Jun/062
2006 NBA Finals. It’s Set and It’s On…
After a grueling 82 regular-season games and three thrilling rounds of playoff hoops, two teams remain: the Dallas Mavericks and the Miami Heat. If you look close enough you can see the Larry O’Brien Trophy shimmering in the eyes of each player and coach as he prepares for the final stage of what has been a season-long trek toward basketball’s ultimate prize. But behind the glitz and glamour of the Finals lie some interesting numbers, some facts and figures that help paint a more accurate picture of what should be a thoroughly entertaining, highly competitive series. Sure, there’s Riles and the Little General, Shaq and Dirk, D-Wade and … err … Mark Cuban? There’s plenty of stars and oodles of hype to go around, but the numbers, yes the numbers, lie beneath.
Inside the numbers…
0 Combined Finals appearances for the Heat and Mavericks franchises.
18 Years the Heat have been an NBA franchise.
26 Years the Mavs have been an NBA franchise.
1 Player on the Mavericks with Finals experience (Keith Van Horn, with the Nets in 2002).
3 Players on the Heat with Finals experience (Shaquille O’Neal, with the Magic in 1995 and the Lakers in 2000, 2001, 2002 and 2004; Gary Payton, with the Sonics in 1996 and the Lakers in 2004; Shandon Anderson, with the Jazz in 1997 and 1998).
1 Championship ring on the Mavs sideline (Coach Avery Johnson, who won the 1999 Finals as a player with the Spurs).
9 Championship rings on the Heat sideline (Coach Pat Riley – 6, Shaq – 3).
5 Consecutive wins for the Mavs over the Heat, including victories this season on Nov. 25 and Feb. 9 that extended Dallas’ then winning streaks to 13 and six straight games, respectively.
24.5 Average margin of victory (in points) for the Mavs in their two wins against the Heat this season.
16.8 Average margin of victory (in points) for the Mavs in the five straight wins overall.
3/26/04 As in March 26, 2004, i.e. the last time the Heat defeated the Mavs.
12 Former Top 10 NBA Draft picks playing in the Finals (six players per team).
26.2 Points per game scored by Dwyane Wade in this year’s Playoffs.
28.4 Points per game scored by Dirk Nowitzki in this year’s Playoffs.
31 Times a player has scored 50 points in a playoff game, the last of whom was Nowitzki in Game 5 of this year’s Western Conference Finals.
821 Career games played, including the postseason, by Miami’s Alonzo Mourning.
60 NBA Finals played, beginning with the first in 1947 between the Philadelphia Warriors and Chicago Stags (Philly took home the trophy in five games).
37 Finals MVPs awarded, the first of which was presented to Jerry West in 1969, making him the only player to win the award despite playing for the losing team.
35 Years since the Bucks and Bullets met in the Finals, the last time two teams made their Finals debuts in the same series.
5 Times two first-timers met in the same Finals series.
Make sure you check out my buddy over at MiamiSportsDude. He has been on fire lately with his blog posts. Gotta love the Heat fans intensity. Check him out!
Talk some pregame talk between fellow Heatian’s on the MiamiHeatWave msg board. Check it out!
Check the Dime for “experts” picks including a huge letdown from Miami Heat faithful Jack Ramsey picking the Mavs in 6.
SporTech wants to hear your thoughts! Drop your Finals feelings in the comments section.
I am a Wadeness. Are you?
Late Tuesday night update. I was just about to head to sleep when I found a hilarious we didn’t get any respect post by Mark Cuban on his Maverick Blog. Check a lil of it here and read the rest on his great blog…
Four more wins to go.
The Heat is a great team. Shaq alone has more finals experience than our entire roster. Riley has probably coached more playoffs games than AJ has games. It wont matter. Its going to be a war. Probably no less thrilling and down to the wire as almost every other NBA playoffs series has been.
We may be the underdogs, but we believe and we dont understand the word can’t.
For more Mark Cuban hiliarity check out Deadspin’s post a while back about his billion dollar penis.
[NBA.COM]
[GONE FISHIN]
[MIAMI SPORTS DUDES]
[MIAMIHEATWAVE]
[DAILY DIME]
[BLOG MAVERICK]
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9:35 pm on June 5th, 2006
The Mavs present a challenge the Heat haven’t seen in these playoffs thus far. Josh Howard and Jason Terry are budding super stars and Dirk is Dirk. If Udonis can contain Dirk a little, we should be ok. D-Wade will have a tough time against the speedy Terry but he’ll get his. I’m tempted to pick Dallas in 6 or 7 .. but I’m a homer and a big believer in Riles, Shaq and Wade … so, Heat in 7.
9:40 pm on June 5th, 2006
Rojo i agree. My pick is rather homerish (Heat in 6) but I cannot help but think how bad Shaq and Riley want this and will do whatever it takes to get it. That might sound rather far fetched but we could see some of Shaq’s best basketball in years in these finals.
At the beginning of the playoffs i picked a Dallas/Miami finals and picked Dallas in 6 but I’ve seen some rather amazing stuff with This team over the course of the playoffs. they evolved as one kind of a team in the regular season and have turned into an elite team in the playoffs.
I Am a Wadeness.