2010–11 Miami Heat season

The 2010–11 Miami Heat season was the 23rd season of the Miami Heat in the National Basketball Association (NBA). In the regular season, the Heat finished first in the Southeast Division with 58–24 record, and made the NBA playoffs for the 3rd consecutive year as the Eastern Conference's No. 2 seed (behind the Chicago Bulls).

2010–11 Miami Heat season
Conference champions
Division champions
Head coach	Erik Spoelstra
President	Pat Riley
Owner(s)	Micky Arison
Arena	American Airlines Arena
Results
Record	58–24 (.707)
Place	Division: 1st (Southeast) Conference: 2nd (Eastern)
Playoff finish	NBA Finals (lost to Mavericks 2–4)
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com
Local media
Television	Sun Sports
Radio	790 The Ticket
< 2009–10 2011–12 >

A Miami Heat practice session at the team's preseason training camp in Hurlburt Field, Florida, in late September 2010

Marked by the acquisition of perennial All-Stars LeBron James and Chris Bosh entering the 2010 NBA Free Agency period during the off-season, the Heat opened the season with extraordinarily high expectations,^[1][2] with many observers expecting a championship in the first year of the new lineup. With Bosh, James, and Wade having been ranked among the NBA's top players for many seasons in addition to being frequently sought-after big names looking to be courted by multiple teams during the 2010 NBA Free Agency signing spree at the time, team stars and 2003 draftees Chris Bosh, Dwyane Wade and LeBron James were predicted to potentially win an NBA championship in their first season together.^[3] Though the 2010-11 Miami Heat advanced to the 2011 NBA Finals after beating the Philadelphia 76ers, defending Eastern Conference champion Boston Celtics, and the Chicago Bulls, the team fell just short of their championship hopes by losing to the Dallas Mavericks in 6 games in the NBA Finals, in a rematch of the 2006 NBA Finals, which the Heat won in 6 games for their first championship.

Even though Miami's playoff run ended in disappointing fashion, the Heat nonetheless enjoyed a successful year, despite witnessing a sluggish 9–8 start to the regular season. They finished the regular season with 58 wins, won the Southeast Division, and entered the 2011 playoffs as the Eastern Conference's second seed. Pat Riley was named NBA Executive of the Year. Wade, James, and Bosh were all selected to the 2011 NBA All-Star Game, the most Heat players sent to an NBA All-Star game in franchise history. James earned All-NBA First Team honors, while Wade was bestowed with All-NBA Second Team honors.

Key dates

• June 24 – The 2010 NBA draft was held in New York City.
• July 1 – The free agency negotiation period began.
• July 9 – Dwyane Wade was re-signed, while Chris Bosh and LeBron James were signed to the Heat.
• October 26 – The Heat started the regular season on the road with an 88–80 loss to the Boston Celtics.
• October 29 – The Heat defeated the Orlando Magic 96–70 in the home opener.
• February 24 – Trade deadline.
• March 10 – The Heat clinched a playoff berth for the 2011 NBA Playoffs with a 94–88 win over the Los Angeles Lakers.
• March 18 – The Heat matched their victory total of the previous season with a 106–85 win against the Atlanta Hawks.
• April 3 – The Heat clinched the Southeast Division with a 108–94 win over the New Jersey Nets and an Orlando Magic loss.
• April 10 – The Heat defeated the Boston Celtics for the first time all season, 100–77, in their last regular-season home game.
• April 11 – The Heat clinched the 2nd seed for the Eastern Conference with a 98–90 win against the Atlanta Hawks and a Boston Celtics loss.
• April 13 – The Heat regular season concluded with a 97–79 victory against the Toronto Raptors.
• April 27 – The Heat advanced to the Eastern Conference Semi-finals with a win in Game 5 of the First round against the Philadelphia 76ers with the final score 97–91.
• May 11 – The Heat advanced to the Eastern Conference finals with a win in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Semi-finals against the Boston Celtics with the final score 97–87.
• May 26 – The Heat advanced to the NBA Finals for the first time since 2006 with a win in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference finals against the Chicago Bulls with the final score 83–80.
• June 12 – The Heat lost to the Dallas Mavericks in Game 6 of the NBA Finals and failed to capture their 2nd NBA Championship.

Summary

Offseason

The Miami Heat entered the 2010 NBA Free Agency period with nearly $46 million of salary cap space to spare, allowing the team to allocate enough financial resources to gain the ability to retain free agent and franchise player Dwyane Wade, as well as being able to pair him with two other perennial All-Stars and top-ranked NBA players at the time, LeBron James and Chris Bosh. According to Fox Sports Radio's Stephen A. Smith, speaking on his show just days after the NBA draft, the Heat were "highly likely" to sign all three players.^[4] As James became an unrestricted free agent at 12:01 am EDT on July 1, 2010, his name circulated heavily during the 2010 Free Agency signing spree as he was courted by the New Jersey Nets, New York Knicks, Los Angeles Clippers, Chicago Bulls, Cleveland Cavaliers, Dallas Mavericks and the Miami Heat; all of whom in negotiations looking to potentially sign him. On July 7, 2010, Wade and Bosh both agreed to their finalized contractual terms with the Miami Heat. Then next day on July 8, 2010, James held an hour-long special to announce his decision on ESPN to commit to playing with the Heat.^[5] Later that evening, the Heat announced the trade of Michael Beasley to the Minnesota Timberwolves for a pair of second round picks and cash considerations.^[6] The three are called the SuperFriends by many sportswriters and commentators, most notably those for ESPN, because all three were taken in the top five of the 2003 NBA Draft and because they have become good friends over the years.^[7]

On July 8, 2010, it became official that NBA superstars and gold medal-winning Beijing Olympic teammates LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh would be joining Miami. The Heat completed sign-and-trade deals, sending a total of four future first-round and two-second-round picks to the Cavaliers and Raptors for James and Bosh (both signing 6 years and $110.1 million contracts). Dwyane Wade re-signed with the Heat for $107.59 million for six years. All three stars have early termination clauses in their contracts, allowing them to become free agents again in the summer of 2014. The final year on all three deals, for 2015–16, is a player option.^[8][9][10] The three made their debut at the 2010 Summer Heat Welcome Party at the American Airlines Arena on July 9, where they were introduced as The Three Kings by Heat play-by-play announcer and event co-host Eric Reid.^[11] James predicted a dynasty for the Heat and alluded to multiple championships: "Not two, not three, not four, not five, not six, not seven".^[12][13] Howard Beck of The New York Times described the national fan reaction to the party: "Everyone saw something: greatness, arrogance, self-indulgence, boldness, cowardice, pride, friendship, collusion, joy, cynicism, heroes, mercenaries."^[14]

By taking less than maximum salaries, Wade, James and Bosh opened the door for the Heat to further continue its roster makeover with the resigning of Udonis Haslem and signing of veteran swingman and teammate of Haslem at the University of Florida, Mike Miller for dual 5-year deals worth a combined $45 million.^[15] In order to fill the voids at forward and center, the Heat signed James's former teammate in Cleveland, Zydrunas Ilgauskas to a two-year deal for the veterans minimum at $2.8 million, resigning Joel Anthony, and signing power forward Juwan Howard.^[16] In the guard department, the Miami Heat resigned guard Carlos Arroyo and signed former Celtics player Eddie House to a two-year contract for the veteran minimum of $2.8 million.^[17] Rookies Dexter Pittman and Da'Sean Butler, along with NBA Summer League standouts Patrick Beverley and Kenny Hasbrouck, also signed contracts.

