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.
This season was the last time that the Sacramento Kings made the playoffs until 2023. The Kings held the longest playoff drought in NBA playoff history at 16 years. With the MLB's Seattle Mariners qualifying for the playoffs in 2022, the Kings held the title for the longest active playoff drought among the four major North American sports leagues until 2023.[1]
The Los Angeles Clippers made the playoffs for the first time since 1997, and advanced to the second round for the first time since 1976, when they were the Buffalo Braves. They came within one game of making the conference finals for the first time, but lost Game 7 to the Suns.
The Phoenix Suns became the eighth team to win a playoff series despite trailing 3–1 with their first round victory over the Los Angeles Lakers. They lost to the Dallas Mavericks in the Western Conference finals.
The Denver Nuggets also appeared in the playoffs as the 3rd seed in the Western Conference despite a 44–38 record (due to winning their division). However, they lost to the Los Angeles Clippers in the first round, and the NBA changed how division winners are seeded starting the following season.
2006 was the playoff debut of LeBron James, who helped the Cleveland 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 the Cavaliers first playoff appearance since 1998, and they earned their first playoff series win since 1993. The Cavaliers played against the two-time defending Eastern Conference champion Detroit Pistons in the next round. After being routed in Game 1 and losing Game 2 by 6, the Cavs won the next three matches in a row, and they were 1 game away from beating the Pistons. However, Detroit recovered and won the last 2, in order to take the series in 7. The Pistons and Cavaliers met in the next year's Playoffs, and the Cavaliers won that series in six games. This was the last time that the Pistons beat the Cavaliers in a playoff series, as of 2024.
This season also marked the first time that two 60–win teams met before the conference finals, due to the seeding format. The San Antonio Spurs and the Dallas Mavericks played against each other in the Western Conference semifinals. The Mavericks won the series in seven games, marking the first time the Mavericks beat the Spurs in a playoff series.
This year's NBA Finals also featured a number of firsts
The 2006 NBA Playoffs also featured several lasts.
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 (that did not win its division) 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.
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.
The following teams clinched a playoff berth in the East:
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.
The following teams clinched a playoff berth in the West:
First and second-round games were televised on ABC, TNT, ESPN, ESPN2, and NBA TV in the United States and on TSN, 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/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. [1]
ESPN offered "Full Circle" broadcasts for the opening game of the Bulls–Heat series, with ESPN2 carrying an "above the rim" camera feed, ESPNews carrying in-game analysis, ESPN360 carrying a statistics-focused feed, and additional supplemental coverage on ESPN Radio and ESPN.com.[2]
This was the fourth playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Pistons winning the first three meetings.
This was the fourth playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Bulls winning the first three meetings.
This was the second playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Nets winning the first meeting.
This was the third playoff meeting between these two teams, with each team winning one series apiece.
This was the first playoff meeting between the Kings and the Spurs.[7]
This was the tenth playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Lakers winning seven of the first nine meetings.
This was the first playoff meeting between the Nuggets and the Clippers.[10] For the Clippers franchise, it was their first playoff series win in three decades, since the old Buffalo Braves defeated the Philadelphia 76ers in the first round back in 1976.
This was the first playoff meeting between the Mavericks and the Grizzlies.[11]
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.
This was the first playoff meeting between the Cavaliers and the Pistons.[12]
This was the second playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Heat winning the first meeting.
This was the first time both conference semifinals went seven games since 1994.
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. This was the most recent Game 7 went into Overtime until the 2021 Bucks vs. Nets series.
This was the third playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Spurs winning the first two meetings.
This was the first playoff meeting between the Clippers and the Suns.[16]
This was the third playoff meeting between these two teams, with each team winning one series apiece.
This was the second playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Suns winning the first meeting.
This was the first playoff meeting between the Mavericks and the Heat.[19]
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.