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"MIAMI HEAT OFFICIAL TAMBAYAN"
BACK-TO-BACK NBA CHAMPS!!!
The Miami Heat (often stylized in all caps as HEAT) are a professional basketball team based in Miami, Florida, United States. The team is a member of the Southeast Division in the Eastern Conference of the National Basketball Association (NBA). They play their home games at the American Airlines Arena in Downtown Miami. The team owner is Micky Arison, who also owns cruise-ship giant Carnival Corporation. The team president and de facto general manager is Pat Riley, and the head coach is Erik Spoelstra. The mascot of the team is Burnie, an anthropomorphic fireball.
Formed in 1988 as one of the NBA's four expansion franchises, the Heat have won three league championships (in 2006, 2012, and 2013), plus 10 division titles and four conference titles. From February 3 to March 27, 2013, the Heat won 27 games in a row, the second-longest streak in NBA history (after the Los Angeles Lakers' 33 wins).
In 2013, Forbes valued the Heat at $625 million, sixth-most-valuable among NBA franchises.
The Heat are not related to the Miami Floridians, an ABA team in the early 1970s, although the Heat have occasionally paid tribute to the older franchise by wearing a replica version of the Floridians' uniforms for the NBA's "Hardwood Classics Nights" during the 2005–06 and 2011–12 seasons.
FRANCHISE HISTORY
An expansion team formed in 1988, the Miami Heat began their early years with much mediocrity, only making the playoffs twice in their first eight years and falling in the first round both times. Upon the purchasing of the franchise by Micky Arison in 1995, Pat Riley was brought in as the team president and head coach. Riley acquired center Alonzo Mourning and point guard Tim Hardaway to serve as the centerpiece for the team, transforming Miami into a championship contender throughout the late 1990s. The Heat underwent a dramatic turnaround in the 1996-1997 season, improving to a 61-21 record, second best in team history and formerly a franchise record. That same year, Miami earned the moniker of "Road Warriors" for their remarkable 32-9 record on the road. On the backs of Hardaway and Mourning, the Heat achieved their first two victories in the playoffs, making it to the Conference Finals against the Chicago Bulls before bowing out in five games. Their biggest rivals of the time were the New York Knicks, Riley's former team, who would eliminate the Heat in the playoffs from 1998 through 2000. A period of mediocrity followed shortly thereafter, highlighted by missing the playoffs altogether in 2002 and 2003.
In the 2003 NBA Draft, with the fifth overall pick, Miami selected shooting guard Dwyane Wade out of Marquette.[3] Free-agent swing-man Lamar Odom was signed from the Los Angeles Clippers. Just prior to the start of the 03-04 season, Riley stepped down as head coach to focus on rebuilding the Heat, promoting Stan Van Gundy to the position of head coach. Behind Van Gundy's leadership, Wade's stellar rookie year and Odom's break out season, the Heat made the 2004 NBA Playoffs, beating the New Orleans Hornets 4-3 in the 1st round and losing to the Indiana Pacers 4-2 in the 2nd round. In the offseason, Riley engineered a summer blockbuster trade for Shaquille O'Neal from the Los Angeles Lakers.[4] Alonzo Mourning returned to the Heat in the same season, serving as a backup to O'Neal. Returning as championship contenders, Miami finished with a 59–23 record, consequently garnering the first overall seed in the Eastern Conference. Sweeping through the first round and the semifinals, Miami went back to the Conference Finals for the first time in eight years, where they met the defending champion Detroit Pistons. Despite taking a 3-2 lead, Miami lost Wade to injury for Game 6. They would go on to lose Game 7 at home despite Wade's return.
