10. 2006 – Miami Heat over Dallas Mavericks (4-2)
Dallas Mavericks fans and NBA conspiracy theorists alike incorrectly remember this series as being rigged for Miami because of how many free throws Dwyane Wade shot. And while Wade did shoot an obscene amount of free throws, it’s because he was unstoppable at getting into the paint.
The perception that the referees gifted this series to Miami mars the fact that this is probably the best series Wade ever played and should be viewed as a time capsule for how explosive he was before he started suffering injuries towards the middle and end of his career. It’s sometimes hard to not remember Wade as the guy at the end of the 2014 Finals who could barely move from all of his knee problems, but the 2006 Finals are how he should be remembered.
The series itself is a lot like the 2019 Eastern Conference Finals between the Raptors and Bucks. In that series, the Bucks were up 2-0 and probably should have taken a 3-0 lead. They of course didn’t as the Raptors won four-straight games and ultimately the NBA Finals. But if the Bucks close out Game 3 it’s probably a different story.
The Mavericks had a similar situation. They were up 2-0 and had a great chance to steal Game 3 on the road, but Wade’s 42 points were too much to overcome and the Mavs never won another game. Even still, Dirk Nowitzki had two free throws to tie the game with three seconds left and missed the second, feeding into the “Dirk can’t win the big one” narrative that was held over him until 2011.
So even though the conspiracy theory is fun to think about, the Mavericks had every chance to win the series and couldn’t close it out. That’s not the NBA rigging it, that’s Dwyane Wade being one of the best players to ever play. And oh yeah, Shaq was there too. Should probably mention that.