The 2006 NBA Playoffs was the postseason of the National Basketball Association's 2005-06 season. The Miami Heat defeated the Dallas Mavericks 4-2 in the NBA Finals. Dwyane Wade was named NBA Finals MVP.

The Clippers were the biggest surprise, as they not only made the playoffs for the first time since 1997, but advanced to the second round for the first time since 1976, when they were the Buffalo Braves. They came within 1 game of making it to the conference finals for the first time, but lost Game 7 to the Suns.

2006 marked the playoff debut of LeBron James, who helped the Cavs 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. Against the two-time defending Eastern Conference champion Detroit Pistons, the Cavs were routed in Game 1 and lost Game 2 by 6 before winning the next 3 and being 1 game away from handing the Pistons a playoff defeat. Detroit recovered and won the last 2 to take the series in 7.

Format[link]

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 3 playoff seed, regardless of whether the team had one of the top 8 records in its conference. However, the division champion was not guaranteed home court advantage; a division-leading team could be ranked third or even second but face a lower seed (that did not win its division) with a better record, which would then have the home court advantage. This was illustrated in the first round this year 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 for the fifth and sixth seed. However, the loser of the game would have faced Denver, while the winner would face fourth seeded Dallas, who had the second best record in the league that year. It was speculated that the Clippers lost on purpose to play Denver in the first round. However, starting in the 2007 playoffs, being a division-leading team did not guarantee a top 3 playoff seed.

Bracket[link]

Teams that advanced to the next round are boldfaced; those with home court advantage are in italics.

Playoff qualifying[link]

Eastern Conference[link]

Best record in NBA[link]

The Detroit Pistons clinched the best record in the NBA, and earned home court advantage throughout the entire playoffs. However, when the Pistons lost to the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference Finals, home court advantage in the NBA Finals switched to the Western Conference champion Dallas Mavericks, who had a better record than the Heat.

Clinched a playoff berth[link]

The following teams clinched a playoff berth in the East:

1. Detroit Pistons (64-18) (clinched Central division)
2. Miami Heat (52-30) (clinched Southeast division)
3. New Jersey Nets (49-33) (clinched Atlantic division)
4. Cleveland Cavaliers (50-32)
5. Washington Wizards (42-40)
6. Indiana Pacers (41-41)
7. Chicago Bulls (41-41)
8. Milwaukee Bucks (40-42)

Western Conference[link]

Best record in conference[link]

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.

Clinched a playoff berth[link]

The following teams clinched a playoff berth in the West:

1. San Antonio Spurs (63-19) (clinched Southwest division)
2. Phoenix Suns (54-28) (clinched Pacific division)
3. Denver Nuggets (44-38) (clinched Northwest division)
4. Dallas Mavericks (60-22)
5. Memphis Grizzlies (49-33)
6. Los Angeles Clippers (47-35)
7. Los Angeles Lakers (45-37)
8. Sacramento Kings (44-38)

TV coverage[link]

First and second round games were televised on ABC, TNT, ESPN, ESPN2 and NBA TV in the United States and on TSN, Rogers Sportsnet, 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 and 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]

Eastern Conference[link]

All times are in Eastern Daylight Time (UTC−4)

First Round[link]

(1) Detroit Pistons vs. (8) Milwaukee Bucks[link]

Regular season series

Detroit won 3–1 in the regular-season series:

Last Playoffs meeting: 2004 Eastern Conference First Round (Detroit won 4–1)

(2) Miami Heat vs. (7) Chicago Bulls[link]

Regular-season series

Miami won 2–1 in the regular-season series:

Last Playoffs meeting: 1997 Eastern Conference Finals (Chicago won 4–1)

(3) New Jersey Nets vs. (6) Indiana Pacers[link]

Regular-season series

Indiana won 2–1 in the regular-season series:

Last Playoffs meeting: 2002 Eastern Conference First Round (New Jersey won 3–2)

(4) Cleveland Cavaliers vs. (5) Washington Wizards[link]

• LeBron James hits the game-winner in Games 3 and 5
• Damon Jones hits the series-winning shot in Game 6

Regular-season series

Washington won 3–1 in the regular-season series:

Last Playoffs meeting: 1977 Eastern Conference First Round (Washington won 3–1)

Conference Semifinals[link]

(1) Detroit Pistons vs. (4) Cleveland Cavaliers[link]

2006 marked the first time the Cavaliers had made the playoffs since 1998 with Shawn Kemp. 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.

Last Playoffs meeting: This is the first meeting between the Pistons and Cavaliers.

(2) Miami Heat vs. (3) New Jersey Nets[link]

Last Playoffs meeting: 2005 Eastern Conference First Round (Miami won 4–0)

Conference Finals: (1) Detroit Pistons vs. (2) Miami Heat[link]

Last Playoffs meeting: 2005 Eastern Conference Finals (Detroit won 4–3)

Western Conference[link]

All times are in Eastern Daylight Time (UTC−4)

First Round[link]

(1) San Antonio Spurs vs. (8) Sacramento Kings[link]

• In Game 2, Brent Barry hit a wild 3 with 4 seconds left to force OT.
• In Game 3, Kevin Martin hit the game-winning lay-up at the buzzer.

Regular-season series

San Antonio won 2–1 in the regular-season series:

Last Playoffs meeting: This is the first meeting between the Spurs and Kings.

(2) Phoenix Suns vs. (7) Los Angeles Lakers[link]

• In Game 4, Kobe Bryant hit both a lay-up with 0.7 seconds left to force OT, and the game-winning jump shot at the buzzer in overtime.

Regular-season series

Phoenix won 3–1 in the regular-season series:

Last Playoffs meeting: 2000 Western Conference Semifinals (Los Angeles won 4–1)

(3) Denver Nuggets vs. (6) Los Angeles Clippers[link]

Regular-season series

Los Angeles won 3–1 in the regular-season series:

Last Playoffs meeting: This is the first meeting between the Suns and Clippers.

(4) Dallas Mavericks vs. (5) Memphis Grizzlies[link]

• In Game 3, Dirk Nowitzki hit the game-tying 3 with 15 seconds left to force OT.

Regular-season series

Dallas won 3–1 in the regular-season series:

Last Playoffs meeting: This is the first meeting between the Mavericks and Grizzlies.

Conference Semifinals[link]

(1) San Antonio Spurs vs. (4) Dallas Mavericks[link]

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. This was just 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.

Previous Playoffs meeting: 2003 Western Conference Finals (San Antonio won 4–2)

(2) Phoenix Suns vs. (6) Los Angeles Clippers[link]

• In Game 5, Raja Bell hit the game-tying shot with 1.1 seconds left to force the second overtime.

Previous Playoffs meeting: This was the first time these teams met in the playoffs.

Conference Finals: (2) Phoenix Suns vs. (4) Dallas Mavericks[link]