 

Members of the 2010–11 Miami Heat team and coaching staff during a timeout.

The Miami Heat began the regular season with much hype going into their first game against the Eastern Conference Champs, the Boston Celtics. Many considered the Miami Heat as the team to break the single season record of 72 regular season victories set by the Chicago Bulls.^[18]

Season

On the opening game of the season, broadcast on the TNT Network and featuring the debut of reigning two-time NBA MVP James in a Miami uniform alongside Chris Bosh, the game was the most-watched NBA contest ever on cable television. The game earned a 4.6 rating, delivering 7.4 million total viewers and 5.3 million households, beating the Chicago Bulls vs. Los Angeles Lakers on February 2, 1996.^[19]

The Heat lost the opening game 88–80 and got off to a 9–8 start due in large part to inconsistent play and injuries to key role players Mike Miller (thumb) and Udonis Haslem (foot). After losing four out of five games, including a Saturday night loss to the Dallas Mavericks on November 27, the team called a players-only meeting with the intent to get players to communicate with each other. Much of the speculation was that Spoelstra could lose his job and that Heat president Pat Riley would return as coach, especially after a well-publicized incident when James "bumped" into Spoelstra during a timeout.^[20]

After the players-only meeting, the team pulled together a 12-game win streak (10 of them by double digits) and limited the opposition under 100 points in all those games. During the winning streak, James led the Heat to defeat his former team by scoring 38 points (tying a Heat record for points in a quarter with 24 in the third) in a game that drew nearly 7.1 million viewers and earned a 25.4 rating in Miami. ESPN 3D aired its first NBA game in the third dimension on December 17, 2010, when the Heat defeated the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden.,^[21][22][23] The Heat set a franchise record for wins in December with 15 and set an NBA record for consecutive road victories in a calendar month with 10 (including the Christmas Day match-up with the reigning two-time champs, Kobe Bryant's Los Angeles Lakers which the team won 96–80).^[24]

During a postgame chat with Sun Sports' Jason Jackson on January 3, 2011, LeBron James joked "I see we sell out 99.1 percent on the road, so we call ourselves the Heatles off the Beatles, so every time we take our show on the road we bring a great crowd", giving the Heat's famed trio the unofficial nickname.^[25]

On January 27, 2011, via fan voting, LeBron James (forward) and Dwyane Wade (guard) were selected to be starters for the Eastern Conference at the All-Star Game, becoming the second pair of teammates to be selected as All-Star starters in franchise history (Shaquille O'Neal and Dwyane Wade; 2006 and 2007). A few days later, forward Chris Bosh was selected as a reserve, marking the first time in Heat history the team had sent three players to the All-Star game in a single season.

Like the 2005–06 championship season, the Heat were criticized for being unable to beat the top-caliber teams of the NBA. This criticism though would just grow more and more as the regular season was beginning to wind down. Despite being tied 2–2 with their division rival, the Orlando Magic, sweeping the Los Angeles Lakers 2–0, and beating both the San Antonio Spurs and the Oklahoma City Thunder once, they lost the season series to the defending Eastern Conference champion Boston Celtics 3–1, were swept by the Chicago Bulls 3–0 and lost both times to the Dallas Mavericks, who continued their regular season dominance against Miami for their 16th straight victory dating back to the 2004–05 season.

 

Teammates Dwyane Wade (3) and LeBron James (6) during a game

In order to improve for the playoffs, the Heat signed guard Mike Bibby, who agreed to forfeit the $6.2 million he was owed by the Washington Wizards for the next season so that he could become a free agent and sign a league minimum contract with a contender. In the process, the Heat released Carlos Arroyo. In Bibby's first game on March 3, the Heat were leading the Magic by 24 points in the third quarter before the Heat were outscored 40–9 and lost 99–96.^[26] The following night against the Spurs, who held the NBA's best record (51–11), the Heat lost 125–95, their most lopsided loss of the year and their fourth loss in five games.^[27] In their next game against the Bulls, the Heat had a 12-point lead in the first half, but ended up losing 87–86 after two failed shots by James and Wade in the last 6 seconds of the game. It was the Heat's 12th and 13th consecutive missed shots with a chance to tie or lead a game in the final 10 seconds of regulation or overtime. James had missed four in the four-game losing streak. It was the Heat's fourth straight loss, and the fourth time since February 24 they had lost after a double-digit lead.^[28] The Heat were 2–5 since the All-Star break, 5–13 in games decided by five or fewer points and 14–18 against teams with winning records.^[29] After the game, there were reports of players crying in the locker room afterwards.^[30] On March 10, the Heat beat the Lakers, 94–88, and ended their five-game losing streak while also ending the Lakers' eight-game winning streak.^[31][32]

On March 27, Wade, James, and Bosh became the second trio in NBA history to have at least 30 points and 10 rebounds in the same non-overtime game (a home win against the Houston Rockets), matching Oscar Robertson, Wayne Embry and Jack Twyman for the Cincinnati Royals in a loss to the Philadelphia Warriors on February 2, 1961. Additionally, it was the first time that a team's trio recorded 20 points and 10 rebounds in consecutive games since Sidney Wicks, Lloyd Neal and John Johnson accomplished the feat with the Portland Trail Blazers in March 1975. It was also the first time in Heat franchise history that three players scored 30 points in the same game.^[33]

The 2011 Heat finished with a 58–24 record, third best in team history and a second overall seed, behind the Chicago Bulls, who had the NBA's best record. Additionally, the Heat finished 5th in the NBA in attendance with 810,930 behind Mavericks, Cavaliers, Trail Blazers, and Bulls in that order (100.9% capacity). The Heat faced the Philadelphia 76ers in the first round of the NBA Playoffs and eliminated them in five games. In the Eastern Conference Semi-finals, the Heat defeated their rival Boston Celtics in five games, winning a dramatic overtime Game 4 in Boston and a come-from-behind Game 5 victory at home to finish the series. In the Eastern Conference finals, the Heat faced the Chicago Bulls. After being blown out by 21 points by the Bulls in Game 1, the Heat took home-court by defeating Chicago in Game 2, and winning their home Games 3 and 4, the latter of which came in overtime. In Game 5 in Chicago, the Heat made a historic comeback; after being down 77–65 with 3:14 left, the Heat went on an 18–3 run to win, 83–80, capped by a key four-point play from Dwyane Wade and clutch shooting from LeBron James.^[34] The Heat advanced to the 2011 NBA Finals to face the Dallas Mavericks, who had defeated the Portland Trail Blazers, Los Angeles Lakers, and Oklahoma City Thunder. The series was a rematch of the 2006 NBA Finals, in which Dallas won the first two games and then lost four straight to Miami. The Heat won Game 1 in Miami, 92–84, but in Game 2, the Heat were leading the Mavericks by 15 points with 6:20 left in the fourth quarter before the Heat were outscored 22–5 and lost, 95–93. The Heat won Game 3 in Dallas 88–86 with the game-winning basket scored by Chris Bosh. The Mavericks won Game 4, 86–83, holding LeBron James to a career playoff-low 8 points. The Mavericks won Game 5 and took a 3–2 series lead with a 112–103 victory. That was the first time since March 6 that the Heat had lost two consecutive games, including the regular season, playoffs, and the NBA Finals. In Game 6, Dallas defeated Miami, 105–95, to win the 2011 NBA Finals in six games, 4–2. James's 17.8 points per game in the Finals was the largest drop off in points from a regular season to an NBA Finals (down 8.9 points from 26.7) in NBA history.^[35] As James only averaged three points in the fourth quarters in the series, and he received the brunt of the criticism for the team's loss to Dallas as a result of his lackluster performance.^[36]

