The 2011âÂÂ12 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, like every other team in the league, played only 66 games this season. Despite a hot 28âÂÂ7 start to the season, they struggled in their last 31 games, only going 18âÂÂ13 the rest of the way, and eventually finishing with a 46âÂÂ20 record, roughly the equivalent of 57âÂÂ25. 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 2âÂÂ0 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 3âÂÂ1 series lead. On June 21, 2012, the Miami Heat won the NBA Championship at home against the Oklahoma City Thunder with a 121âÂÂ106 Game 5 victory, winning the NBA Finals 4âÂÂ1 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 (2âÂÂ1 in the conference semifinals, 3âÂÂ2 in the conference finals, and 0âÂÂ1 in the NBA Finals), with the first being the 1995 Houston Rockets.
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:<br> C â Joel Anthony<br> PF â Chris Bosh<br> SF â LeBron James<br> SG â Dwyane Wade<br> PG â 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.
|- bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 1 | December 18 | Orlando | | LeBron James (19) | Udonis Haslem (9) | Norris Cole (8) | American Airlines Arena<br>20,100 | 1âÂÂ0 |- bgcolor="ffcccc" | 2 | December 21 | @ Orlando | | LeBron James (27) | Chris Bosh (7) | Chris Bosh (4) | Amway Center<br>19,045 | 1âÂÂ1
|- bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 1 | December 25 | @ Dallas | | LeBron James (37) | Udonis Haslem (14) | LeBron James<br>Dwyane Wade (6) | American Airlines Center<br>20,421 | 1âÂÂ0 |- bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 2 | December 27 | Boston | | LeBron James (26) | Udonis Haslem (12) | Dwyane Wade (8) | American Airlines Arena<br>20,166 | 2âÂÂ0 |- bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 3 | December 28 | @ Charlotte | | LeBron James (35) | Bosh, James & Haslem (6) | LeBron James (7) | Time Warner Cable Arena<br>19,614 | 3âÂÂ0 |- bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 4 | December 30 | @ Minnesota | | LeBron James (34) | Chris Bosh<br>Udonis Haslem (9) | LeBron James (10) | Target Center<br>19,356 | 4âÂÂ0
|- bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 5 | January 1 | Charlotte | | Chris Bosh (24) | Chris Bosh (10) | Norris Cole (9) | American Airlines Arena<br>20,016 | 5âÂÂ0 |- bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 6 | January 2 | Atlanta | | LeBron James (28) | Udonis Haslem (10) | Dwyane Wade (10) | American Airlines Arena<br>20,078 | 5âÂÂ1 |- bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 7 | January 4 | Indiana | | LeBron James (33) | Udonis Haslem (10) | LeBron James (13) | American Airlines Arena<br>20,201 | 6âÂÂ1 |- bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 8 | January 5 | @ Atlanta | | Chris Bosh (33) | Chris Bosh<br>Terrel Harris (14) | Mario Chalmers (8) | Philips Arena<br>18,371 | 7âÂÂ1 |- bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 9 | January 7 | @ New Jersey | | LeBron James (32) | Udonis Haslem (12) | LeBron James (9) | Prudential Center<br>18,711 | 8âÂÂ1 |- bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 10 | January 10 | @ Golden State | | Dwyane Wade (34) | LeBron James (11) | LeBron James (7) | Oracle Arena<br>19,596 | 8âÂÂ2 |- bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 11 | January 11 | @ L. A. Clippers | | LeBron James (23) | LeBron James (13) | LeBron