Miami-Dallas: The Strangest Finals Rematch Ever
Posted by Neil Paine on May 28, 2011
Finals rematches usually involve a familiar cast of characters with a great deal of bad blood built up over past battles, right? Repeat clashes where any roster change is minimal, and the two teams can draw on that shared experience to develop strategies going forward... Like the 1985 Finals, where the two teams' playoff rosters had 21 common players from the year before.
That's the mental picture we get when we think of a championship rematch, at least. But not this year. There are only four common players between the 2006 and 2011 Finalists' playoff rosters:
Udonis Haslem
Dirk Nowitzki
Jason Terry
Dwyane Wade
Among Finals rematches that took place within 6 seasons of the initial matchup, that's the fewest common players in league history:
| Franchise | Franchise | 1st Finals | 2nd Finals | Common Players |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Heat | Mavericks | 2006 | 2011 | 4 |
| Celtics | Rockets | 1981 | 1986 | 5 |
| Celtics | Lakers | 1963 | 1968 | 6 |
| Lakers | Nationals | 1950 | 1954 | 7 |
| Celtics | Lakers | 1962 | 1966 | 7 |
| Lakers | Knicks | 1970 | 1972 | 7 |
| Celtics | Hawks | 1957 | 1961 | 8 |
| Celtics | Hawks | 1958 | 1961 | 8 |
| Celtics | Lakers | 1962 | 1965 | 8 |
| Celtics | Hawks | 1957 | 1960 | 9 |
| Celtics | Lakers | 1965 | 1969 | 9 |
| Celtics | Lakers | 1966 | 1969 | 9 |
| Celtics | Hawks | 1958 | 1960 | 10 |
| Celtics | Lakers | 1959 | 1962 | 10 |
| Celtics | Lakers | 1959 | 1963 | 10 |
| Celtics | Lakers | 1963 | 1966 | 10 |
| Celtics | Lakers | 1965 | 1968 | 10 |
| Knicks | Lakers | 1970 | 1973 | 10 |
| Celtics | Lakers | 1966 | 1968 | 11 |
| 76ers | Lakers | 1980 | 1983 | 11 |
| Celtics | Lakers | 1963 | 1965 | 12 |
| Lakers | Celtics | 1984 | 1987 | 12 |
| Lakers | Celtics | 1985 | 1987 | 12 |
| Lakers | Knicks | 1952 | 1953 | 13 |
| Celtics | Lakers | 1968 | 1969 | 13 |
| Celtics | Lakers | 1962 | 1963 | 14 |
| Knicks | Lakers | 1972 | 1973 | 14 |
| Lakers | 76ers | 1980 | 1982 | 14 |
| Lakers | Celtics | 2008 | 2010 | 15 |
| Hawks | Celtics | 1957 | 1958 | 16 |
| Celtics | Hawks | 1960 | 1961 | 16 |
| Pistons | Lakers | 1988 | 1989 | 16 |
| SuperSonics | Bullets | 1978 | 1979 | 17 |
| 76ers | Lakers | 1982 | 1983 | 18 |
| Celtics | Lakers | 1965 | 1966 | 19 |
| Bulls | Jazz | 1997 | 1998 | 20 |
| Lakers | Celtics | 1984 | 1985 | 21 |
Now, one could certainly make the case that Nowitzki and Wade are so important that the lack of commonality is being overstated, but you be the judge -- here are the other Finals with the fewest common elements:
| 2006-11 Finals | 1981-86 Finals | 1963-68 Finals |
|---|---|---|
| Udonis Haslem | Larry Bird | Elgin Baylor |
| Dirk Nowitzki | Allen Leavell | John Havlicek |
| Jason Terry | Kevin McHale | Sam Jones |
| Dwyane Wade | Robert Parish | Bill Russell |
| Robert Reid | Tom Sanders | |
| Jerry West | ||
| 1950-54 Finals | 1962-66 Finals | 1970-72 Finals |
| Bill Gabor | Elgin Baylor | Jerry West |
| Slater Martin | Sam Jones | Dick Barnett |
| George Mikan | Bill Russell | Bill Bradley |
| Vern Mikkelsen | Tom Sanders | Wilt Chamberlain |
| Jim Pollard | Jerry West | Dave DeBusschere |
| Dolph Schayes | K.C. Jones | Walt Frazier |
| Paul Seymour | Rudy LaRusso | Happy Hairston |
The only other Finals that really compares is 1986, which also took place 6 seasons after the initial matchup, but only the Rockets really turned their roster over as substantially as Dallas and Miami have -- the Celtics' core group of Hall of Famers (Larry Bird, Kevin McHale, Robert Parish) was still intact from 1981 when they met Houston again in '86.
In truth, compared to Finals rematches of the past, Dallas-Miami is barely a rematch at all. Aside from Nowitzki, Wade, Terry, Haslem, and the fact that American Airlines is going to get great brand exposure again, this might as well be an entirely new matchup.
May 28th, 2011 at 8:36 pm
Do yoou not count Willis Reed, because he was injured for the '72 playoffs, even though he was on the team?
May 28th, 2011 at 9:03 pm
No, I'm not counting guys who didn't play in the playoffs.
May 29th, 2011 at 12:46 am
Are we expecting Dampier any time soon?
May 29th, 2011 at 3:12 am
Dampier bridges the gap. He remembers his time in Dallas, and he seethes - he'll ignite the Heat with emotional outbursts, locker-room leadership, etc... don't know how many minutes he'll get though.