Draft picks

Main article: 2010 NBA draft

Round	Pick	Player	Position	Nationality	College/Team
2	32	Dexter Pittman	C	USA	Texas (Sr.)
2	41	Jarvis Varnado	PF	USA	Mississippi State (Sr.)
2	42	Da'Sean Butler	SF	USA	West Virginia (Sr.)
2	48	Latavious Williams (traded to Oklahoma City)	SF/PF	USA	Tulsa 66ers (D-League)

Roster

2010–11 Miami Heat roster

Players

Coaches

Pos. No. Name Height Weight DOB From C 50 Anthony, Joel 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 245 lb (111 kg) 1982-08-09 UNLV PG 0 Bibby, Mike 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 195 lb (88 kg) 1978-05-13 Arizona PF 1 Bosh, Chris 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 230 lb (104 kg) 1984-03-24 Georgia Tech PG 15 Chalmers, Mario 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 195 lb (88 kg) 1986-05-19 Kansas C 25 Dampier, Erick 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 265 lb (120 kg) 1975-07-14 Mississippi State PF 40 Haslem, Udonis 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 235 lb (107 kg) 1980-06-09 Florida SG 55 House, Eddie 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 178 lb (81 kg) 1978-05-14 Arizona State PF 5 Howard, Juwan 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 253 lb (115 kg) 1973-02-07 Michigan C 11 Ilgauskas, Zydrunas 7 ft 3 in (2.21 m) 260 lb (118 kg) 1975-06-05 Lithuania SF 6 James, LeBron 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 250 lb (113 kg) 1984-12-30 St. Vincent–St. Mary HS SF 22 Jones, James 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 215 lb (98 kg) 1980-10-04 Miami (FL) C 21 Magloire, Jamaal 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) 255 lb (116 kg) 1978-05-21 Kentucky SG 13 Miller, Mike 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 218 lb (99 kg) 1980-02-19 Florida C 45 Pittman, Dexter 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 290 lb (132 kg) 1988-03-02 Texas SG 3 Wade, Dwyane 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 220 lb (100 kg) 1982-01-17 Marquette

Head coach Erik Spoelstra Assistant coach(es) Keith Askins David Fizdale Bill Foran Chet Kammerer Bob McAdoo Ron Rothstein Legend (DP) Unsigned draft pick (FA) Free agent (S) Suspended   Injured Roster Last transaction: March 2, 2011

2010–11 Salaries

Player	2010–11 Salary
LeBron James	$14,500,001
Chris Bosh	$14,500,000
Dwyane Wade	$14,000,000
Mike Miller	$5,000,000
Udonis Haslem	$3,500,000
Joel Anthony	$3,000,000
Zydrunas Ilgauskas	$1,352,181
Jamaal Magloire	$1,352,181
Juwan Howard	$1,352,181
Eddie House	$1,352,181
James Jones	$1,146,337
Erick Dampier	$1,137,423
Mario Chalmers	$854,839
Dexter Pittman	$473,604
Mike Bibby	$323,021
TOTAL	$67,950,231

• As of March 2011.
• Source: Hoops World.com^[37]

Pre-season

Game log

2010 pre-season game log
Pre-season: 3–4 (home: 3–1; road: 0–3) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 1 October 5 Detroit W 105–89 Chris Bosh (20) Udonis Haslem (13) Mario Chalmers (7) American Airlines Arena 19,600 1–0 2 October 8 Oklahoma City W 103–96 Chris Bosh (23) Udonis Haslem (9) LeBron James (8) Sprint Center 18,222 2–0 3 October 9 @ San Antonio L 73–90 James Jones, LeBron James (12) Patrick Beverley (10) Patrick Beverley (5) AT&T Center 18,581 2–1 4 October 12 CSKA Moscow W 96–85 LeBron James (22) Chris Bosh (8) LeBron James (7) American Airlines Arena 17,503 3–1 5 October 13 @ New Orleans L 76–90 Chris Bosh (24) Udonis Haslem (11) Kenny Hasbrouck (7) New Orleans Arena 12,043 3–2 6 October 18 Charlotte L 96–102 LeBron James (33) Chris Bosh, Udonis Haslem (8) LeBron James (5) American Airlines Arena 18,557 3–3 7 October 21 @ Atlanta L 89–98 LeBron James (38) Chris Bosh (14) Mario Chalmers, Eddie House (3) Philips Arena 15,197 3–4 8 October 22 Orlando Cancelled St. Pete Times Forum –
2010–11 season schedule

Regular season

Standings

Southeast Division v t e	W	L	PCT	GB	Home	Road	Div
y-Miami Heat	58	24	.707	–	30–11	28–13	13–3
x-Orlando Magic	52	30	.634	6	29–12	23–18	11–5
x-Atlanta Hawks	44	38	.537	14	24–17	20–21	9–7
Charlotte Bobcats	34	48	.415	24	21–20	13–28	4–12
Washington Wizards	23	59	.280	35	20–21	3–38	3–13

#	Eastern Conference v t e
	Team	W	L	PCT	GB
1	z-Chicago Bulls	62	20	.756	–
2	y-Miami Heat	58	24	.707	4
3	y-Boston Celtics	56	26	.683	6
4	x-Orlando Magic	52	30	.634	10
5	x-Atlanta Hawks	44	38	.537	18
6	x-New York Knicks	42	40	.512	20
7	x-Philadelphia 76ers	41	41	.500	21
8	x-Indiana Pacers	37	45	.451	25
9	Milwaukee Bucks	35	47	.427	27
10	Charlotte Bobcats	34	48	.415	28
11	Detroit Pistons	30	52	.366	32
12	New Jersey Nets	24	58	.293	38
13	Washington Wizards	23	59	.280	39
14	Toronto Raptors	22	60	.268	40
15	Cleveland Cavaliers	19	63	.232	43

