the first time lebron went to the finals was in 2007.
the first time lebron went to the finals was in 2007.
when was the first time lebron went to the finals?
2007
in the offseason, the heat focused on retaining their team outside the big 3. ray allen and rashard lewis opted into their contracts for an extra year. mario chalmers picked up the team option for another year with the team. james jones stayed on the team after mulling over retirement. during the 2013 nba draft, the heat traded a second round pick for forward-guard james ennis, the 50th pick. udonis haslem is to have surgery on his knee after tearing his meniscus during the regular season. chris andersen was re-signed to a one-year deal with the heat. mike miller was released via the amnesty clause, which would save the heat upwards to $40 million in the luxury tax. greg oden, the first pick in the 2007 nba draft, signed to a one-year deal at the league minimum. michael beasley, who was formerly drafted by the heat with the 2nd overall pick in the 2008 nba draft, was signed to a 1-year contract. the heat began with a 22–6 record, the best start in franchise history. however, the 2013–14 season was full of struggle for the heat. their struggles against other top teams continued in a similar fashion as the 2010–11 season. they suffered an 0–4 regular season sweep against the brooklyn nets, three of them by one point and one went into overtime in brooklyn. they also went 0–2 when playing against the chicago bulls on the road at the united center in chicago and 0–2 against the indiana pacers when playing against them in bankers life fieldhouse in indianapolis. addressing the heat's struggles, many heat players admitted that the team had lacked the necessary motivation and energy. fourth quarter woes were also to blame (as in the past), with the heat often failing to keep the lead for four quarters. much was also talked about mario chalmers' poor play, often becoming the target of berating from lebron, wade and bosh dubbed the "little brother" of the heat. during a home game against the indiana pacers on december 18, 2013, lebron and mario chalmers got into a near-altercation after exchanging words during a timeout in the third quarter. chalmers gave lebron some words, in turn lebron made a leap as if to physically do something, until he was restrained by udonis haslem. james later apologized court side to chalmers as well as on twitter stating it was "wrong" of him. lebron also suffered a nose injury during a game against oklahoma city on february 20. he returned with an unusual black nose mask on february 27 during a home game against the new york knicks, he retained a high performance and miami won 108–82. during a home game against the charlotte bobcats, lebron james had a career-high 61 points. his 61-points was also a franchise high, breaking glen rice's 56-point franchise record, set in 1995 against the orlando magic. the heat concluded the season with a 54–28 regular season record, the second seed in the much weakened-eastern conference, the lowest record in the big three era. in the playoffs, they swept over the 7th-seed charlotte bobcats in the first round. it became the second consecutive sweep of the big 3 era. in the conference semifinals. the heat found themselves against a rival that swept them during the regular season: brooklyn nets. as the heat won the first two games at home, brooklyn won game 3, ending the heat's six-game winning streak of the postseason. fortunately, james had a career-high 49 points to lead the heat to victory in game 4 on the road. back at home, the heat avenged their regular season sweep loss over the nets in game 5. moving on, the heat faced another rematch against the indiana pacers in the eastern conference finals and their third consecutive playoff encounter. pacer head coach frank vogel made it plain that the pacers felt, if game 7 was at indiana, they would have beaten miami, so they strove to get the number one seed in the east. the pacers blew out the heat in game 1, but lost down the stretch in game 2, 3, and 4. they avoided elimination in game 5, with james facing foul trouble and career lows in points and minutes played. much was made about lance stephenson's antics throughout the series, from blowing on james' ear to slamming his hand at norris cole's face. in game 6, despite taking a 9–2 lead early in the first quarter, the pacers were subsequently blown out for the rest of the way; miami would reach the finals for the fourth straight year, joining the boston celtics and the los angeles lakers as only the third franchise to achieve such a feat. in the finals the miami heat would face the san antonio spurs in another much-expected rematch. however the miami heat would fail to achieve their goal of a three-peat, and like their 2011 loss to the mavericks, would end up falling in the rematch against the spurs, although in a brutal five-game sweep in which the heat lost by 15 points or more in each loss. during game 1, the heat players suffered dehydration due to an air conditioning failure at the at&t center in san antonio and in particular lebron was unable to stay in the game because of cramping leading to the internet/twitter meme referring to him as "lecramp" and the oxymoron slogan "too hot for the heat". after winning game 2 in san antonio, miami lost the next three games including two straight home losses in game 3 and game 4. it would be the heat's first postseason loss ever since their loss to the dallas mavericks in 2011. on july 11, 2014, lebron james announced he had decided to return to cleveland leaving wade and bosh to continue on without him.
history of the miami heat
2006 marked the first time lebron james made the playoffs in his career, and 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 would not be intimidated however, and won their two games at home to tie the series 2–2. 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 to 66 lead throughout 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 would never squander. james led the cavs with 32 and this brought the series to cleveland up 3–2, quite shockingly. detroit held on to a 2-point win to win game 6, and won game 7 at home to seal the deal, but this was the coming out party for the cavaliers in the playoffs, scaring the 2004 champs.
2005–06 cleveland cavaliers season