In the summer of 2005, Riley brought in veteran free agents Gary Payton, Antoine Walker and Jason Williams. After a sub-par 11-10 start to the 05-06 season, Riley relieved Van Gundy of his duties and took back the head coaching job. The Heat made it to the Conference Finals in 2006 and avenged their loss against the Pistons, winning the series 4-2. Making their first NBA Finals appearance, they matched up against the Dallas Mavericks, who won the first two games in Dallas in routs. On the back of Dwyane Wade, the Heat won the next four games, capturing their first ever championship. Wade took the Finals MVP award for his efforts throughout the finals.[5] A four-year tenure of post-title struggles befell the Heat from 2007 through 2010, including a 4-0 sweep by the Chicago Bulls in the 1st round of the 2007 NBA Playoffs. In the 07-08 season, Wade was plagued by injuries, prompting Miami to hit rock bottom with a league worst 15-67 record. O'Neal was traded to Phoenix midway through the season. Riley resigned as head coach following the season, but retained his position as team president. Long time assistant Erik Spoelstra was promoted to head coach. A healthy and re-invigorated Wade led the Heat to 43 wins in 2009 and 47 wins 2010, making the playoffs in both years, though they would lose 4-3 in 2009 and 4-1 in 2010. Wade was the scoring champion in 2009 and the NBA All-Star MVP in 2010.
RIVALRIES
New York Knicks
Main article: Knicks–Heat rivalry
The rivalry between the New York Knicks and the expansion Miami Heat was a result of their history-making brutally physical four consecutive playoff series from 1997 to 2000. Each series went to the maximum number of games. The rivalry's central figure was Pat Riley, the head coach of both teams (the early 90s for the Knicks and the late 90s for the Heat). Jeff Van Gundy took over Riley's stint as head coach of the Knicks, while his elder brother Stan Van Gundy was simultaneously an assistant coach for the Heat. Patrick Ewing and Alonzo Mourning, friends from their Georgetown college basketball period. Larry Johnson, one of the Knicks, held bad blood with Mourning as far back as their days in the Charlotte Hornets. The first two years were marked by physical violence during the series, with suspensions to players that ultimately determined the outcome. Some of the rivals' most memorable moments came when Jeff Van Gundy latched onto Mourning's leg during an altercation; when Charlie Ward collided with P.J. Brown, who flipped Ward over his head and body-slammed him; when Pat Riley leaned against the wall in defeat after Mourning was ejected in a fight with Larry Johnson; when Tim Hardaway vanquished the Knicks in 1997 after Mourning sat with his fifth foul; and when Latrell Sprewell taunted the fans after Allan Houston's game winning shot in 1999. In 1997, the Heat became one of the (as of now) eight teams to win a series after trailing 3-1, while the Knicks of 1999 became the second eighth seed to upset the 1st seed in league history.
In recent years, the rivalry has reignited with the Heat signing LeBron James (after some speculation that he would join the Knicks) and Chris Bosh while the Knicks signed Amar'e Stoudemire and traded for Carmelo Anthony. They met in the first round of the 2012 NBA Playoffs, which was won by the Heat in five games.
Chicago Bulls
Main article: Bulls–Heat rivalry
The rivalry with the Chicago Bulls began once the Miami Heat became contenders during the 1990s, a decade dominated by the Bulls, and the advent of the Michael Jordan era. During that period, the Heat were eliminated three times by the Bulls, who would go on to win the NBA championship each time. After Jordan retired and the Heat's fall in the early 2000s, the rivalry cooled but slightly picked up when the Heat faced them in the first round of the 2006 NBA playoffs, which ended in a 4–2 Heat series victory and went on to win the NBA Finals, the Bulls would sweep the defending champion Heat in the first round the next season.
The rivalry has intensified with the resurgence of the Bulls, and the emergence of Derrick Rose and the Heat re-signing Dwyane Wade (who turned down a chance of joining his hometown Bulls) with newly acquired superstars in Chris Bosh and LeBron James (who spurned a chance of teaming up with Rose in Chicago). The revived rivalry has been very physical, involving rough plays and hard fouls between players. Both teams met in the 2011 Eastern Conference Finals, with the Heat winning in five games.