Game log

2010–11 game log Total: 58–24 (home: 30–11; road: 28–13)
October: 3–1 (home: 1–0; road: 2–1) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 1 October 26 @ Boston L 80–88 LeBron James (31) Udonis Haslem (11) Dwyane Wade (6) TD Garden 18,624 0–1 2 October 27 @ Philadelphia W 97–87 Dwyane Wade (30) Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh (7) LeBron James (7) Wells Fargo Center 20,389 1–1 3 October 29 Orlando W 96–70 Dwyane Wade (26) Udonis Haslem (11) LeBron James (7) American Airlines Arena 19,600 2–1 4 October 31 @ New Jersey W 101–78 LeBron James (20) LeBron James, Udonis Haslem (7) LeBron James, Dwyane Wade (7) Prudential Center 17,086 3–1
November: 7–7 (home: 7–3; road: 0–4) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 5 November 2 Minnesota W 129–97 Dwyane Wade (26) Udonis Haslem (9) LeBron James (12) American Airlines Arena 19,600 4–1 6 November 5 @ New Orleans L 93–96 Dwyane Wade (28) Dwyane Wade (10) LeBron James (10) New Orleans Arena 17,988 4–2 7 November 6 New Jersey W 101–89 Dwyane Wade (29) Dwyane Wade (10) LeBron James (9) American Airlines Arena 19,600 5–2 8 November 9 Utah L 114–116 (OT) Dwyane Wade (39) LeBron James (11) LeBron James (14) American Airlines Arena 19,600 5–3 9 November 11 Boston L 107–112 LeBron James (35) LeBron James, Udonis Haslem (10) LeBron James (9) American Airlines Arena 19,650 5–4 10 November 13 Toronto W 109–100 Dwyane Wade (31) Udonis Haslem (10) LeBron James (11) American Airlines Arena 19,600 6–4 11 November 17 Phoenix W 123–96 Chris Bosh (35) Udonis Haslem (10) LeBron James (9) American Airlines Arena 19,600 7–4 12 November 19 Charlotte W 95–87 LeBron James (32) Chris Bosh (14) LeBron James (5) American Airlines Arena 19,600 8–4 13 November 20 @ Memphis L 95–97 LeBron James (29) Chris Bosh, Žydrūnas Ilgauskas (10) LeBron James (11) FedExForum 18,119 8–5 14 November 22 Indiana L 77–93 LeBron James (25) Chris Bosh (11) LeBron James (6) American Airlines Arena 19,600 8–6 15 November 24 @ Orlando L 95–104 LeBron James (25) Dwyane Wade (7) Carlos Arroyo, Dwyane Wade (5) Amway Center 18,936 8–7 16 November 26 Philadelphia W 99–90 Dwyane Wade (23) Chris Bosh (9) Dwyane Wade (8) American Airlines Arena 19,800 9–7 17 November 27 @ Dallas L 95–106 LeBron James (23) Dwyane Wade (9) Dwyane Wade (5) American Airlines Center 20,536 9–8 18 November 29 Washington W 105–94 LeBron James (30) Dwyane Wade (8) Dwyane Wade (6) American Airlines Arena 19,600 10–8
December: 15–1 (home: 5–1; road: 10–0) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 19 December 1 Detroit W 97–72 LeBron James (18) Chris Bosh, James Jones (7) Mario Chalmers (6) American Airlines Arena 19,600 11–8 20 December 2 @ Cleveland W 118–90 LeBron James (38) Dwyane Wade (9) Dwyane Wade (9) Quicken Loans Arena 20,562 12–8 21 December 4 Atlanta W 89–77 Chris Bosh (27) Chris Bosh, Dwyane Wade (10) Mario Chalmers, LeBron James (4) American Airlines Arena 19,600 13–8 22 December 6 @ Milwaukee W 88–78 Dwyane Wade (25) Dwyane Wade (14) LeBron James (6) Bradley Center 17,167 14–8 23 December 8 @ Utah W 111–98 LeBron James (33) Žydrūnas Ilgauskas (10) LeBron James (9) EnergySolutions Arena 19,911 15–8 24 December 10 @ Golden State W 106–84 Dwyane Wade (34) Dwyane Wade (9) LeBron James (9) Oracle Arena 20,036 16–8 25 December 11 @ Sacramento W 104–83 Dwyane Wade (36) Chris Bosh (17) Dwyane Wade (6) ARCO Arena 16,396 17–8 26 December 13 New Orleans W 96–84 Dwyane Wade (32) Chris Bosh (11) LeBron James (7) American Airlines Arena 19,600 18–8 27 December 15 Cleveland W 101–95 Dwyane Wade (28) LeBron James (13) LeBron James (5) American Airlines Arena 19,899 19–8 28 December 17 @ New York W 113–91 LeBron James (32) LeBron James (11) LeBron James (10) Madison Square Garden 19,763 20–8 29 December 18 @ Washington W 95–94 LeBron James (32) Chris Bosh (9) LeBron James (6) Verizon Center 20,278 21–8 30 December 20 Dallas L 96–98 Dwyane Wade (22) LeBron James (10) LeBron James, Dwyane Wade (7) American Airlines Arena 20,178 21–9 31 December 23 @ Phoenix W 95–83 LeBron James (36) Chris Bosh (11) LeBron James (4) US Airways Center 18,422 22–9 32 December 25 @ L.A. Lakers W 96–80 LeBron James (27) Chris Bosh (13) LeBron James (10) Staples Center 18,997 23–9 33 December 28 New York W 106–98 Dwyane Wade (40) Chris Bosh, Žydrūnas Ilgauskas, LeBron James (10) LeBron James (8) American Airlines Arena 20,288 24–9 34 December 29 @ Houston W 125–119 Dwyane Wade (45) Joel Anthony, Dwyane Wade (7) LeBron James (9) Toyota Center 18,409 25–9
January: 9–5 (home: 5–1; road: 4–4) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 35 January 1 Golden State W 114–107 LeBron James, Dwyane Wade (25) Chris Bosh (11) LeBron James (10) American Airlines Arena 20,254 26–9 36 January 3 @ Charlotte W 96–82 LeBron James (38) Joel Anthony, Dwyane Wade (11) LeBron James (5) Time Warner Cable Arena 19,233 27–9 37 January 4 Milwaukee W 101–89 Dwyane Wade (34) Chris Bosh (12) LeBron James (9) American Airlines Arena 20,215 28–9 38 January 7 @ Milwaukee W 101–95 (OT) LeBron James (26) Chris Bosh (12) LeBron James (5) Bradley Center 18,717 29–9 39 January 9 @ Portland W 107–100 (OT) LeBron James (44) LeBron James (13) LeBron James (6) Rose Garden 20,636 30–9 40 January 12 @ L.A. Clippers L 105–111 Dwyane Wade (31) Chris Bosh (13) LeBron James (6) Staples Center 19,803 30–10 41 January 13 @ Denver L 102–130 Chris Bosh (24) Mike Miller (8) Mike Miller (8) Pepsi Center 19,155 30–11 42 January 15 @ Chicago L 96–99 Dwyane Wade (33) Dwyane Wade (6) Dwyane Wade (4) United Center 23,017 30–12 43 January 18 Atlanta L 89–93 (OT) LeBron James (34) Joel Anthony (16) LeBron James (7) American Airlines Arena 19,600 30–13 44 January 22 Toronto W 120–103 LeBron James (38) LeBron James (11) Mario Chalmers (9) American Airlines Arena 20,025 31–13 45 January 27 @ New York L 88–93 Dwyane Wade (34) Dwyane Wade (16) LeBron James, Dwyane Wade (5) Madison Square Garden 19,763 31–14 46 January 28 Detroit W 88–87 LeBron James (39) Mike Miller (10) LeBron James (9) American Airlines Arena 19,805 32–14 47 January 30 @ Oklahoma City W 108–103 Dwyane Wade (32) Dwyane Wade (9) LeBron James (13) Oklahoma City Arena 18,203 33–14 48 January 31 Cleveland W 117–90 Dwyane Wade (34) Žydrūnas Ilgauskas (14) LeBron James (8) American Airlines Arena 19,600 34–14
February: 9–3 (home: 4–1; road: 5–2) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 49 February 3 @ Orlando W 104–100 LeBron James (51) LeBron James, Mike Miller (11) LeBron James (8) Amway Center 18,945 35–14 50 February 4 @ Charlotte W 109–97 Dwyane Wade (22) Dwyane Wade (12) Dwyane Wade (10) Time Warner Cable Arena 19,592 36–14 51 February 6 L.A. Clippers W 97–79 Dwyane Wade (28) Dwyane Wade (8) Dwyane Wade (8) American Airlines Arena 19,702 37–14 52 February 8 Indiana W 117–112 LeBron James (41) LeBron James (13) LeBron James (8) American Airlines Arena 19,600 38–14 53 February 11 @ Detroit W 106–92 Dwyane Wade (24) Chris Bosh (10) LeBron James (10) The Palace of Auburn Hills 22,076 39–14 54 February 13 @ Boston L 82–85 Chris Bosh (24) Chris Bosh (10) LeBron James (7) TD Garden 18,624 39–15 55 February 15 @ Indiana W 110–103 Dwyane Wade (41) Dwyane Wade (12) LeBron James (5) Conseco Fieldhouse 18,165 40–15 56 February 16 @ Toronto W 103–95 Dwyane Wade (28) LeBron James (13) LeBron James (8) Air Canada Centre 20,156 41–15 All-Star Break 57 February 22 Sacramento W 117–97 LeBron James (31) Chris Bosh (9) Dwyane Wade (7) American Airlines Arena 19,754 42–15 58 February 24 @ Chicago L 89–93 Dwyane Wade (34) LeBron James (10) LeBron James (5) United Center 23,024 42–16 59 February 25 Washington W 121–113 Dwyane Wade (41) LeBron James (9) LeBron James (7) American Airlines Arena 19,825 43–16 60 February 27 New York L 86–91 LeBron James (27) Chris Bosh (12) Dwyane Wade (9) American Airlines Arena 19,702 43–17
March: 9–6 (home: 6–4; road: 3–2) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 61 March 3 Orlando L 96–99 LeBron James (29) LeBron James, Mike Miller (6) Dwyane Wade (5) American Airlines Arena 19,600 43–18 62 March 4 @ San Antonio L 95–125 LeBron James (26) Chris Bosh (14) LeBron James (7) AT&T Center 18,581 43–19 63 March 6 Chicago L 86–87 LeBron James (26) LeBron James (8) LeBron James (6) American Airlines Arena 19,763 43–20 64 March 8 Portland L 96–105 Dwyane Wade (38) LeBron James (11) LeBron James (8) American Airlines Arena 19,835 43–21 65 March 10 L.A. Lakers W 94–88 Chris Bosh (24) Chris Bosh (9) LeBron James (9) American Airlines Arena 19,986 44–21 66 March 12 Memphis W 118–85 Dwyane Wade (28) Chris Bosh (10) Dwyane Wade (9) American Airlines Arena 19,600 45–21 67 March 14 San Antonio W 110–80 Chris Bosh (30) Chris Bosh (12) LeBron James (8) American Airlines Arena 20,021 46–21 68 March 16 Oklahoma City L 85–96 Chris Bosh, Dwyane Wade (21) Chris Bosh (11) Mario Chalmers, LeBron James (3) American Airlines Arena 20,083 46–22 69 March 18 @ Atlanta W 106–85 LeBron James (43) Chris Bosh (10) Mike Bibby (6) Philips Arena 20,024 47–22 70 March 19 Denver W 103–98 LeBron James (33) Chris Bosh (11) Chris Bosh (6) American Airlines Arena 19,600 48–22 71 March 23 @ Detroit W 100–94 Dwyane Wade (24) LeBron James (8) LeBron James (7) The Palace of Auburn Hills 22,076 49–22 72 March 25 Philadelphia W 111–99 Dwyane Wade (39) Dwyane Wade (11) Dwyane Wade (8) American Airlines Arena 19,840 50–22 73 March 27 Houston W 125–119 LeBron James (33) Chris Bosh (12) LeBron James (7) American Airlines Arena 19,825 51–22 74 March 29 @ Cleveland L 90–102 LeBron James (27) LeBron James (10) LeBron James (12) Quicken Loans Arena 20,562 51–23 75 March 30 @ Washington W 123–107 LeBron James (35) Chris Bosh, LeBron James (8) Dwyane Wade (9) Verizon Center 18,916 52–23
April: 6–1 (home: 2–1; road: 4–0) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 76 April 1 @ Minnesota W 111–92 Dwyane Wade (32) Chris Bosh (11) LeBron James (10) Target Center 19,096 53–23 77 April 3 @ New Jersey W 108–94 LeBron James (31) Erick Dampier (14) LeBron James (7) Prudential Center 18,711 54–23 78 April 6 Milwaukee L 85–90 LeBron James (29) Mike Miller (12) LeBron James (8) American Airlines Arena 20,017 54–24 79 April 8 Charlotte W 112–103 Chris Bosh, Dwyane Wade (27) Chris Bosh (10) LeBron James (9) American Airlines Arena 19,897 55–24 80 April 10 Boston W 100–77 LeBron James (27) Joel Anthony (10) Dwyane Wade (8) American Airlines Arena 19,766 56–24 81 April 11 @ Atlanta W 98–90 LeBron James (34) LeBron James (10) LeBron James (7) Philips Arena 18,529 57–24 82 April 13 @ Toronto W 97–79 Eddie House (35) Jamaal Magloire (19) Mario Chalmers (13) Air Canada Centre 20,108 58–24
2010–11 season schedule

