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The 2011–12 Miami Heat season was the franchise's 24th season in the National Basketball Association (NBA). They came into the season as the defending Eastern Conference champions, the second season playing with the "Big Three" of Dwyane Wade, LeBron James, and Chris Bosh, and the fourth season under head coach Erik Spoelstra. Prior to the beginning of the season, they looked to bounce back from their disappointing finish to the previous year where they lost to the Dallas Mavericks in the NBA Finals.

Following the 2011 NBA lockout, the Heat played only 66 games this season and finished with a 46–20 record, roughly the equivalent of 57–25. They won their division for the 9th time and appeared in the Eastern Conference Finals for the 5th time. For the second consecutive year, Wade, James, and Bosh were all selected to the 2012 NBA All-Star Game, tying the record for the most Heat players sent to an All-Star game in franchise history.

In the playoffs, they met the New York Knicks in first round, reigniting the Heat-Knicks rivalry as it was their first postseason meeting since 2000. However, the notion of a heated rivalry fell flat as the Heat defeated the Knicks in 5 games, beating their arch rivals in a playoff series for the first time since 1997. Next, they faced Indiana Pacers in the conference semifinals and defeated them in 6 games despite losing Bosh in Game 1 to injury. Then, in the Eastern Conference Finals, the Heat met the Boston Celtics for their third consecutive postseason meeting. The Heat took a 2–0 series lead before losing 3 straight. However, the Heat forced a Game 7 thanks to an epic 45 point performance by James in Game 6. On June 9, 2012, the Heat won Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals to advance to the NBA Finals for the second consecutive year and 3rd time in franchise history.

In the NBA Finals, the Heat faced the Oklahoma City Thunder, who entered the NBA Finals as favorites thanks to home court advantage. Despite losing Game 1 in Oklahoma City, the Heat battled back by winning the next three straight games to take a 3–1 series lead. On June 21, 2012, the Miami Heat won the NBA Championship at home against the Oklahoma City Thunder with a 121–106 Game 5 victory, winning the NBA Finals 4–1 to become the 2012 NBA Champions. This was the second NBA championship for the franchise, as well as the Heat's first since 2006. They also became the third (and final) team under the 2-3-2 format to win the middle three games at home, the others being their 2006 team and the 2004 Detroit Pistons. LeBron James won an NBA championship for the first time in his career, and was awarded the 2012 NBA Finals MVP. During their postseason run, the 2011-12 Miami Heat became the second team in NBA history to win a championship despite trailing three separate times in a postseason series (2–1 in the conference semifinals, 3–2 in the conference finals, and 0–1 in the NBA Finals), with the first being the 1995 Houston Rockets.

Key dates

• June 23: The 2011 NBA draft took place at Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.
• December 9: The free agency period started.
• December 18: The Heat pre-season started with a game against the Orlando Magic.
• December 25: The Heat avenged their 2011 NBA Finals loss with a 105–94 win over the Dallas Mavericks to open the season.
• December 27: The Heat won their home opener against the Boston Celtics 115–107.
• February 7: With a 19–6 season start, the Heat marked their best start in franchise history.
• February 14: The Heat became the first team to win three road games (Hawks, Bucks, & Pacers) on three consecutive nights by double digits since the 1970–71 Milwaukee Bucks.
• February 23: The Heat went into the All Star Break with their best win percentage (.794) in team history.
• February 25–26: The 2012 NBA All-Star Weekend took place.
• April 3: The Heat clinched a playoff spot with a 99–93 win over the Philadelphia 76ers.
• April 15: The Heat clinched a back to back (9th) Southeast Division title with a 93–85 win over the New York Knicks.
• April 22: The Heat defeated the Houston Rockets 97–88 in their final regular season home game.
• April 24: The Heat clinched the 2nd seed for the Eastern Conference after losing to the Boston Celtics 78–66.
• April 26: The Heat ended the regular season with a 104–70 loss against the Washington Wizards.
• May 9: The Heat defeated the New York Knicks in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference First Round, advancing to the Conference Semi-finals.
• May 24: The Heat defeated the Indiana Pacers in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Semi-finals, advancing to the Conference Finals.
• June 9: The Heat defeated the Boston Celtics in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals, advancing to the 2012 NBA Finals.
• June 21: The Heat defeated the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 5 of the NBA Finals, winning the franchise's second championship. LeBron James was named NBA Finals MVP.