The Bulls ended the Heat's record-setting 27 game win streak on March 27, 2013, with a 101-97 victory at the United Center in Chicago.[7] Despite playing without Derrick Rose, Joakim Noah, Richard "Rip" Hamilton, and Marco Belinelli, the Bulls managed to end the second longest win streak in basketball history.
The rivalry would continue into the 2013 NBA Playoffs when the Heat would play the Bulls in the second round. The Bulls ended another Miami Heat winning streak by beating the Heat 93-87 in game 1. The Heat came back in game 2 and set a record for the largest margin of victory in franchise playoff history with a 115-78 win. The Bulls also set a record for the worst playoff defeat in franchise history. The 51 personal fouls were the most in a playoff game since 1995. In Game 3, Nazr Mohammed was ejected for shoving LeBron James early in the second quarter. Norris Cole had his jersey ripped by Taj Gibson while driving to the basket for a layup. Joakim Noah was seen applauding and cheering on the image of Chris Bosh arguing with Mario Chalmers. Noah received a technical foul for shoving Chris Andersen after he fell on Nate Robinson. Chalmers received a flagrant foul for ringing his arm around Noah's neck. Taj Gibson and Noah were both ejected in the same game for yelling at the refs.
Boston Celtics
The two teams first squared off in the playoffs in 2010, with the Celtics defeating the Heat four games to one en route to an eventual NBA Finals appearance by the Celtics. Having suffered first round losses in three straight years, it was the loss to the Celtics that prompted Dwyane Wade to declare that the loss would be "my last" in the first round for the near future.
LeBron James' own enmity with the Boston Celtics can be found as far back as his days with the Cleveland Cavaliers, where the Celtics upset the Cavaliers in 2008 and 2010. Among the two Heat stars, Wade went as far as to say that he personally hates the Celtics, with James' own disdain for Boston manifesting in how he referred to the Celtics exclusively as "that team" in 2011. With the acquisition of both James and Chris Bosh in 2010, the Heat challenged the Celtics for dominance in the Eastern Conference; James claimed that the formation of the Heat's Big 3 was to mirror the formation of the Celtics' Big 3 in Paul Pierce, Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett. After dropping the first three games versus the Celtics in the regular season, Miami prevailed in their fourth encounter, taking the 2nd seed from the Celtics and gaining home court advantage for their eventual match-up of the postseason. The teams met in the Eastern Conference Semifinals of the 2011 NBA Playoffs, where Paul Pierce was ejected in Game 1, Dwyane Wade inadvertently broke Rajon Rondo's arm in Game 3 and James scored the final ten points in the deciding Game 5. James could be found roaring to the fans as the Celtics' end came, even kneeling to the ground in relief after finally defeating the Celtics. The rivalry would continue in the following season, where the Heat again took home court advantage over the Celtics, though Boston again won the season series over the Heat. Despite the loss of Bosh to injury in the Semifinals, the Heat took a 2-0 lead before the Celtics won the next three games; the first five games included two overtimes, Rondo's 44 point performance in Game 2, as well as Pierce and James fouling in Game 4. James' 45 point performance in Game 6 at Boston forced a deciding seventh game, where the two teams traded blows deep into the third and fourth quarters, before Miami pulled away with a 4-3 victory en route to the NBA Finals.
In the offseason, the Celtics' Big 3 was broken up following Ray Allen's joining of the Heat. When asked about their immediate reactions to their teammate leaving for their rival, Kevin Garnett claimed that he deleted Allen's phone number, while Paul Pierce admitted that it "hurt", though he still considers Allen "a brother to me" for their 2008 championship run. Although the two teams would not meet in the playoffs, the animosity continued in their four regular season games. The season opener - a Heat victory - included Rondo clothes-lining Wade's neck, Garnett snubbing a handshake from Allen pre-game, and Garnett throwing an elbow at Mario Chalmers. During Miami's 2013 Streak, Paul Pierce went on record to say that he wished for Miami to lose all of its remaining games by that point. When James voiced his displeasure over the Chicago Bulls' physicality against him, Boston's general manager Danny Ainge called it "embarrassing" for LeBron to complain about it. Pat Riley, the Heat team president, retorted that "Danny should shut the fuck up." The teams met during the Streak, where it was five years to the day that the Celtics' stopped the Houston Rockets' own 20+-game winning streak. It ended in a Heat victory, one that featured James dunking on Jason Terry; he received a technical foul for staring down at Terry post-dunk. When asked about it after the game by reporters, James stated that he was "glad it happened to him".