Playoffs

Game log

2011 playoff game log
First Round: 4–1 (home: 3–0; road: 1–1) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Series 1 April 16 Philadelphia W 97–89 Chris Bosh (25) LeBron James (14) LeBron James, Dwyane Wade (5) American Airlines Arena 19,600 1–0 2 April 18 Philadelphia W 94–73 LeBron James (29) Chris Bosh (11) LeBron James (6) American Airlines Arena 20,204 2–0 3 April 21 @ Philadelphia W 100–94 Dwyane Wade (32) LeBron James (15) Dwyane Wade (8) Wells Fargo Center 20,404 3–0 4 April 24 @ Philadelphia L 82–86 LeBron James (31) Dwyane Wade (8) LeBron James (6) Wells Fargo Center 19,048 3–1 5 April 27 Philadelphia W 97–91 Dwyane Wade (26) Chris Bosh, Dwyane Wade (11) LeBron James (8) American Airlines Arena 19,896 4–1
Conference Semifinals: 4–1 (home: 3–0; road: 1–1) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Series 1 May 1 Boston W 99–90 Dwyane Wade (38) Chris Bosh (12) LeBron James, Dwyane Wade (5) American Airlines Arena 20,021 1–0 2 May 3 Boston W 102–91 LeBron James (35) Chris Bosh (11) Chris Bosh (4) American Airlines Arena 20,104 2–0 3 May 7 @ Boston L 81–97 Dwyane Wade (23) Joel Anthony (11) Dwyane Wade (7) TD Garden 18,624 2–1 4 May 9 @ Boston W 98–90 (OT) LeBron James (35) LeBron James (14) Dwyane Wade (4) TD Garden 18,624 3–1 5 May 11 Boston W 97–87 Dwyane Wade (34) Chris Bosh (11) Dwyane Wade (5) American Airlines Arena 20,208 4–1
Conference Finals: 4–1 (home: 2–0; road: 2–1) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Series 1 May 15 @ Chicago L 82–103 Chris Bosh (30) Chris Bosh (9) LeBron James (6) United Center 22,874 0–1 2 May 18 @ Chicago W 85–75 LeBron James (29) LeBron James (10) LeBron James (5) United Center 23,007 1–1 3 May 22 Chicago W 96–85 Chris Bosh (34) Dwyane Wade (9) LeBron James (10) American Airlines Arena 20,123 2–1 4 May 24 Chicago W 101–93 (OT) LeBron James (35) Udonis Haslem, Mike Miller (9) LeBron James (6) American Airlines Arena 20,125 3–1 5 May 26 @ Chicago W 83–80 LeBron James (28) LeBron James (11) LeBron James (6) United Center 23,057 4–1
NBA Finals: 2–4 (home: 1–2; road: 1–2) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Series 1 May 31 Dallas W 92–84 LeBron James (24) Dwyane Wade (10) Dwyane Wade (6) American Airlines Arena 20,003 1–0 2 June 2 Dallas L 93–95 Dwyane Wade (36) Chris Bosh, LeBron James (8) Dwyane Wade (6) American Airlines Arena 20,003 1–1 3 June 5 @ Dallas W 88–86 Dwyane Wade (29) Dwyane Wade (11) LeBron James (9) American Airlines Center 20,340 2–1 4 June 7 @ Dallas L 83–86 Dwyane Wade (32) LeBron James (9) LeBron James (7) American Airlines Center 20,430 2–2 5 June 9 @ Dallas L 103–112 Dwyane Wade (23) Chris Bosh, LeBron James (10) LeBron James (10) American Airlines Center 20,433 2–3 6 June 12 Dallas L 95–105 LeBron James (21) Udonis Haslem (9) Mario Chalmers (7) American Airlines Arena 20,003 2–4
2011 playoff schedule

