NBA 2006/07
National Basketball Association | |||
◄ previous | 2006/07 season | next ► | |
Duration | October 31, 2006 - June 14, 2007 | ||
Season games per team | 82 | ||
Number of teams | 30th | ||
Regular season | |||
Best record | Dallas Mavericks | ||
Season MVP | Dirk Nowitzki | ||
Top scorer | Kobe Bryant | ||
Playoffs | |||
Eastern - Champion | Cleveland Cavaliers | ||
Runner-up team | Detroit Pistons | ||
Western - Champion | San Antonio Spurs | ||
Runner-up team | Utah Jazz | ||
Finals | |||
NBA champions | San Antonio Spurs | ||
Runner-up | Cleveland Cavaliers | ||
Finals MVP | Tony Parker |
The 2006–07 NBA season marked the National Basketball Association's 61st season . The regular season began on October 31, 2006 and ended on April 18, 2007 . 30 teams, each playing 82 games, took part. The top eight in each conference qualified for the NBA Playoffs , which began on April 21, 2007 and were completed by the NBA Finals on June 14 .
The San Antonio Spurs won the NBA championship for the fourth time in the club's history. In the NBA Finals, they defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers 4-0.
The German Dirk Nowitzki of the Dallas Mavericks was the first European player in NBA history to be voted Most Valuable Player (best player of the season).
Season Notes
- For the second year in a row, the New Orleans Hornets played their home games in two cities: New Orleans and Oklahoma City .
- Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers switched to the 24th after ten years with the shirt number 8.
- On June 28, 2006 , the day of the NBA Draft , a new ball was unveiled. After complaints from players and coaches, the league officials reintroduced the previously used ball on January 1, 2007 .
- The Phoenix Suns' 161-157 victory over the New Jersey Nets on December 7, 2006 was the fourth-highest score in an NBA game.
- When the Denver Nuggets played against the New York Knicks ( December 16 ), a few minutes before the end of the game there was a mass brawl between the players. All ten players who were in the game at the time were sent off. Seven of them (including Carmelo Anthony and Nate Robinson ) were subsequently suspended for a total of 47 games.
- After 11 seasons with the Philadelphia 76ers , All-Star Guard Allen Iverson was traded to the Denver Nuggets .
- The 2007 NBA All-Star Game took place on February 18 at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas . This season highlight took place for the first time on a college campus ( University of Nevada, Las Vegas ) and in a city that does not have an NBA team. The West selection defeated the East 153-132. Kobe Bryant was voted MVP after scoring 31 points.
- Kobe Bryant scored four consecutive 50-point games in March (against the Portland Trail Blazers , Minnesota Timberwolves , Memphis Grizzlies and New Orleans Hornets ). During the entire season he was able to record ten games in which he made at least 50 points.
- After there were inconsistencies in the seeding list for the NBA playoffs last season , this was changed slightly. This means that the best team that does not win its own division can now stand in front of division winners if they have a better record. This prevents the two best teams in a conference from meeting each other before the conference finals.
- The NBA finished the 2006/07 regular season with the highest attendance ever (21,841,480, 17,757 viewers per game).
Final results
S = wins, N = defeats, PCT = percentage of wins, P = deficit on division leaders
The placements in the seed lists of the respective conference playoffs are listed in brackets.
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Leading the player stats
category | player | team | value |
---|---|---|---|
Points per game | Kobe Bryant | Los Angeles Lakers | 31.6 |
Rebounds per game | Kevin Garnett | Minnesota Timberwolves | 12.8 |
Assists per game | Steve Nash | Phoenix Suns | 11.6 |
Steals per game | Baron Davis | Golden State Warriors | 2.14 |
Blocks per game | Marcus Camby | Denver nuggets | 3.3 |
Field throw quota | Mikki Moore | New Jersey Nets | 60.6% |
Free throw rate | Kyle Korver | Philadelphia 76ers | 91.4% |
Three-point throw quota | Jason Kapono | Miami Heat | 51.4% |
Honors
- Most Valuable Player : Dirk Nowitzki , Dallas Mavericks
- Defensive Player of the Year : Marcus Camby , Denver Nuggets
- Rookie of the Year : Brandon Roy , Portland Trail Blazers
- Sixth Man of the Year : Leandro Barbosa , Phoenix Suns
- Most Improved Player : Monta Ellis , Golden State Warriors
- Coach of the Year : Sam Mitchell , Toronto Raptors
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All-NBA First Team :
- F - Dirk Nowitzki , Dallas Mavericks
- F - Tim Duncan , San Antonio Spurs
- C - Amar'e Stoudemire , Phoenix Suns
- G - Steve Nash , Phoenix Suns
- G - Kobe Bryant , Los Angeles Lakers
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All-NBA Second Team:
- F - LeBron James , Cleveland Cavaliers
- F - Chris Bosh , Toronto Raptors
- C - Yao Ming , Houston Rockets
- G - Gilbert Arenas , Washington Wizards
- G - Tracy McGrady , Houston Rockets
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All-NBA Third Team:
- F - Kevin Garnett , Minnesota Timberwolves
- F - Carmelo Anthony , Denver Nuggets
- C - Dwight Howard , Orlando Magic
- G - Dwyane Wade , Miami Heat
- G - Chauncey Billups , Detroit Pistons
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NBA All-Defensive First Team :
- F - Bruce Bowen , San Antonio Spurs
- F - Tim Duncan , San Antonio Spurs
- C - Marcus Camby , Denver Nuggets
- G - Kobe Bryant , Los Angeles Lakers
- G - Raja Bell , Phoenix Suns
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NBA All-Defensive Second Team:
- F - Kevin Garnett , Minnesota Timberwolves
- F - Tayshaun Prince , Detroit Pistons
- C - Ben Wallace , Chicago Bulls
- G - Kirk Hinrich , Chicago Bulls
- G - Jason Kidd , New Jersey Nets
- All-NBA Rookie First Team :
- All-NBA Rookie Second Team:
Play-offs 2007
All play-off rounds are played in best-of-seven mode.
