2012 NBA Finals
This article needs additional citations for verification. (June 2012) |
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Dates | June 12 – June 26 (if necessary) | |||||||||
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MVP | TBA | |||||||||
Eastern finals | Heat defeated Celtics, 4–3 | |||||||||
Western finals | Thunder defeated Spurs, 4–2 | |||||||||
The 2012 NBA Finals is the championship round of the 2011–12 NBA season and the conclusion of the season's playoffs. The Eastern Conference champion Miami Heat will face the Western Conference champion Oklahoma City Thunder under a 2–3–2 rotation. The Thunder will have home-court advantage in the Finals since they had a better regular season record than the Heat.
Game 1 of the Finals was played on June 12, five days later than its originally planned June 7 start. This delay was due to the lockout that pushed the start of the season to late December and shortened the regular season to 66 games.[1]
This marks the first time that the Oklahoma City Thunder will appear in the NBA Finals since the franchise's relocation from Seattle, Washington in 2008, and their first Finals appearance overall since 1996 as the Seattle SuperSonics. It also marks the Miami Heat's third appearance in the NBA Finals since their championship season of 2006 and their first Finals appearance against teams other than the Dallas Mavericks.
Background
Miami Heat
This is the second consecutive appearance for the Heat, after losing to the Dallas Mavericks in 2011. Their other Finals appearance was in 2006 when they defeated the Mavericks to win their only NBA title.
In the regular season, the Heat finished with 46 victories, then defeated the New York Knicks (4–1), Indiana Pacers (4–2) and Boston Celtics (4–3) on their way to the Finals.
The Heat retained much of the same cast from last year, save for rookies Terrel Harris and Norris Cole, Eddy Curry (not expected to play), Shane Battier, and Ronny Turiaf, who was a member of the Los Angeles Lakers team that lost in the Finals to the Boston Celtics in 2008.
Oklahoma City Thunder
This will be the Thunder's first NBA Finals appearance since they relocated in 2008 from Seattle. Including their seasons as the Seattle SuperSonics, this will be the club's fourth Finals appearance, and first since 1996, when they lost to the Michael Jordan-led Chicago Bulls. They will be seeking their first NBA championship since 1979.
The Thunder finished with 47 wins, good for second in the Western Conference. En route to the Finals, they defeated the past three NBA champions from the West; namely the defending champion Dallas Mavericks (4–0), the 2009–2010 champion Los Angeles Lakers (4–1), and the 2007 champion San Antonio Spurs (4–2).
With the exception of Derek Fisher (with the Los Angeles Lakers), Nazr Mohammed (with the San Antonio Spurs) and Kendrick Perkins (with the Boston Celtics), all players from the Thunder are playing in their first NBA Finals.
Road to the Finals
Oklahoma City Thunder (Western Conference Champion) | Miami Heat (Eastern Conference Champion) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Regular season |
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Defeated the (7) Dallas Mavericks, 4–0 | First round | Defeated the (7) New York Knicks, 4–1 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Defeated the (3) Los Angeles Lakers, 4–1 | Conference Semifinals | Defeated the (3) Indiana Pacers, 4–2 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Defeated the (1) San Antonio Spurs, 4–2 | Conference Finals | Defeated the (4) Boston Celtics, 4–3 |
Regular season series
The season series was tied, 1–1, with both teams winning at their home floor.
The series
- All times are in Eastern Daylight Time (UTC−4)[2]
- * = If necessary
Game 1
June 12
9:00 pm |
Miami Heat 94, Oklahoma City Thunder 105 | ||
Scoring by quarter: 29–22, 25–25, 19–27, 21–31 | ||
Pts: LeBron James 30 Rebs: Udonis Haslem 11 Asts: Dwyane Wade 8 |
Pts: Kevin Durant 36 Rebs: Nick Collison 10 Asts: Russell Westbrook 11 | |
Oklahoma City leads series, 1–0 |
Chesapeake Energy Arena, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Attendance: 18,203 Referees:
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Game 2
Game 3
Game 4
Game 5
Game 6
Game 7
Rosters
2012 Oklahoma City Thunder Finals roster | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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2012 Miami Heat Finals roster | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Players | Coaches | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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References
- ^ "2012 National Basketball Association Important Dates". NBA.com. Retrieved 2012-05-27.
- ^ "Bizball: NBA Releases Finals Schedule". forbes.com. Retrieved 2012-06-05.