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2006 NBA playoffs

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The 2006 NBA Playoffs is the postseason of the National Basketball Association's 2005-2006 season. Consisting of 16 teams in 2 conferences, the playoffs will involve nearly two months of play, and anywhere between 60 and 105 games overall. The playoffs will be conducted in four-rounds of best of seven series. In each series, the team with the better record (or which wins a tiebreaker, in the event that teams with identical records are matched) holds home court advantage, meaning that the 7th game, if played, is held in their home arena.

The first two games in each series are played in the home arena of the team with home court advantage. The 3rd and 4th games are played in the other arena. The 5th, 6th, and 7th games alternate between the two arenas. However, in the NBA Finals, the team with home court advantage hosts the first two and last two games, while the other team hosts the 3rd, 4th, and 5th games.

Beginning with the 2004-2005 season, with the addition of the 30th NBA franchise, the Charlotte Bobcats, the NBA realigned its divisions. Each conference now has three divisions of five teams each, and the winner of each division is guaranteed a top-three playoff seed, regardless of whether the team had one of the top eight records in its conference. However, the division champion is not guaranteed home-court advantage; a division-leading team with a poor record could be ranked number three but face a sixth seed with a better record, which would then have the home-court advantage. This was the case in the 2006 Playoffs as the Denver Nuggets were the division winner and had the 3rd seed, yet did not have home-court advantage against the L.A. Clippers (6th seed) as the Clippers had a better record than the Nuggets. This is seen by some as a bug in the current playoff algorithm used by the NBA, that did not come up until the 3 division system led to a division winner weaker than the top 6 teams in the conference. See NBA Playoffs for more information regarding the structure of the playoffs.

Playoff bracket

First round Conf. Semifinals Conf. Finals NBA Finals
            
1 Detroit 4
8 Milwaukee 1
1 Detroit 4
4 Cleveland 3
4 Cleveland 4
5 Washington 2
1 Detroit 1
Eastern Conference
2 Miami 1
3 New Jersey 4
6 Indiana 2
3 New Jersey 1
2 Miami 4
2 Miami 4
7 Chicago 2
 
 
1 San Antonio 4
8 Sacramento 2
1 San Antonio 3
4 Dallas 4
4 Dallas 4
5 Memphis 0
4 Dallas 1
Western Conference
2 Phoenix 1
3 Denver 1
6 L.A. Clippers 4
6 L.A. Clippers 3
2 Phoenix 4
2 Phoenix 4
7 L.A. Lakers 3

Playoff qualifying

Western Conference

Best record in conference

The San Antonio Spurs clinched the best record in the Western Conference, and had home-court advantage throughout the Western Conference playoffs.

Division winners

Clinched a playoff berth

The following teams clinched a playoff berth in the West:

Eastern Conference

Best record in NBA

The Detroit Pistons clinched the best record in the NBA, and have home-court advantage throughout the entire playoffs.

Division winners

Clinched a playoff berth

The following teams clinched a playoff berth in the East:

Playoff seedings, results, and schedules

TV coverage

First and second round games will be televised on ABC, TNT, ESPN, ESPN2 and NBA TV; some games will also be televised on local or regional TV networks. The Eastern Conference finals will air exclusively on ESPN and ABC, and the Western Conference finals will air exclusively on TNT. The NBA Finals will air exclusively on ABC. [1]

Western Conference

First Round

(1) San Antonio Spurs (63-19) vs. (8) Sacramento Kings (44-38)
San Antonio wins series 4-2

(2) Phoenix Suns (54-28) vs. (7) Los Angeles Lakers (45-37)
Phoenix wins series 4-3

(3) Denver Nuggets (44-38) vs. (6) Los Angeles Clippers (47-35)
L.A. Clippers win series 4-1

(4) Dallas Mavericks (60-22) vs. (5) Memphis Grizzlies (49-33)
Dallas wins series 4-0

Conference Semifinals

(1) San Antonio Spurs vs. (4) Dallas Mavericks
Dallas wins series 4-3

(2) Phoenix Suns vs. (6) Los Angeles Clippers
Phoenix wins series 4-3

Conference Finals

(2) Phoenix Suns vs. (4) Dallas Mavericks
Series tied 1-1

  • Game 1 @ Dallas: Phoenix 121, Dallas 118
  • Game 2 @ Dallas: Dallas 105, Phoenix 98
  • Game 3 @ Phoenix: Sunday, May 28 (8:30 p.m., TNT)
  • Game 4 @ Phoenix: Tuesday, May 30 (9:00 p.m., TNT)
  • Game 5 @ Dallas: Thursday, June 1 (8:30 p.m., TNT)
  • Game 6 @ Phoenix (if necessary): Saturday, June 3 (8:30 p.m., TNT)
  • Game 7 @ Dallas (if necessary): Monday, June 5 (8:30 p.m., TNT)

Eastern Conference

First Round

(1) Detroit Pistons (64-18) vs. (8) Milwaukee Bucks (40-42)
Detroit wins series 4-1

(2) Miami Heat (52-30) vs. (7) Chicago Bulls (41-41)
Miami wins series 4-2

(3) New Jersey Nets (49-33) vs. (6) Indiana Pacers (41-41)
New Jersey wins series 4-2

(4) Cleveland Cavaliers (50-32) vs. (5) Washington Wizards (42-40)
Cleveland wins series 4-2

Conference Semifinals

(1) Detroit Pistons vs. (4) Cleveland Cavaliers
Detroit wins series 4-3

(2) Miami Heat vs. (3) New Jersey Nets
Miami wins series 4-1

Conference Finals

(1) Detroit Pistons vs. (2) Miami Heat
Miami leads series 2-1

  • Game 1 @ Detroit: Miami 91, Detroit 86
  • Game 2 @ Detroit: Detroit 92, Miami 88
  • Game 3' @ Miami: Miami 96, Detroit 83
  • Game 4 @ Miami: Monday, May 29 (8:00 p.m., ABC)
  • Game 5 @ Detroit: Wednesday, May 31 (8:00 p.m., ESPN)
  • Game 6 @ Miami (if necessary): Friday, June 2 (8:00 p.m., ESPN)
  • Game 7 @ Detroit (if necessary): Sunday, June 4 (8:00 p.m., ABC)

NBA Finals

Main article: 2006 NBA Finals

(E1) Detroit Pistons/(E2) Miami Heat vs. (W2) Phoenix Suns/(W4) Dallas Mavericks

  • Game 1 @ Conference champion with better regular-season record: Thursday, June 8 (9:00 p.m., ABC)
  • Game 2 @ Conference champion with better regular-season record: Sunday, June 11 (9:00 p.m., ABC)
  • Game 3 @ Other conference champion: Tuesday, June 13 (9:00 p.m., ABC)
  • Game 4 @ Other conference champion: Thursday, June 15 (9:00 p.m., ABC)
  • Game 5 @ Other conference champion (if necessary): Sunday, June 18 (9:00 p.m., ABC)
  • Game 6 @ Conference champion with better regular-season record (if necessary): Tuesday, June 20 (9:00 p.m., ABC)
  • Game 7 @ Conference champion with better regular-season record (if necessary): Thursday, June 22 (9:00 p.m., ABC)

MVP

Announced after the last game of the NBA Finals

Preceded by NBA Playoffs
2006 		Succeeded by
2007 NBA Playoffs
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