Player statistics

Legend

GP	Games played	GS	Games started	MPG	Minutes per game
FG%	Field-goal percentage	3P%	3-point field-goal percentage	FT%	Free-throw percentage
RPG	Rebounds per game	APG	Assists per game	SPG	Steals per game
BPG	Blocks per game	PPG	Points per game

Season

Player	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3FG%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
Joel Anthony	75	11	19.5	.535	.000	.644	3.5	0.3	0.13	1.24	2.0
Carlos Arroyo *	49	42	20.3	.458	.438	.800	1.6	2.0	0.29	0.02	5.6
Mike Bibby *	22	12	26.5	.437	.455	.625	2.2	2.5	0.50	0.14	7.6
Chris Bosh	77	77	36.3	.496	.240	.815	8.3	1.9	0.77	0.64	18.7
Mario Chalmers	70	28	22.6	.399	.359	.871	2.1	2.5	1.09	0.10	6.4
Erick Dampier	51	22	16.0	.584	.000	.545	3.5	0.4	0.27	0.92	2.5
Udonis Haslem	13	0	26.5	.512	.000	.800	8.2	0.5	0.54	0.23	8.0
Eddie House	56	1	17.5	.399	.389	.950	1.6	1.1	0.57	0.05	6.5
Juwan Howard	57	0	10.4	.440	.000	.829	2.1	0.4	0.18	0.07	2.4
Žydrūnas Ilgauskas	72	51	15.9	.508	.000	.783	4.0	0.4	0.32	0.81	5.0
LeBron James	79	79	38.8	.510	.330	.759	7.5	7.0	1.57	0.63	26.7
James Jones	81	8	19.1	.422	.429	.833	2.0	0.5	0.36	0.23	5.9
Jamaal Magloire	18	0	8.8	.591	.000	.500	3.4	0.2	0.22	0.11	1.9
Mike Miller	41	2	20.4	.401	.364	.676	4.5	1.2	0.49	0.05	5.6
Dexter Pittman	2	0	5.5	.333	.000	.000	1.5	0.0	0.00	0.00	1.0
Jerry Stackhouse *	7	1	7.1	.250	.250	.714	1.0	0.4	0.00	0.29	1.7
Dwyane Wade	76	76	37.1	.500	.306	.758	6.4	4.6	1.46	1.14	25.5

  Lead team

• Stats as of match played on April 13, 2011 (82 matches played)^[38]
• * Stats with the Heat.

Playoffs

Player	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3FG%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
Joel Anthony	21	13	27.4	.367	.000	.710	4.6	0.5	0.38	1.81	2.8
Mike Bibby	20	20	20.8	.281	.258	.500	1.8	1.2	0.55	0.30	3.7
Chris Bosh	21	21	39.7	.474	.000	.814	8.5	1.1	0.71	0.90	18.6
Mario Chalmers	21	1	24.3	.435	.381	.719	1.9	2.1	1.24	0.05	7.8
Erick Dampier	0	0	0.0	.000	.000	.000	0.0	0.0	0.00	0.00	0.0
Udonis Haslem	12	0	24.2	.397	.000	.900	4.5	0.8	0.50	0.33	5.3
Eddie House	7	0	6.9	.235	.300	.000	0.7	0.1	0.57	0.00	1.6
Juwan Howard	11	0	5.5	.444	.000	.692	0.9	0.1	0.00	0.00	1.5
Žydrūnas Ilgauskas	9	8	11.6	.467	.000	.667	3.6	0.3	0.00	0.33	3.6
LeBron James	21	21	43.9	.466	.353	.763	8.4	5.9	1.67	1.19	23.7
James Jones	12	0	22.7	.471	.459	1.000	2.5	0.2	0.50	0.17	6.5
Jamaal Magloire	3	0	6.0	.400	.000	.000	1.7	0.7	0.33	0.00	1.3
Mike Miller	18	0	11.9	.340	.297	.000	2.7	0.7	0.39	0.06	2.6
Dexter Pittman	0	0	0.0	.000	.000	.000	0.0	0.0	0.00	0.00	0.0
Dwyane Wade	21	21	39.4	.485	.269	.777	7.1	4.4	1.62	1.33	24.5

  Lead team

• Stats as of match played on June 12, 2011 (21 matches played).

Awards, records and milestones

Awards

Week/Month

• On December 13, 2010 Dwyane Wade was named Eastern Conference's Player of the Week (December 6 – 12).^[39]
• On December 27, 2010 LeBron James was named Eastern Conference's Player of the Week (December 20 – 26).^[40]
• On January 3, 2011 Dwyane Wade was named Eastern Conference's Player of the Week (December 27 – January 2).^[41]
• On January 3, 2011 LeBron James and Dwyane Wade were named Eastern Conference's Co-Players of the Month (December).^[42]
• On January 3, 2011 Erik Spoelstra was named Eastern Conference's Coach of the Month (December).^[43]
• On January 10, 2011 LeBron James was named Eastern Conference's Player of the Week (January 3 – 9).^[44]
• On January 31, 2011 LeBron James was named Eastern Conference's Player of the Week (January 24 – 30).^[45]
• On February 4, 2011 LeBron James was named Eastern Conference's Player of the Month (January).^[46]
• On February 7, 2011 LeBron James was named Eastern Conference's Player of the Week (January 31 – February 6).^[47]
• On March 14, 2011 Dwyane Wade was named Eastern Conference's Player of the Week (March 7 – 13).^[48]
• On March 21, 2011 LeBron James was named Eastern Conference's Player of the Week (March 14 – 20).^[49]
• On April 15, 2011 LeBron James was named Eastern Conference's Player of the Month (April).^[50]

