2011 NBA Finals

2011 NBA Finals

Team Coach Wins Dallas Mavericks Rick Carlisle 4 Miami Heat Erik Spoelstra 2
Dates:	May 31–June 12
MVP:	Dirk Nowitzki (Dallas Mavericks)
Hall of Famers	Mavericks: Jason Kidd (2018) Dirk Nowitzki (2023) Heat: Chris Bosh (2021) Dwyane Wade (2023) Coaches: Pat Riley (2008)
Eastern Finals: Heat defeated Bulls, 4–1 Western Finals: Mavericks defeated Thunder, 4–1
NBA Finals
← 2010
2012 →

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 in six games to win their first NBA championship in franchise history. The series was held from May 31 to June 12, 2011. Mavericks forward and German player Dirk Nowitzki was named the Finals MVP, becoming the second European to win the award after Tony Parker (2007) and the first German player to do so. The series was a rematch of the 2006 NBA Finals, in which the Heat had won in six games after trailing 2-0 to win their first NBA championship.

Going into the series, the Heat were heavy favorites with their newly acquired superstars LeBron James and Chris Bosh along with returning superstar Dwyane Wade. The Heat won the opening game and eventually led the series 2–1 before the underdog Mavericks won the next three games to achieve their first championship. Due in part to Nowitzki's turbulent playoff runs previously, the series has been acclaimed as one of the greatest Finals of all time.

The Dallas Mavericks became the first team in NBA history since the institution of the 2–3–2 format to enter Game 3 tied at one, lose Game 3 and still win the Finals. The previous 11 times this occurred, the Game 3 winner went on to win the series. The Mavericks also became just the 7th team, and the first since 1988, to come back and win the Finals after being down in the series two or more separate times (one game to none, and later two games to one). The previous six times this happened, the Finals ended in seven games; Dallas became the first team in NBA history to do it in six games.

ABC averaged a 10.1 rating, 11.7 million households and nearly 17.3 million viewers with the 2011 Finals, according to Nielsen.

Background

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 those Finals, won by Miami in six games, after the Mavericks were up 2–0.

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.

This was the first finals since 1998 not to feature Kobe Bryant (2000–2002, 2004, 2008–2010), Shaquille O'Neal (2000–2002, 2004, 2006), or Tim Duncan (1999, 2003, 2005, 2007).

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 eight months, with the 2010 World Series and Super Bowl XLV both occurring in nearby Arlington, Texas|Arlington.

The Heat had home-court advantage by virtue of a better regular-season record than the Mavericks. This was only the second time 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 (James would reach the finals every year from 2011 to 2018, with both the Heat and his second stint with the Cleveland Cavaliers), and Jason Kidd have appeared in the Finals with different teams, with House (as a member of the Boston Celtics' 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 making him only the eleventh person in NBA history to win a Finals as both a player and a coach.

Road to the Finals

2011 NBA Playoffs

Dallas Mavericks (Western Conference Champion)			Miami Heat (Eastern Conference Champion)
57–25 (.695) 2nd Southwest, 3rd West, 5th Overall	Regular season		58–24 (.707) 1st Southeast, 2nd East, 3rd Overall
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

The Dallas Mavericks won both games in the 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

Series summary

Game	Date	Road Team	Result	Home Team
Game 1	May 31	Dallas	84–92 (0–1)	Miami
Game 2	June 2	Dallas	95–93 (1–1)	Miami
Game 3	June 5	Miami	88–86 (2–1)	Dallas
Game 4	June 7	Miami	83–86 (2–2)	Dallas
Game 5	June 9	Miami	103–112 (2–3)	Dallas
Game 6	June 12	Dallas	105–95 (4–2)	Miami

Player statistics

Legend

GP	Games played	GS	Games started	MPG	Minutes per game
FG%	Field-goal percentage	3P%	3-point field-goal percentage	FT%	Free-throw percentage
RPG	Rebounds per game	APG	Assists per game	SPG	Steals per game
BPG	Blocks per game	PPG	Points per game

Dallas Mavericks statistics

Player	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3FG%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
Barea, J. J.J. J. Barea	6	3	21.4	.382	.333	.714	2.2	3.2	0.5	0.0	8.8
Cardinal, BrianBrian Cardinal	5	0	6.1	.667	.667	.500	0.2	0.2	0.2	0.0	1.4
Chandler, TysonTyson Chandler	6	6	37.3	.594	.000	.625	8.8	0.7	1.2	1.2	9.7
Haywood, BrendanBrendan Haywood	3	0	8.5	.333	.000	.500	2.3	0.0	0.3	1.0	1.7
Kidd, JasonJason Kidd	6	6	37.4	.389	.429	.750	4.5	6.3	1.2	0.8	7.7
Mahinmi, IanIan Mahinmi	3	0	9.0	.600	.000	.600	1.7	0.0	0.3	0.0	3.0
Marion, ShawnShawn Marion	6	6	35.8	.479	.000	.824	6.3	2.3	0.8	0.7	13.7
Nowitzki, DirkDirk Nowitzki	6	6	40.4	.416	.368	.978	9.7	2.0	0.7	0.7	26.0
Stevenson, DeShawnDeShawn Stevenson	6	3	17.2	.542	.565	.750	1.5	0.3	0.7	0.2	7.0
Stojaković, PejaPeja Stojaković	4	0	6.4	.200	.000	.000	0.8	0.0	0.5	0.0	0.5
Terry, JasonJason Terry	6	0	32.6	.494	.393	.750	2.0	3.2	1.3	0.0	18.0

Miami Heat statistics

Player	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3FG%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
Anthony, JoelJoel Anthony	6	6	20.6	.286	.000	.000	3.5	0.3	0.2	1.2	1.3
Bibby, MikeMike Bibby	5	5	17.4	.350	.294	.000	1.4	1.0	1.4	0.2	3.8
Bosh, ChrisChris Bosh	6	6	39.4	.413	.000	.778	7.3	1.0	0.2	0.5	18.5
Chalmers, MarioMario Chalmers	6	1	28.9	.426	.400	.739	2.7	3.5	1.7	0.0	11.8
Haslem, UdonisUdonis Haslem	6	0	29.4	.450	.000	.800	5.2	0.7	0.5	0.5	6.7
House, EddieEddie House	2	0	12.3	.333	.375	.000	2.0	0.5	1.0	0.0	4.5
Howard, JuwanJuwan Howard	5	0	5.9	.600	.000	.500	1.2	0.2	0.0	0.0	1.8
James, LeBronLeBron James	6	6	43.6	.478	.321	.600	7.2	6.8	1.7	0.5	17.8
Miller, MikeMike Miller	6	0	15.6	.304	.389	.000	2.8	0.8	0.8	0.2	3.5
Wade, DwyaneDwyane Wade	6	6	39.0	.546	.304	.694	7.0	5.2	1.5	1.5	26.5

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.

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

Until 2014, this is the last Finals to be called entirely by Breen, Van Gundy, and Jackson altogether.

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	16.126
5	10.8	19	18.318
6	13.3	22	23.880

Preceded by 2010

NBA Finals 2011

Succeeded by 2012