advantage by virtue of a better regular-season record than the Mavericks. This was only the second time (2008) that the Eastern Conference had home court advantage during the Finals since the end of the Michael Jordan era in 1998. It also marks the first time since 1995 that the Eastern Conference team lost in the Finals despite having home court advantage.

The 2011 series marked the first time a Finals match (Game 1) was played in the month of May since 1986.

Among the players from both teams, only Dirk Nowitzki and Jason Terry of Dallas, and Dwyane Wade and Udonis Haslem of Miami, appeared in the 2006 series with the same team. Heat center Erick Dampier played for the Mavericks in 2006. Aside from Dampier, Caron Butler, Juwan Howard and Shawn Marion are the only other players who have played for both the Mavericks and Heat. Eddie House, Žydrūnas Ilgauskas, LeBron James and Jason Kidd have appeared in the Finals with different teams, with House (as a member of Boston's 2008 championship team), Wade and Haslem winning a championship ring. Mavericks head coach Rick Carlisle won a championship as a reserve for Boston's 1986 championship team.

Road to the Finals

Main article: 2011 NBA Playoffs

Dallas Mavericks (Western Conference Champion)		Miami Heat (Eastern Conference Champion)
Southwest Division W L PCT GB Home Road Div c-San Antonio Spurs 61 21 .744 – 36–5 25–16 10–6 x-Dallas Mavericks 57 25 .695 4 29–12 28–13 8–8 x-New Orleans Hornets 46 36 .561 15 28–13 18–23 9–7 x-Memphis Grizzlies 46 36 .561 15 30–11 16–25 8–8 Houston Rockets 43 39 .524 18 25–16 18–23 5–11 3rd seed in the West, 5th best league record	Regular season		Southeast Division W L PCT GB Home Road Div y-Miami Heat 58 24 .707 – 30–11 28–13 13–3 x-Orlando Magic 52 30 .634 6 29–12 23–18 11–5 x-Atlanta Hawks 44 38 .537 14 24–17 20–21 9–7 Charlotte Bobcats 34 48 .415 24 21–20 13–28 4–12 Washington Wizards 23 59 .280 35 20–21 3–38 3–13 2nd seed in the East, 3rd best league record
Defeated the (6) Portland Trail Blazers, 4–2	First Round		Defeated the (7) Philadelphia 76ers, 4–1
Defeated the (2) Los Angeles Lakers, 4–0	Conference Semifinals		Defeated the (3) Boston Celtics, 4–1
Defeated the (4) Oklahoma City Thunder, 4–1	Conference Finals		Defeated the (1) Chicago Bulls, 4–1

Regular-season series

November 27, 2010

Recap

Miami Heat 95, Dallas Mavericks 106

American Airlines Center, Dallas, Texas

December 20, 2010

Recap

Dallas Mavericks 98, Miami Heat 96

American Airlines Arena, Miami, Florida

Game summaries

All times are in Eastern Daylight Time (UTC−4).

Game 1

ABC

May 31 9:00 pm

Recap

Dallas Mavericks 84, Miami Heat 92
Scoring by quarter: 17–16, 27–27, 17–22, 23–27
Pts: Dirk Nowitzki 27 Rebs: Shawn Marion 10 Asts: Jason Kidd 6		Pts: LeBron James 24 Rebs: Dwyane Wade 10 Asts: Dwyane Wade 6
Miami leads series 1–0

American Airlines Arena, Miami, Florida Attendance: 20,003 Referees: Steve Javie, Mike Callahan, Bill Kennedy

The Heat made only 28.6 percent of their shots during the first quarter, and this low scoring percentage early on left the Mavs with an 8 point lead early into the 3rd quarter. The Heat changed course from this point on, outscoring the Mavs 22–10 and taking a 65–61 lead going into the 4th quarter. Mavs power forward Dirk Nowitzki injured his finger within the last four minutes of the game, but remained in play, wearing a splint to support the torn tendon. Despite having a below-average performance early in the game, Heat shooting guard Dwyane Wade and small forward LeBron James collaborated on both defensive and offensive ends of the court in the fourth quarter, leading the Heat to win game 1 over the Mavs 92–84.

