The 2011 NBA Finals is the championship series of the 2010–11 NBA season and the conclusion of the season's playoffs. The champions of the Eastern Conference, the Miami Heat, will face the champions of the Western Conference, the Dallas Mavericks, under a 2–3–2 rotation starting on May 31, 2011 and ending no later than June 14, 2011 on ABC. The series has been nicknamed by some the American Airlines Finals since the series will be played at two arenas named American Airlines Arena for the Heat and American Airlines Center for the Mavericks.[citation needed]
Both the Mavericks and Heat are making their second appearance in the NBA Finals, the first for both teams being the 2006. This Finals marks a rematch of the 2006 Finals, won by Miami in six games. It will be also the first time since 2006 that neither the Los Angeles Lakers nor the San Antonio Spurs will represent the Western Conference in the Finals and only the second time since 1998, and it will also be the thirteenth consecutive NBA Finals to feature a Western Conference Champion from either the states of California or Texas. The Heat will have home-court advantage since they had a better regular-season record than the Mavericks This marks 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.
The 2011 series will mark the first time a Finals game is to be played in the month of May since 1986. It also marks the first time the championship series begins on a Tuesday since 1990 (coincidentally with that series having the same Tuesday-Thursday-Sunday rotation as this series). In recent years, the NBA Finals began on a Thursday, but the 2011 Finals was pushed up two days because both conference finals series ended in five games.
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, 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 and Jason Kidd have appeared in the Finals with different teams, with House (as a member of Boston's 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.
The Finals were originally projected to begin on Thursday June 9, but 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.
Both the Mavericks and Heat are making their second appearance in the NBA Finals, the first for both teams being the 2006. This Finals marks a rematch of the 2006 Finals, won by Miami in six games. It will be also the first time since 2006 that neither the Los Angeles Lakers nor the San Antonio Spurs will represent the Western Conference in the Finals and only the second time since 1998, and it will also be the thirteenth consecutive NBA Finals to feature a Western Conference Champion from either the states of California or Texas. The Heat will have home-court advantage since they had a better regular-season record than the Mavericks This marks 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.
The 2011 series will mark the first time a Finals game is to be played in the month of May since 1986. It also marks the first time the championship series begins on a Tuesday since 1990 (coincidentally with that series having the same Tuesday-Thursday-Sunday rotation as this series). In recent years, the NBA Finals began on a Thursday, but the 2011 Finals was pushed up two days because both conference finals series ended in five games.
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, 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 and Jason Kidd have appeared in the Finals with different teams, with House (as a member of Boston's 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.
The Finals were originally projected to begin on Thursday June 9, but 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.
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