May 29th, 2011 at 2:53 pm
Speaking of Dampier, can we get a list of guys who played in the Finals against a former Finals team? I think that'd be interesting to see how many guys "switched sides" and ended up winning (or losing).
And let's not forget Cuban and Riley (albeit in a different capacity than 2006). I think they carry enough weight, along with Dirk and Wade, to still feel like a true rematch.
May 29th, 2011 at 4:16 pm
Both are strange, but Boston-Houston 1986 was a stranger rematch.
At least in 2011, both teams still have the best player from their previous appearance (Nowitzki and Wade) - in 1986, Moses Malone was long gone.
Pat Riley isn't coaching the 2011 Mavericks - but the coach of the 1981 Celtics, Bill Fitch, was in 1986 coaching against the team he won his championship with.
The 1986 Rockets weren't the winners of a contest between bad and worse, as it was in 1981; Both Western Conference Finalists then had a record of 40-42. In 1986 it was the 51-31 Rockets defeating the defending champion LA Lakers (62-20).
May 29th, 2011 at 11:18 pm
ricardo-
good point about fitch coaching the 1986 rockets vs. the celtics after leading boston to the 81 title over houston. if i recall correctly, houston had tried to hire tom heinsohn out of the CBS broadcast booth to coach them before hiring fitch. seems like they wanted some celtic mojo. may still now with the likely hiring of mchale.
May 29th, 2011 at 11:56 pm
off the top of my head, other than the 1997-98 chicago vs. utah Finals, it seems that the team who lost the first time has won the rematch since 1970...
1970 NY over LA
1972 LA over NY
1973 NY over LA
1978 Wash over Sea
1979 Sea over Wash
1982 LA over Philly
1983 Philly over LA
1984 Boston over LA
1985 LA over Boston
1988 LA over Detroit
1989 Detroit over LA
2008 Boston over LA
2010 LA over Boston
Some exceptions...1982 LA over Philly after Lakers beat 76ers in 1980; 1987 LA over Boston after 85 same result. But in 87 Boston was decimated by injury and a brutal gauntlet to just reach the Finals.
May 30th, 2011 at 3:15 am
also
1957 boston over st louis
1958 st. louis over boston
1960 & 61 boston over st louis
May 30th, 2011 at 7:22 am
#8
Those are A LOT of exceptions.
"Some exceptions...1982 LA over Philly after Lakers beat 76ers in 1980; 1987 LA over Boston after 85 same result. But in 87 Boston was decimated by injury and a brutal gauntlet to just reach the Finals."
And Boston in 81 and 86. You made it sound absolute until the end. Bulls, Lakers, Lakers, Celtics.
Also teams frequently lose Conference Finals to the same opponent, think of the Kings vs the Lakers. It wasn't the Finals but it was the real Finals.
http://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/SAC/2001.html
http://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/SAC/2002.html
May 30th, 2011 at 7:24 am
It is better to think of the top teams facing each other, rather than Finals opponents.
I forgot the Spurs in 2001 and 2002 as well, when they kept losing to the Lakers. 1st and 3rd in SRS.
May 30th, 2011 at 2:06 pm
There were just 7 players in common between the 1970 and 1972 Knicks and Lakers;
but there were 10 common players between '70 and '73 ?
Mentioned earlier, Willis Reed missed the '72 Finals but returned in '73.
For the Lakers, Keith Erickson did likewise. Also Mel Counts returned to his 1970 team.
May 31st, 2011 at 11:17 am
The interesting thing is that neither team (particularly the Heat) would likely be in the Finals if not for all the re-tooling. If the Heat were still trotting out Shaq, Mourning, Wade, and Haslem, I doubt they get out of the basement.
June 1st, 2011 at 1:40 pm
huevon
only a couple exceptions, and when i started writing the post in my head i meant teams who met in back to back years. the 2 exceptions i pointed out were finals with a year in between (80/82, 85/87). but i expanded it to include Finals with a year off in between because the teams were similar in makeup to the first meeting.
only time the team who won first in back to back Finals won again was chicago in 97-98 vs utah. and the refs had a lot to do with that.
i dont consider 1981 and 1986 boston v. houston a real "rematch". bird and parish returned as starters, mchale was a key rookie reserve in 1981 yet a big star by 86. other than that no celtic remained from 81 in 86. only rocket who played a key role in 81 and was still there as a starter 86 was robert reid, although he had moved from forward to guard. allen leavell was a backup guard both series. he did play a key role in 81 off the bench, but not in 86.
i do agree that the 2002 lakers/kings conf finals was the REAL finals. kings should have won. same could be said of boston/philly in 1981 ECF, although they met three years in a row in the ECF; SA/Dallas in 2003 WCF too.
June 2nd, 2011 at 8:33 am
There are multiple exceptions.
Chicago/New York? Chicago/Cleveland, Pistons/Chicago, LA/SA, LA/Sac, LA/Portland, Utah/LA (90's), LA/Utah (2008-2010), etc. There are multiple instances within a conference.
Game 5 2002: Shaq got 1 FT and fouled out in 32 minutes. Lakers lost by 1 point, just looks like you dislike them.
If Shaq and Kobe play 44-40 minutes a game each, why shouldn't the Lakers win? They weren't as deep as Sac but they shortened their rotation. Take out some of Samaki Walker and Devean George's minutes for Shaq and Kobe.
June 2nd, 2011 at 8:34 am
And Jordan took 27 shots a game in that 98 series, he's going to get calls.