First round | Conference semifinals | Conference Finals | NBA finals | |||||||||||||||
1 | * Detroit | 4th | ||||||||||||||||
8th | Orlando | 0 | ||||||||||||||||
1 | Detroit | 4th | ||||||||||||||||
5 | Chicago | 2 | ||||||||||||||||
4th | * Miami | 0 | ||||||||||||||||
5 | Chicago | 4th | ||||||||||||||||
1 | Detroit | 2 | ||||||||||||||||
Eastern Conference | ||||||||||||||||||
2 | Cleveland | 4th | ||||||||||||||||
3 | * Toronto | 2 | ||||||||||||||||
6th | New Jersey | 4th | ||||||||||||||||
6th | New Jersey | 2 | ||||||||||||||||
2 | Cleveland | 4th | ||||||||||||||||
2 | Cleveland | 4th | ||||||||||||||||
7th | Washington | 0 | ||||||||||||||||
E2 | Cleveland | 0 | ||||||||||||||||
W3 | San Antonio | 4th | ||||||||||||||||
1 | * Dallas | 2 | ||||||||||||||||
8th | Golden State | 4th | ||||||||||||||||
8th | Golden State | 1 | ||||||||||||||||
4th | Utah | 4th | ||||||||||||||||
4th | * Utah | 4th | ||||||||||||||||
5 | Houston | 3 | ||||||||||||||||
4th | Utah | 1 | ||||||||||||||||
Western Conference | ||||||||||||||||||
3 | San Antonio | 4th | ||||||||||||||||
3 | San Antonio | 4th | ||||||||||||||||
6th | Denver | 1 | ||||||||||||||||
3 | San Antonio | 4th | ||||||||||||||||
2 | Phoenix | 2 | ||||||||||||||||
2 | * Phoenix | 4th | ||||||||||||||||
7th | LA Lakers | 1 |
* Division winner
Play-off notes
- The Houston Rockets and Chicago Bulls each had the home advantage in the first round, although they were lower than their respective opponents. Both teams had a better season record, but played against division champions.
- The biggest surprise in the first play-off round was certainly the Golden State Warriors . They threw the Dallas Mavericks 4-2 out of the race and were the first team in a best-of-seven series (and third team ever) to be ranked 8th, beating first place.
- Since the Miami Heat were also eliminated, both last year's finalists were eliminated in the first round.
- In the first round, Jason Kidd of the New Jersey Nets was able to record a triple-double on average . He made an average of 14.0 points, 10.0 rebounds and 13.2 assists in the six games against the Toronto Raptors . He achieved this for the second time in his career (after the Conference Finals in 2002 against the Boston Celtics ). Before him, only Wilt Chamberlain and Magic Johnson managed to triple-double in a play-off series more than once in their careers.
- The conference semifinal series between the San Antonio Spurs and the Phoenix Suns became one of the most hotly contested in recent times. It was characterized by hard work, which culminated in a bleeding nose from Steve Nash and game bans for Amar'e Stoudemire and Boris Diaw in Game 5 and for Robert Horry in Games 5 and 6. The Spurs won the series 4-2 even though the Suns had the home advantage.
- On May 30, the Spurs qualified as the first finals participant after they could defeat the Utah Jazz 4-1 in the conference finals. They were in the NBA Finals for the fourth time in the club's history.
- On June 3, the Cleveland Cavaliers qualified for the first time in their club history for the NBA Finals. They won the sixth game against the Detroit Pistons with 98:82. Particularly important in this series was the fifth and penultimate game that Cleveland won after two extra time with 109: 107. LeBron James posted a franchise playoff record of 48 points in that game .
NBA Finals 2007
game | date | Home team | Away team | Result | was standing |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | June 7th | San Antonio | Cleveland | 85:76 | 1-0 |
2 | June 10th | San Antonio | Cleveland | 103: 92 | 2-0 |
3 | June 12 | Cleveland | San Antonio | 72:75 | 0: 3 |
4th | 14th June | Cleveland | San Antonio | 82:83 | 0: 4 |
- The 2007 NBA Finals began on June 7th and ended on June 14th after just four games. This was the first "sweep" in the NBA Finals for the Spurs, who won their fourth NBA title after 1999 , 2003 and 2005 . So far, only three other clubs have been champions at least four times ( Boston Celtics , Los Angeles Lakers and Chicago Bulls ).
- Tony Parker of the Spurs has been named the NBA Finals MVP . The Frenchman was the first European player in NBA history to receive this award. In the four games against the Cavaliers, Parker averaged 24.5 points per game, with a hit rate of 56.8 percent (42 of 74 throws).
- Robert Horry won his seventh NBA championship. He is the only non- Celtics player in NBA history who has ever won so many titles.
- Of the 22 finals that the San Antonio Spurs have played so far, they have won 16. The 72.7 percent win rate is the highest in NBA Finals history.