Indiana Pacers
A recent rivalry was triggered with the Indiana Pacers in the Eastern Conference Semifinals of the 2012 NBA Playoffs. Although the two previous met in the 2004 NBA Playoffs (where Indiana won 4-2), the only two players still left from either teams are Dwyane Wade and Udonis Haslem of the Heat. Both head coaches were fined for statements made relating to the officiating: Frank Vogel accused the Heat of flopping before the series started, while Erik Spoelstra took offense to what he perceived to be deliberate head-hunting of his players on the part of the Pacers. Indiana took a brief 2-1 lead after Miami's Chris Bosh was sidelined with an abdominal strain. Powered by an impeccable tag-team from LeBron James and Dwyane Wade, Miami would cap off 3 straight to take the series 4-2. This series was marked by several confrontations, suspensions and flagrant fouls between the players: Tyler Hansbrough's flagrant foul on Dwyane Wade (which drew blood), Udonis Haslem's retaliatory flagrant foul on Hansborough (which led to Haslem's Game 6 suspension), Wade colliding with Darren Collison in transition, Juwan Howard confronting Lance Stephenson over the latter's flashing of the choke sign to James and Dexter Pittman elbowing Stephenson in the neck (which led to his own three-game suspension). Indiana's Danny Granger received technical fouls in three consecutive games for his confrontations with Heat players; he stripped James of his headband in Game 2 while attempting to block a shot, pulled the back of LeBron James' jersey in Game 3 while trying to stop a fast-break, and chest-bumped Dwyane Wade in Game 4 after the latter was fouled by Roy Hibbert.
The following season saw improvements for both teams, from Miami's acquisition of Ray Allen and Chris Andersen, to the emergence of Paul George and Lance Stephenson. Notably, it was after the Heat lost to the Pacers that they compiled a 27-game winning streak; the last time the Heat lost two in a row in the year were the games against Indiana and Portland. During the waning minutes of Game 6 in the Semifinals between the Pacers and the New York Knicks, the Pacers' fans were chanting "Beat The Heat" as their team beat their old New York rivals. True to form, the Heat and the Pacers met in the Conference Finals of the 2013 NBA Playoffs on May 22, 2013. Several instances of physicality became prominent in the series: Shane Battier received an offensive foul for throwing his knee at Hibbert's midsection; Hibbert claimed that it was intentional dirty play on the part of Battier. Chris Andersen suffered a bloodied nose after colliding with David West. Ian Mahinmi received a retroactive flagrant foul for a grab of LeBron James' arm. Norris Cole latched a hand on David West's groin area as he tried to slip through West. Dwyane Wade received a retroactive flagrant foul for hitting Stephenson in the head, another incident that the Pacers, notably Paul George, felt was a dirty play. The Heat survived Game 1 on a James game-winning layup, while the Pacers came back to tie the series at 1-1 after forcing James into two late fourth-quarter turnovers for Game 2. In Game 3, the Heat set a team record for points in a postseason half with 70. It was the first time the Pacers had given up 70 points since 1992. Ray Allen's single turnover was the least ever suffered by the Heat in a first half. Their five total turnovers is tied for the least in franchise history. Incidentally, the Game 3 victory marks the first time ever that an NBA team won five straight road games by double digits. The Heat would go on to win the series 4-3, with a 99-76 win in game 7.
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