Game 2

ABC

June 2 9:00 pm

Recap

Dallas Mavericks 95, Miami Heat 93
Scoring by quarter: 28–28, 23–23, 20–24, 24–18
Pts: Dirk Nowitzki 24 Rebs: Dirk Nowitzki 11 Asts: Terry, Kidd 5 each		Pts: Dwyane Wade 36 Rebs: James, Bosh 8 each Asts: Dwyane Wade 6
Series tied 1–1

American Airlines Arena, Miami, Florida Attendance: 20,003 Referees: Joe Crawford, Ed Malloy, Ken Mauer

The Mavs' 15-point comeback was the biggest in the 4th quarter in an NBA Finals game since the 15-point comeback the Chicago Bulls made against the Portland Trail Blazers in 1992 in Game 6. Dirk Nowitzki hit a 3-point jumper to put the Mavericks up by 3 and after Mario Chalmers tied it with another 3, Nowitzki made a driving layup in the final seconds and Dwayne Wade's runner from well beyond the 3 point line bounced away at the buzzer. The Mavs win broke the Heat's 9-game home winning streak in the playoffs, costing them a chance to tie the 1996 Bulls' mark of 10 straight. This is the second straight Finals with a 1–1 split after two games, which followed five straight years with one of the two teams leading 2–0 (2005–2009).

Game 3

ABC

June 5 8:00 pm

Recap

Miami Heat 88, Dallas Mavericks 86
Scoring by quarter: 29–22, 18–20, 20–22, 21–22
Pts: Dwyane Wade 29 Rebs: Dwyane Wade 11 Asts: LeBron James 9		Pts: Dirk Nowitzki 34 Rebs: Chandler, Nowitzki 11 each Asts: Jason Kidd 10
Miami leads series 2–1

American Airlines Center, Dallas, Texas Attendance: 20,340 Referees: Dan Crawford, Scott Foster, Derrick Stafford

The Heat led most of the game but the Mavericks fought back from 14 points down. With 39.6 seconds left in the 4th quarter, LeBron James found Chris Bosh for a 20 foot baseline jumper; Dirk Nowitzki had a chance to force it into overtime but he narrowly missed a well defended fadeaway jumper at the buzzer as the Heat handed the Mavericks another defeat to go up 2–1 in the series. It was Miami's 6th win in its last 7 NBA finals games, with 4 of them by 3 points or less.

Game 4

ABC

June 7 9:00 pm

Recap

Miami Heat 83, Dallas Mavericks 86
Scoring by quarter: 21–21, 26–24, 22–20, 14–21
Pts: Dwyane Wade 32 Rebs: LeBron James 9 Asts: LeBron James 7		Pts: Dirk Nowitzki 21 Rebs: Tyson Chandler 16 Asts: José Juan Barea 4
Series tied 2–2

American Airlines Center, Dallas, Texas Attendance: 20,430 Referees: Monty Mccutchen, Marc Davis, Greg Willard

Game 4 was a back-and-forth affair, with 12 lead changes and 15 ties. Miami went up 74–65 early in the fourth quarter on a baseline jumpshot by Udonis Haslem, tallying their largest lead of the game. After a timeout, Dallas answered with 4 straight points by Jason Terry, similar to the 6 straight he scored with Dallas down 15 halfway through the fourth quarter of Game 2. Dallas would take their first lead of the fourth quarter with 5:15 left on a fastbreak layup by Terry. They held the lead for the remainder of the game, although Miami twice cut the lead to 1 point in the final minute. Up 1 with fifteen seconds remaining, Dirk Nowitzki hit a driving layup to extend the lead to 84–81. After a dunk by Dwyane Wade, two Terry free throws pushed the Dallas lead back to 3. With a chance to tie the game with a three-pointer, Wade fumbled an inbound pass with five seconds left, only to make a diving save to prevent a backcourt violation. The ball landed in the hands of Mike Miller, whose desperation three missed airballed at the buzzer, preserving Dallas's 86–83 win.