All-Star

• LeBron James was voted to his 7th consecutive NBA All-Star Game as a starter (7th consecutive time as a starter).^[51]
• Dwyane Wade was voted to his 7th consecutive NBA All-Star Game as a starter (6th consecutive time as a starter).^[51]
• Chris Bosh was selected to his 6th consecutive NBA All-Star Game (4th consecutive time as a reserve).^[52]
• James Jones won the 2011 NBA All-Star Three-point Shootout.^[53]

Season

• On May 9, 2011 LeBron James was named to the NBA All-Defensive First Team.^[54]
• On May 10, 2011 Pat Riley was named NBA Co-Executive of the Year.^[55]
• On May 12, 2011 LeBron James was named to the All-NBA First Team.^[56]
• On May 12, 2011 Dwyane Wade was named to the All-NBA Second Team.^[56]

Records

• On December 23, 2010 LeBron James became the youngest player to have reached 16,000 career points.^[57]
• On March 18, 2011 LeBron James became the youngest player to have reached 17,000 career points.^[58]
• On March 27, 2011 Chris Bosh, LeBron James and Dwyane Wade became the first trio in franchise history to each score 30 or more points and 10 or more rebounds in a single game, against the Houston Rockets.^[59]

Milestones

• On December 18, 2010 Chris Bosh reached 5,000th career rebounds.^[60]
• On December 18, 2010 Juwan Howard reached his 16,000th career points.^[60]
• On December 23, 2010 LeBron James became the youngest player to have reached 16,000 career points.^[57]
• On January 7, 2011 LeBron James reached 500th career blocks.^[61]
• On January 13, 2011 Dwyane Wade reached 500th career blocks.
• On March 18, 2011 LeBron James became the youngest player to have reached 17,000 career points.^[58]
• On March 27, 2011 Chris Bosh, LeBron James and Dwyane Wade became only the second trio in NBA history to each score 30 or more points and 10 or more rebounds in a single non-overtime game, against the Houston Rockets.^[59]

Transactions

Trades

June 23, 2010	To Oklahoma City Thunder----   Daequan Cook No. 18 Pick (Eric Bledsoe)	To Miami Heat---- No. 32nd Pick (Dexter Pittman)
June 24, 2010	To Oklahoma City Thunder---- No. 48 Pick (Latavious Williams)	To Miami Heat---- Future Second-Round Pick Cash Considerations
July 9, 2010	To Cleveland Cavaliers---- 2013 First-Round Pick 2015 First-Round Pick 2012 Second-Round Pick (Jae Crowder) Future Second-Round Pick Trade Exception	To Miami Heat----   LeBron James (sign and trade)
July 9, 2010	To Toronto Raptors---- Two 2011 First-Round Picks Trade Exception	To Miami Heat----   Chris Bosh (sign and trade)
July 12, 2010	To Minnesota Timberwolves----   Michael Beasley	To Miami Heat---- 2011 Second-Round Pick 2014 Second-Round Pick Cash Considerations

Free agents

Additions

Player	Signed	Former Team
Dwyane Wade	Signed 6 Year Contract For $107.5 Million	Miami Heat
Chris Bosh	Signed 6 Year Contract For $110.1 Million	Toronto Raptors
LeBron James	Signed 6 Year Contract For $110.1 Million	Cleveland Cavaliers
Udonis Haslem	Signed 5 Year Contract For $20.0 Million	Miami Heat
Mike Miller	Signed 5 Year Contract For $25.0 Million	Washington Wizards
Joel Anthony	Signed 5 Year Contract For $18.0 Million	Miami Heat
Žydrūnas Ilgauskas	Signed 2 Year Contract For $2.8 Million	Cleveland Cavaliers
Juwan Howard	Signed 1 Year Contract For $1.35 Million	Portland Trail Blazers
James Jones	Signed 1 Year Contract For $1.1 Million	Miami Heat
Carlos Arroyo	Signed 1 Year Contract For $1.23 Million	Miami Heat
Jamaal Magloire	Signed 1 Year Contract For 1.23 Million	Miami Heat
Shavlik Randolph	Signed 1 Year Contract For $250,000	Miami Heat
Jerry Stackhouse	Signed 1 Year Contract For $210,339	Milwaukee Bucks
Erick Dampier	Signed 1 Year Contract For $1.14 Million	Charlotte Bobcats
Mike Bibby	Signed 1 Year Contract For $450,727	Washington Wizards

Subtractions

Player	Reason Left	New Team
Dorell Wright	Free Agent	Golden State Warriors
Quentin Richardson	Free Agent	Orlando Magic
Jermaine O'Neal	Free Agent	Boston Celtics
Shavlik Randolph	Waived
Jerry Stackhouse	Waived
Carlos Arroyo	Waived	Boston Celtics

Season in review

The Miami Heat entered NBA free agency in 2010 with nearly $46 million in salary cap space, with the ability to re-sign free agent Dwyane Wade, and add two of the NBA's top players, LeBron James and Chris Bosh. According to Fox Sports Radio's Stephen A. Smith, speaking on his show just days after the NBA draft, the Heat were "highly likely" to sign all three players.^[4] The New Jersey Nets, New York Knicks, Los Angeles Clippers, Chicago Bulls, Cleveland Cavaliers, Dallas Mavericks and Miami Heat were in negotiations to sign LeBron James. On July 7, 2010, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh agreed to terms with the Miami Heat. Then on July 8, 2010, James held an hour-long special to announce his decision on ESPN to commit to playing with the Heat.^[5] Later that evening, the Heat announced the trade of Michael Beasley to the Minnesota Timberwolves for a pair of second-round picks and cash considerations.^[6] The three are called the SuperFriends by sportswriters and commentators for ESPN, because all three were taken in the top five of the 2003 NBA Draft and because they have become good friends over the years.^{[citation needed]}

On July 8, 2010, it became official that NBA players and gold medal-winning Beijing Olympic teammates James, Wade, and Bosh would be joining the Heat. The Heat completed sign-and-trade deals, sending a total of four future first-round and two-second-round picks to the Cavaliers and Raptors for James and Bosh (both signing six-year, $110.1 million contracts). Wade re-signed with the Heat for $107.59 million for six years. All three have early-termination clauses in their contracts, allowing them to become free agents again in four years, in the summer of 2014. The final year on all three deals, for 2015–16, is a player option.^[8][9][62] The three made their debut at the 2010 Summer Heat Welcome Party at the American Airlines Arena on July 9, where they were introduced as The Three Kings by Heat play-by-play announcer and event co-host Eric Reid.^[11] Howard Beck of The New York Times described the national fan reaction to the party: "Everyone saw something: greatness, arrogance, self-indulgence, boldness, cowardice, pride, friendship, collusion, joy, cynicism, heroes, mercenaries."^[14]

By taking less than maximum salaries, Wade, James and Bosh opened the door for the Heat to further continue its roster makeover with the re-signing of Udonis Haslem and signing of veteran swingman and teammate of Haslem at the University of Florida, Mike Miller, for dual five-year deals worth a combined $45 million.^[63] In order to fill the voids at forward and center, the Heat signed James's former teammate in Cleveland, Zydrunas Ilgauskas, to a two-year deal for the veteran's minimum at $2.8 million, re-signed Joel Anthony, and signed power forward Juwan Howard.^[64] In the guard department, the Miami Heat re-signed guard Carlos Arroyo and signed former Celtics player Eddie House to a two-year contract for the veteran's minimum of $2.8 million.^[65] Rookies Dexter Pittman and Da'Sean Butler, along with NBA Summer League standouts Patrick Beverley and Kenny Hasbrouck, also signed contracts.