James (7) | Staples Center<br>19,341 | 8âÂÂ3 |- bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 12 | January 13 | @ Denver | | LeBron James (35) | Udonis Haslem (11) | LeBron James (6) | Pepsi Center<br>19,155 | 8âÂÂ4 |- bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 13 | January 17 | San Antonio | | LeBron James (33) | Chris Bosh (8) | LeBron James (10) | American Airlines Arena<br>19,600 | 9âÂÂ4 |- bgcolor=#ccffcc | 14 | January 19 | L. A. Lakers | | LeBron James (31) | Bosh,James & Haslem (8) | LeBron James (8) | American Airlines Arena<br>20,004 | 10âÂÂ4 |- bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 15 | January 21 | Philadelphia | | Chris Bosh (30) | Udonis Haslem (10) | Mario Chalmers (8) | American Airlines Arena<br>19,725 | 11âÂÂ4 |- bgcolor=#ffcccc | 16 | January 22 | Milwaukee | | LeBron James (28) | LeBron James (13) | LeBron James (5) | American Airlines Arena<br>19,600 | 11âÂÂ5 |- bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 17 | January 24 | Cleveland | | Chris Bosh (35) | Udonis Haslem (10) | LeBron James (5) | American Airlines Arena <br>19,600 | 12âÂÂ5 |- bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 18 | January 25 | @ Detroit | | LeBron James (32) | LeBron James (6) | LeBron James (7) | The Palace of Auburn Hills<br>18,058 | 13âÂÂ5 |- bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 19 | January 27 | New York | | LeBron James (31) | Chris Bosh (9) | LeBron James (7) | American Airlines Arena<br>19,707 | 14âÂÂ5 |- bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 20 | January 29 | Chicago | | LeBron James (35) | Chris Bosh (12) | Dwyane Wade (7) | American Airlines Arena<br>20,054 | 15âÂÂ5 |- bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 21 | January 30 | New Orleans | | LeBron James<br>Dwyane Wade (22) | LeBron James (11) | LeBron James (8) | American Airlines Arena<br>19,600 | 16âÂÂ5
|- bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 22 | February 1 | @ Milwaukee | | LeBron James (40) | Chris Bosh (9) | Dwyane Wade (6) | Bradley Center<br> 10,265 | 16âÂÂ6 |- bgcolor=#ccffcc | 23 | February 3 | @ Philadelphia | | Dwyane Wade (26) | LeBron James (8) | LeBron James (12) | Wells Fargo Center<br>20,694 | 17âÂÂ6 |- bgcolor=#ccffcc | 24 | February 5 | Toronto | | LeBron James (30) | LeBron James (9) | LeBron James (4) | American Airlines Arena<br>19,802 | 18âÂÂ6 |- bgcolor=#ccffcc | 25 | February 7 | Cleveland | | Dwyane Wade (26) | LeBron James (6) | Chris Bosh (9) | American Airlines Arena<br>20,078 | 19âÂÂ6 |- bgcolor=#ffcccc | 26 | February 8 | @ Orlando | | Dwyane Wade (33) | LeBron James(10) | Chris Bosh (9) | Amway Center<br>18,972 | 19âÂÂ7 |- bgcolor=#ccffcc | 27 | February 10 | @ Washington | | Dwyane Wade (26) | LeBron James (9) | Udonis Haslem (12) | Verizon Center<br>20,282 | 20âÂÂ7 |- bgcolor=#ccffcc | 28 | February 12 | @ Atlanta | | LeBron James (23) | LeBron James (6) | Chris Bosh (26) | Philips Arena<br>18,371 | 21âÂÂ7 |- bgcolor=#ccffcc | 29 | February 13 | @ Milwaukee | | LeBron James (35) | Mike Miller (8) | Chris Bosh (4) | Bradley Center<br>16,749 | 22âÂÂ7 |- bgcolor=#ccffcc | 30 | February 14 | @ Indiana | | LeBron James (23) | LeBron James (9) | LeBron James (7) | Bankers Life Fieldhouse<br>18,165 | 23âÂÂ7 |- bgcolor=#ccffcc | 31 | February 17 | @ Cleveland | | LeBron James (28) | Chris Bosh (12) | LeBron James<br>Mario Chalmers (5) | Quicken Loans Arena<br>20,562 | 24âÂÂ7 |- bgcolor=#ccffcc | 32 | February 19 | Orlando | | Dwyane Wade (27) | LeBron James (11) | LeBron James (8) | American Airlines Arena<br>20,185 | 25âÂÂ7 |- bgcolor=#ccffcc | 33 | February 21 | Sacramento | | Dwyane Wade (30) | Chris Bosh (10) | Dwyane Wade (10) | American Airlines Arena<br>20,068 | 26âÂÂ7 |- bgcolor=#ccffcc | 34 | February 23 | New York | | Chris Bosh (25) | Udonis Haslem<br>LeBron James (9) | LeBron James (8) | American Airlines Arena<br>20,197 | 27âÂÂ7 |- align="center" |colspan="9" bgcolor="#bbcaff"|All-Star Break
|- bgcolor=#ccffcc | 35 | March 1 | @ Portland | | LeBron James (38) | Udonis Haslem (14) | Dwyane Wade (10) | Rose Garden<br>20,597 | 28âÂÂ7 |- bgcolor=#ffcccc | 36 | March 2 | @ Utah | | LeBron James (35) | LeBron James (10) | LeBron James (6) | EnergySolutions Arena<br>19,991 | 28âÂÂ8 |- bgcolor=#ffcccc | 37 | March 4 | @ L. A. Lakers | | LeBron James (25) | LeBron James (13) | LeBron James (7) | Staples Center<br>18,997 | 28âÂÂ9 |- bgcolor=#ccffcc | 38 | March 6 | New Jersey | | LeBron James (21) | LeBron James (9) | Mario Chalmers (7) | American Airlines Arena<br>19,600 | 29âÂÂ9 |- bgcolor=#ccffcc | 39 | March 7 | Atlanta | | LeBron James (31) | LeBron James (11) | Dwyane Wade (6) | American Airlines Arena<br>20,018 | 30âÂÂ9 |- bgcolor=#ccffcc | 40 | March 10 | Indiana | | Dwyane Wade (28) | Udonis Haslem (11) | Dwyane Wade (7) | American Airlines Arena<br>20,154 | 31âÂÂ9 |- bgcolor=#ffcccc | 41 | March 13 | @ Orlando | | Dwyane Wade (28) | LeBron James (11) | LeBron James (8) | Amway Center<br>18,879 | 31âÂÂ10 |- bgcolor=#ffcccc | 42 | March 14 | @ Chicago | | Dwyane Wade (36) | Dwyane Wade (7) | LeBron James (4) | United Center<br>23,028 | 31âÂÂ11 |- bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 43 | March 16 | @ Philadelphia | | LeBron James (29) | Dwyane Wade (11) | LeBron James (8) | Wells Fargo Center<br>20,396 | 32âÂÂ11 |- bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 44 | March 18 | Orlando | | Dwyane Wade (31) | LeBron James (12) | LeBron James (7) | American Airlines Arena<br>20,003 | 33âÂÂ11 |- bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 45 | March 20 | Phoenix | | Chris Bosh (29) | Udonis Haslem (9) | Mario Chalmers (8) | American Airlines Arena<br>20,212 | 34âÂÂ11 |- bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 46 | March 23 | @ Detroit | | Dwyane Wade (24) | Chris Bosh<br>Dwyane Wade (9) | LeBron James (10) | The Palace of Auburn Hills<br>22,076 | 35âÂÂ11 |- bgcolor=#ffcccc | 47 | March 25 | @ Oklahoma City | | Dwyane Wade (22) | Udonis Haslem (9) | LeBron James (7) | Chesapeake Energy Arena<br>18,203 | 35âÂÂ12 |- bgcolor=#ffcccc | 48 | March 26 | @ Indiana | | LeBron James<br>Dwyane Wade (24) | LeBron James (9) | Dwyane Wade (6) | Bankers Life Fieldhouse<br>17,415 | 35âÂÂ13 |- bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 49 | March 29 | Dallas | | Chris Bosh<br>LeBron James (19) | Chris Bosh<br>LeBron James (9) | LeBron James<br>Dwyane Wade (5) | American Airlines Arena<br>20,096 | 36âÂÂ13 |- bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 50 | March 30 | @ Toronto | | Chris Bosh<br>Dwyane Wade (30) | Chris Bosh (8) | LeBron James (9) | Air Canada Centre<br>19,883 | 37âÂÂ13