Game 5

ABC

June 9 9:00 pm

Recap

Miami Heat 103, Dallas Mavericks 112
Scoring by quarter: 31–30, 26–30, 22–24, 24–28
Pts: Dwyane Wade 23 Rebs: James, Bosh 10 each Asts: LeBron James 10		Pts: Dirk Nowitzki 29 Rebs: Tyson Chandler 7 Asts: Kidd, Terry 6 each
Dallas leads series 3–2

American Airlines Center, Dallas, Texas Attendance: 20,433 Referees: Joe Crawford, Mike Callahan, Bill Kennedy

Dallas connected 13 times out of their 19 tries from 3-point range. Jason Terry, Jason Kidd, and Jose Juan Barea combined to make 10 out of those 13 made three pointers, hitting 3, 3, and 4 three pointers, respectively. Late in the first quarter, Dwayne Wade was bumped by Brian Cardinal and had to go to the bench; he eventually returned and scored on a three-pointer to end a 6–0 run with the score at 99–95. The Mavericks rallied late, with Kidd scoring on a three-pointer, and Nowitzki dunking the ball to give Dallas the lead. LeBron James was called for an offensive foul, and Terry scored on a three-pointer to put the game away; the Mavericks won 112–103 and took a 3–2 series lead back to Miami.

Game 6

ABC

June 12 8:00 pm

Recap

Dallas Mavericks 105, Miami Heat 95
Scoring by quarter: 32–27, 21–24, 28–21, 24–23
Pts: Jason Terry 27 Rebs: Dirk Nowitzki 11 Asts: Jason Kidd 8		Pts: LeBron James 21 Rebs: Udonis Haslem 9 Asts: Mario Chalmers 7
Dallas wins series 4–2

American Airlines Arena, Miami, Florida Attendance: 20,003 Referees: Steve Javie, Scott Foster, Derrick Stafford

LeBron James made his first four shots to contribute to the Heat taking a 20–11 lead. The Mavericks went to a zone defense that perplexed Miami and Dallas went on a 21–4 run in a span of 5 ½ minutes. They made 9 of 12 shots during the stretch. DeShawn Stevenson made two 3–pointers in a 24 second duration to give Dallas a 40–28 lead with 9:42 left in the first half. Dallas turned Miami's first six turnovers into 14 points. Miami scored the next 14 points to pull ahead 42–40. With 6:25 left in the half, Stevenson along with Udonis Haslem and Mario Chalmers received technical fouls after a scuffle occurred at midcourt. In the second half, James did not score until making a layup with 1:49 remaining in the third quarter. Jason Kidd made a 3–pointer to give Dallas a 79–71 lead. The fourth quarter started with the Mavericks leading 81–72. The Mavericks took a 12-point lead with 8:12 remaining. With 2:27 left, Nowitzki made a jump shot to help build the Mavericks insurmountable lead to 99–89. The Mavericks, who led for the final 22 minutes in the game, won their first championship in franchise history. Nowitzki was named the NBA Finals MVP. He had a poor shooting performance in the first half of game six but made 18 points in the second half.

Awards

• 2011 NBA Champion: Dallas Mavericks
• Finals MVP: Dirk Nowitzki

Statistical leaders

Category	High			Average
	Player	Team	Total	Player	Team	Avg.	Games played
Points	Dwyane Wade	Miami Heat	36	Dwyane Wade	Miami Heat	26.5	6
Rebounds	Tyson Chandler	Dallas Mavericks	16	Dirk Nowitzki	Dallas Mavericks	9.7	6
Assists	Jason Kidd LeBron James	Dallas Mavericks Miami Heat	10	LeBron James	Miami Heat	6.8	6
Steals	Mike Bibby LeBron James	Miami Heat Miami Heat	4	LeBron James	Miami Heat	1.67	6
Blocks	Joel Anthony Brendan Haywood Tyson Chandler Dirk Nowitzki	Miami Heat Dallas Mavericks Dallas Mavericks Dallas Mavericks	3	Dwyane Wade	Miami Heat	1.5	6