The Miami Heat began the regular season with much hype going into their first game against the Eastern Conference Champs, the Boston Celtics. Many^[who?] considered the Miami Heat as the team to break the single-season record of 72 regular season victories set by the Chicago Bulls.^[18] The opening game of the season, broadcast on the TNT Network and featuring the debut of reigning two-time NBA MVP James in a Miami uniform alongside Chris Bosh, was the most-watched NBA contest ever on cable television. The game earned a 4.6 rating, delivering 7.4 million total viewers and 5.3 million households, beating the Chicago Bulls vs. Los Angeles Lakers on February 2, 1996.^[66]

The Heat lost the opening game 88–80 and got off to a 9–8 start due in large part to inconsistent play and injuries of key role players Mike Miller (thumb) and Udonis Haslem (foot). After losing four out of five games, including a Saturday night loss to the Dallas Mavericks on November 27, the team called a players-only meeting with the intent to get players to communicate with each other. Much of the speculation was that Spoelstra could lose his job and that Heat president Pat Riley would return as coach, especially after a well publicized incident when James "bumped" into Spoelstra during a timeout.^[67]

After the players-only meeting, the team pulled together a 12-game win streak (10 of them by double digits) and limited the opposition under 100 points in all those games. During the winning streak, James led the Heat in defeating his former team by scoring 38 points (tying a Heat record for points in a quarter with 24 in the third) in a game that drew nearly 7.1 million viewers and earned a 25.4 rating in Miami. ESPN 3D aired its first NBA game in the third dimension on December 17, 2010, when the Heat defeated the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden.,^[68][69][70] The Heat set a franchise record for wins in December with 15 and set an NBA record for consecutive road victories in a calendar month with 10 (including the Christmas Day match-up with the reigning two-time champion Los Angeles Lakers, which the team won 96–80).^[71]

During a post-game chat with Sun Sports' Jason Jackson on January 3, 2011, LeBron James joked "I see we sell out 99.1 percent on the road, so we call ourselves the Heatles off the Beatles, so every time we take our show on the road we bring a great crowd", giving the Heat's trio the unofficial nickname.^[72]

On January 27, 2011, via fan voting, James (forward) and Wade (guard) were selected to be starters for the Eastern Conference at the All-Star Game, becoming the second pair of teammates to be selected as All-Star starters in franchise history (Shaquille O'Neal and Dwyane Wade; 2006 and 2007). A few days later, forward Chris Bosh was selected as a reserve, marking the first time in Heat history the team had sent three players to the All-Star game in a single season.

Like the 2005–06 championship season, the Heat were criticized, for being unable to beat the top-caliber teams of the NBA. This criticism though would just grow more and more as the regular season was beginning to wind down. Despite beating their division rival Orlando Magic two of three games, sweeping the Lakers 2–0, and beating both the San Antonio Spurs and the Thunder once, they had lost to the defending Eastern Conference champion Boston Celtics three times, swept by the Chicago Bulls and Dallas Mavericks who swept the season series and continued their regular season dominance against Miami for their 16th straight victory dating back to the 2004–05 season.

In order to improve for the playoffs, the Heat signed guard Mike Bibby, who agreed to forfeit the $6.2 million he was owed by the Washington Wizards for the next season so that he could become a free agent and sign a league-minimum contract with a contender. In the process, the Heat released Carlos Arroyo. In Bibby's first game on March 3, the Heat were leading the Magic by 24 points in the third quarter before the Heat were outscored 40–9 and lost 99–96.^[26] The following night against the Spurs, who held the NBA's best record (51–11), the Heat lost 125–95, their most lopsided loss of the year and their fourth loss in five games.^[27] In their next game against the Bulls, the Heat had a 12-point lead in the first half, but they ended up losing 87–86 after two failed shots by James and Wade in the last 6 seconds of the game. It was the Heat's 12th and 13th consecutive missed shots with a chance to tie or lead a game in the final 10 seconds of regulation or overtime. James had missed four in the four-game losing streak. It was the Heat's fourth straight loss, and the fourth time since February 24 they had lost after a double-digit lead.^[28] The Heat were 2–5 since the All-Star break, 5–13 in games decided by five or fewer points and 14–18 against teams with winning records.^[29] After the game, there were reports of players crying in the locker room afterwards.^[30] On March 10, the Heat beat the Lakers, 94–88, and ended their five-game losing streak while also ending the Lakers' eight-game winning streak.^[31][32]

On March 27, Wade, James, and Bosh became the second trio in NBA history to have at least 30 points and 10 rebounds in the same non-overtime game (a home win against the Houston Rockets), matching Oscar Robertson, Wayne Embry and Jack Twyman for the Cincinnati Royals in a loss to the Philadelphia Warriors on February 2, 1961. Additionally, it was the first time that a team's trio recorded 20 points and 10 rebounds in consecutive games since Sidney Wicks, Lloyd Neal and John Johnson accomplished the feat with the Portland Trail Blazers in March 1975. It was also the first time in Heat franchise history that three players scored 30 points in the same game.^[73]

The 2011 Heat finished with a 58–24 record, third best in team history and a second overall seed, behind the Chicago Bulls, who had the NBA's best record. Additionally, the Heat finished 5th in the NBA in attendance with 810,930, behind the Mavericks, Cavaliers, Trail Blazers, and Bulls in that order (100.9% capacity). The Heat faced the Philadelphia 76ers in the first round of the NBA Playoffs and eliminated them in five games. In the Eastern Conference Semi-finals, the Heat defeated their rival Boston Celtics in five games, winning a dramatic overtime Game 4 in Boston and a come-from-behind Game 5 victory at home to finish the series. In the Eastern Conference finals, the Heat faced the Chicago Bulls. After being blown out by 21 points by the Bulls in Game 1, the Heat took home-court by defeating Chicago in Game 2, and winning their home Games 3 and 4, the latter of which came in overtime. In Game 5 in Chicago, the Miami Heat made a historic comeback; after being down 77–65 with 3:14 left, the Heat went on an 18–3 run to win, 83–80, capped by a key four-point play from Wade and clutch shooting from James.^[74] The Heat advanced to the NBA Finals to face the Dallas Mavericks, who had defeated the Portland Trail Blazers, Los Angeles Lakers, and Oklahoma City Thunder. This series was a rematch of the 2006 NBA Finals, in which Dallas won the first two games and then lost four straight to Miami. The Heat won Game 1 in Miami, 92–84, but in Game 2, the Heat were leading the Mavericks by 15 points with 6:20 left in the fourth quarter before the Heat were outscored 22–5 and lost, 95–93. Miami won Game 3 in Dallas 88–86 with the game-winning basket scored by Chris Bosh. They would lose to the Mavericks in six games falling just short of capturing their 2nd NBA Championship. Dwyane Wade averaged 26.5 points and 7.0 rebounds, the highest scorer on the team, while LeBron James averaged 17.8 points, and 7.1 rebounds which was the largest drop off in points from a regular season to an NBA Finals in NBA history.^[35]

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External links

 

Wikimedia Commons has media related to 2010–11 Miami Heat season.

• 2010–11 Miami Heat season at ESPN