|- bgcolor=#ffcccc | 51 | April 1 | @ Boston | | LeBron James (23) | Chris Bosh (11) | Chris Bosh (4) | TD Garden<br>18,624 | 37âÂÂ14 |- bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 52 | April 3 | Philadelphia | | LeBron James (41) | Udonis Haslem (11) | Mario Chalmers<br>LeBron James (4) | American Airlines Arena<br>20,015 | 38âÂÂ14 |- bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 53 | April 4 | Oklahoma City | | LeBron James (34) | Udonis Haslem (8) | LeBron James (10) | American Airlines Arena<br>20,104 | 39âÂÂ14 |- bgcolor=#ffcccc | 54 | April 6 | Memphis | | LeBron James (21) | Dwyane Wade (7) | LeBron James (6) | American Airlines Arena<br>20,008 | 39âÂÂ15 |- bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 55 | April 8 | Detroit | | LeBron James (26) | Chris Bosh<br>Ronny Turiaf (9) | Shane Battier<br>Mario Chalmers (5) | American Airlines Arena<br>20,017 | 40âÂÂ15 |- bgcolor=#ffcccc | 56 | April 10 | Boston | | LeBron James (36) | Chris Bosh (9) | LeBron James (7) | American Airlines Arena<br>19,954 | 40âÂÂ16 |- bgcolor=#ffcccc | 57 | April 12 | @ Chicago | | LeBron James (30) | Chris Bosh<br>Ronny Turiaf (8) | LeBron James (5) | United Center<br>23,015 | 40âÂÂ17 |- bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 58 | April 13 | Charlotte | | LeBron James (19) | LeBron James (9) | LeBron James (5) | American Airlines Arena<br>19,600 | 41âÂÂ17 |- bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 59 | April 15 | @ New York | | LeBron James (29) | Chris Bosh (14) | Dwyane Wade (4) | Madison Square Garden<br>19,763 | 42âÂÂ17 |- bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 60 | April 16 | @ New Jersey | | LeBron James (37) | Chris Bosh (15) | LeBron James (7) | Prudential Center<br>18,711 | 43âÂÂ17 |- bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 61 | April 18 | Toronto | | LeBron James (28) | Udonis Haslem (7) | Mario Chalmers (7) | American Airlines Arena<br>19,600 | 44âÂÂ17 |- bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 62 | April 19 | Chicago | | LeBron James (27) | LeBron James (11) | LeBron James (6) | American Airlines Arena<br>20,008 | 45âÂÂ17 |- bgcolor=#ffcccc | 63 | April 21 | Washington | | Mario Chalmers (16) | Udonis Haslem (15) | Mario Chalmers (6) | American Airlines Arena<br>19,722 | 45âÂÂ18 |- bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 64 | April 22 | Houston | | LeBron James (32) | Udonis Haslem (11) | LeBron James (5) | American Airlines Arena<br>19,859 | 46âÂÂ18 |- bgcolor=#ffcccc | 65 | April 24 | @ Boston | | Dexter Pittman (12) | Udonis Haslem (13) | Mario Chalmers (5) | TD Garden<br>18,624 | 46âÂÂ19 |- bgcolor=#ffcccc | 66 | April 26 | @ Washington | | Norris Cole (14) | Harris, Howard & Turiaf (5) | Terrel Harris (3) | Verizon Center<br>19,537 | 46âÂÂ20
|- bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 1 | April 28 | New York | | LeBron James (32) | Udonis Haslem (8) | Mario Chalmers (9) | American Airlines Arena<br>19,621 | 1âÂÂ0 |- bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 2 | April 30 | New York | | Dwyane Wade (25) | Udonis Haslem (8) | LeBron James (9) | American Airlines Arena<br>19,684 | 2âÂÂ0 |- bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 3 | May 3 | @ New York | | LeBron James (32) | Chris Bosh (10) | LeBron James (5) | Madison Square Garden<br>19,763 | 3âÂÂ0 |- bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 4 | May 6 | @ New York | | LeBron James (27) | Chris Bosh (9) | Dwyane Wade (6) | Madison Square Garden<br>19,763 | 3âÂÂ1 |- bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 5 | May 9 | New York | | LeBron James (29) | LeBron James (8) | LeBron James (7) | American Airlines Arena<br>19,754 | 4âÂÂ1
|- bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 1 | May 13 | Indiana | | LeBron James (32) | LeBron James (15) | LeBron James (5) | American Airlines Arena<br>19,600 | 1âÂÂ0 |- bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 2 | May 15 | Indiana | | LeBron James (28) | LeBron James (9) | LeBron James (5) | American Airlines Arena<br>19,828 | 1âÂÂ1 |- bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 3 | May 17 | @ Indiana | | Mario Chalmers (25) | Ronny Turiaf (8) | Mario Chalmers (5) | Bankers Life Fieldhouse<br>18,165 | 1âÂÂ2 |- bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 4 | May 20 | @ Indiana | | LeBron James (40) | LeBron James (18) | LeBron James (9) | Bankers Life Fieldhouse<br>18,165 | 2âÂÂ2 |- bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 5 | May 22 | Indiana | | LeBron James (30) | Mario Chalmers (11) | LeBron James (8) | American Airlines Arena<br>20,097 | 3âÂÂ2 |- bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 6 | May 24 | @ Indiana | | Dwyane Wade (41) | Dwyane Wade (10) | LeBron James (7) | Bankers Life Fieldhouse<br>18,165 | 4âÂÂ2
|- bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 1 | May 28 | Boston | | LeBron James (32) | LeBron James (13) | Dwyane Wade (7) | American Airlines Arena<br>19,912 | 1âÂÂ0 |- bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 2 | May 30 | Boston | | LeBron James (34) | Udonis Haslem (11) | LeBron James (7) | American Airlines Arena<br>19,973 | 2âÂÂ0 |- bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 3 | June 1 | @ Boston | | LeBron James (34) | LeBron James (8) | Mario Chalmers (6) | TD Garden<br>18,624 | 2âÂÂ1 |- bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 4 | June 3 | @ Boston | | LeBron James (29) | Udonis Haslem (17) | Dwyane Wade (6) | TD Garden<br>18,624 | 2âÂÂ2 |- bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 5 | June 5 | Boston | | LeBron James (30) | Udonis Haslem (14) | Chalmers & Wade (3) | American Airlines Arena<br>20,021 | 2âÂÂ3 |- bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 6 | June 7 | @ Boston | | LeBron James (45) | LeBron James (15) | LeBron James (5) | TD Garden<br>18,624 | 3âÂÂ3 |- bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 7 | June 9 | Boston | | LeBron James (31) | LeBron James (12) | Mario Chalmers (7) | American Airlines Arena<br>20,114 | 4âÂÂ3
|- bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 1 | June 12 | @ Oklahoma City | | LeBron James (30) | Udonis Haslem (11) | Dwyane Wade (8) | Chesapeake Energy Arena<br>18,203 | 0âÂÂ1 |- bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 2 | June 14 | @ Oklahoma City | | LeBron James (32) | Chris Bosh (15) | James & Wade (5) | Chesapeake Energy Arena<br>18,203 | 1âÂÂ1 |- bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 3 | June 17 | Oklahoma City | | LeBron James (29) | LeBron James (14) | Dwyane Wade (7) | American Airlines Arena<br>20,003 | 2âÂÂ1 |- bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 4 | June 19 | Oklahoma City | | LeBron James (26) | Bosh & James (9) | LeBron James (12) | American Airlines Arena<br>20,003 | 3âÂÂ1 |- bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 5 | June 21 | Oklahoma City | | LeBron James (26) | LeBron James (11) | LeBron James (13) | American Airlines Arena<br>20,003 | 4âÂÂ1