Rosters

2011 Dallas Mavericks Finals roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Nat. Name Ht. Wt. From G 11 Barea, Jose Juan 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 175 lb (79 kg) Northeastern G 3 Beaubois, Rodrigue (IN) 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 185 lb (84 kg) France F 13 Brewer, Corey 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 188 lb (85 kg) Florida F 4 Butler, Caron  (IN) 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 228 lb (103 kg) Connecticut F 35 Cardinal, Brian 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 240 lb (109 kg) Purdue C 6 Chandler, Tyson 7 ft 1 in (2.16 m) 235 lb (107 kg) Dominguez (CA) C 33 Haywood, Brendan 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) 263 lb (119 kg) North Carolina G 20 Jones, Dominique  (IN) 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 215 lb (98 kg) South Florida G 2 Kidd, Jason (C) 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 210 lb (95 kg) California C 28 Mahinmi, Ian 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 230 lb (104 kg) France F 0 Marion, Shawn 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 228 lb (103 kg) UNLV F 41 Nowitzki, Dirk (C) 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) 245 lb (111 kg) Germany G 92 Stevenson, DeShawn 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 218 lb (99 kg) Washington Union (CA) F 16 Stojaković, Peja 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 229 lb (104 kg) Serbia G 31 Terry, Jason 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Arizona	Head coach Rick Carlisle (Virginia) Assistant coach(es) Terry Stotts (Oklahoma) Dwane Casey (Kentucky) Darrell Armstrong (Fayetteville State) Monte Mathis (Toledo) Robert Hackett (Wisconsin) Legend (DP) Unsigned draft pick (FA) Free agent (S) Suspended Injured Roster Last transaction: 2011-05-03

2011 Miami Heat Finals roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Nat. Name Ht. Wt. From C 50 Anthony, Joel 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 245 lb (111 kg) UNLV G 0 Bibby, Mike 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 195 lb (88 kg) Arizona F 1 Bosh, Chris 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 230 lb (104 kg) Georgia Tech G 15 Chalmers, Mario 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 195 lb (88 kg) Kansas C 25 Dampier, Erick (IN) 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 265 lb (120 kg) Mississippi State F 40 Haslem, Udonis (C) 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 235 lb (107 kg) Florida G 55 House, Eddie 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 178 lb (81 kg) Arizona State F 5 Howard, Juwan 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 253 lb (115 kg) Michigan C 11 Ilgauskas, Žydrūnas 7 ft 3 in (2.21 m) 260 lb (118 kg) Lithuania F 6 James, LeBron 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 250 lb (113 kg) St. Vincent – St. Mary High School F 22 Jones, James 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 215 lb (98 kg) Miami (FL) C 21 Magloire, Jamaal (IN) 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 255 lb (116 kg) Kentucky F 13 Miller, Mike 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 218 lb (99 kg) Florida C 45 Pittman, Dexter (IN) 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 290 lb (132 kg) Texas G 3 Wade, Dwyane (C) 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 220 lb (100 kg) Marquette	Head coach Erik Spoelstra (Portland) Assistant coach(es) Bob McAdoo (North Carolina) Keith Askins (Alabama) Ron Rothstein (Rhode Island) David Fizdale (San Diego) Chad Kammerer (Westmont) Octavio De La Grana (Liberty) Legend (DP) Unsigned draft pick (FA) Free agent (S) Suspended Injured Roster Last transaction: 2011-03-01

Broadcast notes

The Finals were originally projected to begin on Thursday June 9, but (along with the entire NBA schedule) were pushed up ahead one week to Thursday June 2 due to negotiations on an impending league-wide lockout at the end of the season. They were again pushed ahead to a start date of May 31 as both conference finals series ended in five games.

This NBA Finals series marked the first time since 2002 that the NBA Finals ended before the NHL's Stanley Cup Finals.

Game	Ratings (households)	Share (households)	American audience (in millions)
1	9.0	15	15.171
2	9.3	16	15.522
3	9.1	15	15.338
4	9.6	–	16.126
5	10.8	–	18.318
6	15.0*	–	–

* Preliminary rating

The Finals was televised in the United States through ABC, with Mike Breen, Mark Jackson and Jeff Van Gundy announcing. Doris Burke is the sideline reporter, while Stuart Scott hosted the championship presentation. Scott also hosted the pre-game and half-time shows along with Jon Barry, Michael Wilbon and Magic Johnson. ESPN Radio aired the Finals nationally on radio, with Mike Tirico, Hubie Brown and Jack Ramsay announcing.

External links

• Official website of the 2011 NBA Finals
• 2011 NBA Finals at ESPN
• 2011 NBA Finals at Baseball-Reference.com