Season summary

When the Heat made it all the way to the finals in Dwyane Wade, LeBron James, and Chris Bosh's first year playing together, they were seen as heavy favorites from the Eastern Conference to return in 2012. The team's original starting lineup was:
C – Joel Anthony
PF – Chris Bosh
SF – LeBron James
SG – Dwyane Wade
PG – Mario Chalmers

The starting lineup would go through many changes as the season went on. The finals lineup in the NBA Finals is listed above.

Draft picks

Round	Pick	Player	Position	Nationality	College/Team
2	31	Bojan Bogdanović (traded to Minnesota Timberwolves)	SF/SG	Croatia	Fenerbahçe Ülker

Roster

Pre-season

Regular season

Standings

Game log

Playoffs

Game log

Player statistics

Regular season

• Denotes player spent time with another team in the season. Stats reflect time with the Heat only.

Playoffs

Awards, records and milestones

Awards

Week/Month

• On January 3, 2012 LeBron James was named Eastern Conference's Player of the Week (December 25 – January 1).
• On January 9, 2012 LeBron James was named Eastern Conference's Player of the Week (January 2 – January 8).
• On January 30, 2012 LeBron James was named Eastern Conference's Player of the Week (January 23 – January 29).
• On February 3, 2012 LeBron James was named Eastern Conference's Player of the Month (December – January).
• On February 20, 2012 LeBron James was named Eastern Conference's Player of the Week (February 13 – February 19).
• On March 1, 2012 Erik Spoelstra was named Eastern Conference's Coach of the Month (February).
• On March 2, 2012 LeBron James was named Eastern Conference's Player of the Month (February).
• On April 9, 2012 LeBron James was named Eastern Conference's Player of the Week (April 2 – April 8).
• On April 23, 2012 LeBron James was named Eastern Conference's Player of the Week (April 16 – April 22).

All-Star

• LeBron James was voted to his 8th consecutive NBA All-Star Game as a starter (8th consecutive time as a starter).
• Dwyane Wade was voted to his 8th consecutive NBA All-Star Game (7th consecutive time as a starter).
• Chris Bosh was selected to his 7th consecutive NBA All-Star Game (5th consecutive time as a reserve).
• Mario Chalmers and James Jones were selected to participate in the 2012 NBA All-Star Three-point Shootout.
• Rookie Norris Cole was selected to participate in the 2012 Rising Stars challenge.

Season

• On May 12, 2012 LeBron James won the NBA Most Valuable Player Award for the 3rd time (1st with the Heat).
• On May 23, 2012 LeBron James was named to the NBA All-Defensive First Team for the 4th consecutive time (2nd with the Heat).
• On May 24, 2012 LeBron James was named to the All-NBA First Team.
• On May 24, 2012 Dwyane Wade was named to the All-NBA Third Team.

Playoffs

• On June 21, 2012 LeBron James was named the NBA Finals Most Valuable Player.

Records

• On February 3, 2012 LeBron James became the youngest player to have reached 18,000 career points.
• On April 19, 2012 LeBron James became the youngest player to have reached 19,000 career points.

Milestones

• On February 3, 2012 LeBron James reached 18,000 career points.
• On March 26, 2012 Dwyane Wade reached 600 career blocks.
• On April 19, 2012 LeBron James reached 19,000 career points.

Transactions

Trades

Free agents

Additions

Subtractions

See also

• 2011–12 NBA season

References

1. "LeBron James wins 2012 Kia NBA Most Valuable Player Award". NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. May 12, 2012. Archived from the original on May 12, 2012. Retrieved May 14, 2012.
2. "Heat's James top vote-getter among All-Defensive Team picks". NBA. Archived from the original on May 25, 2012. Retrieved May 23, 2012.
3. ^ "LeBron, Durant highlight 2011-12 All-NBA First Team". NBA. Archived from the original on June 22, 2012. Retrieved May 25, 2012.
4. "Danny Granger nets 25 as Pacers hand Heat 2nd straight double-digit loss". ESPN. Associated Press. Archived from the original on March 27, 2012. Retrieved April 4, 2012.

• Miami Heat seasons
• 2011 in sports in Florida
• 2012 in sports in Florida
• 2011–12 NBA season by team
• Eastern Conference (NBA) championship seasons
• NBA championship seasons