page_title: History of the Miami Heat
section_title: 2005–2006: First championship win
hierarchical_section_title: History of the Miami Heat / 2003–2006: Resurgence / 2005–2006: First championship win
caption_attribution_description: English: NBA Champs Miami Heat at the White House with President Bush
context_page_description: The Miami Heat is an American professional basketball team based in Miami. The team was launched in 1988 and played in the 1988–89 season of the National Basketball Association. The next season they moved from the Western Conference to the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference. After a mainly mediocre performance in the first few seasons, there were extensive team changes in 1995 and 1996 under head coach Pat Riley, including the recruitment of Isaac Austin and P.J. Brown. They reached the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time in 1996–97. They did not reach this level again until 2004–05, under new head coach Stan Van Gundy and with Dwyane Wade as a leading team member. At this time they transferred to the Southeast Division. The next year the team won the NBA Finals, defeating the Dallas Mavericks. The head coach position was next taken by Erik Spoelstra. Their next successful season was 2010–11, when they reached the NBA Finals again, losing to the Mavericks. Acquiring LeBron James as a player, they won the Finals in both 2012 and 2013, and won 27 successive games in February–March 2013. In 2013–14 they reached the Finals again but lost to San Antonio Spurs.
context_section_description: On December 12, 2005, Riley announced he would become head coach for the second time, after Van Gundy unexpectedly stepped down due to personal and family reasons. The team responded well to the coaching change, going 10–5 in the month of January. However, those five losses came to the defending champion San Antonio Spurs twice, the Phoenix Suns twice and the Dallas Mavericks once by a 36-point blowout, raising doubts over whether or not they could compete against the top teams. The months of February and March were very successful for the Heat, including a stretch of 15 wins in 16 games, which began with a comeback victory over the perennial Eastern Conference powerhouse Detroit Pistons. Wade and O'Neal helped the Heat finish with a 52–30 record, enough for the 2nd seed in the Eastern Conference. Their record was respectable but less impressive than their 2004–2005 record and 1st place playoff seeded season.
  The Heat drew the seventh seed Chicago Bulls in the first-round. The Heat won the first two games at home, despite Udonis Haslem being ejected in the first game and suspended for the second for throwing his mouthpiece in the direction of the referee. The team lost games three and four in Chicago but bounced back to win game five at home. By winning game six in Chicago, the Heat won the series and went on to face the New Jersey Nets in the second round. The Heat lost Game 1 at home but won the next four to oust the Nets from the playoffs for the second year in a row. The Heat advanced to their second Eastern Conference Finals in as many years. They opened up the 2006 Eastern Conference Finals in Detroit, in a rematch of the previous year's Eastern Conference Finals. The Heat stole home court advantage by winning Game 1. Although Miami lost the second game 92–88 (despite a near comeback after trailing by eighteen). Home for the next two games, they won both Game 3 (98–83) and Game 4 (89–78) to take a 3–1 series lead. The Pistons then won Game 5 in The Palace of Auburn Hills, but the Heat answered by winning Game 6 and advanced to their first NBA Finals in franchise history against Dirk Nowitzki's Dallas Mavericks, who were also in their first NBA Finals.
  The Heat lost the first two games in Dallas convincingly. Wade led the Heat to a comeback win in Game 3, capped by a Gary Payton 18-footer with nine seconds left, in a game the Heat trailed by as many as 13 points. With their confidence regained the Heat blew out the Mavs in Game 4 and survived a Game 5 come-from-behind overtime thriller in which Wade put up 43 points and Payton again scoring the team's go-ahead field goal with one second left on the shot clock. With Pat Riley famously declaring "One suit, one shirt, one tie", the team went on to win Game 6 in Dallas, winning their first NBA championship. They became only the third team in NBA history to win the final series after being down 0–2, following the 1969 Boston Celtics and the 1977 Portland Trail Blazers. The Heat overcame a miserable start with a 14-point gap to wear down the Mavericks, and led by one point (49–48) at halftime. Again, Wade played a vital role, powering the Heat to a late lead. He was helped by five blocks by Alonzo Mourning (the Heat had over 10 team blocks in the game even though they were averaging a little over 2 blocks in the series) and clutch shooting by James Posey, who drained a three-pointer which put the Heat ahead by six with 3 minutes to go. The Mavericks were down three with a few seconds left after a pair of missed free-throws by Wade. However, Dallas would be put to rest after Wade captured the rebound, fittingly ending the game by tossing the ball in the air after a missed three-point shot attempt by Jason Terry. Wade would go on to win the Bill Russell NBA Finals Most Valuable Player Award.
  The championship proved all the more poignant for Miami's veteran superstars Alonzo Mourning, Gary Payton, Jason Williams, and Antoine Walker who had never before won an NBA championship. Mourning and Payton both re-signed with the Heat for the 2006–07 season.
  The Championship marked th
caption: The Miami Heat visit the White House to celebrate their first championship title.
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