2010–11 Miami Heat season

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

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 #2 seed (behind the Chicago Bulls).

With the acquisition of free agents LeBron James and Chris Bosh in the off season, the Heat opened up the season with extraordinarily high expectations,[1][2] with many expecting a championship in the first year of the new lineup, and with team stars Chris Bosh, Dwyane Wade and LeBron James predicting an NBA championship in their first season together.[3] However they fell just short by losing to the Dallas Mavericks in the NBA Finals.

Even though the Heat's season ended in disappointing fashion, they enjoyed a successful season, despite a slow 9–8 start to the regular season. They finished the regular season with 58 wins, their third-most in franchise history, won the Southeast Division, and were second in the Eastern Conference. Pat Riley was named NBA Executive of the Year. Dwyane Wade, LeBron James, and Chris Bosh were all selected to the 2011 NBA All-Star Game, the most Heat players in an All-Star game in franchise history. LeBron James earned All-NBA First Team honors, while Dwyane Wade earned All-NBA Second Team honors.

In the NBA Playoffs, Miami defeated the Philadelphia 76ers in the First Round, Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference Semifinals,and Chicago Bulls in the Conference Finals all in 5 games. However they lost to the Dallas Mavericks in the Finals in 6 games.

Contents

Key dates

Summary

Offseason

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 the 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, LeBron 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] 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."[12]

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.[13] 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.[14] 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.[15] 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 considered the Miami Heat as the team to break the single season record of 72 regular season victories set by the Chicago Bulls.[16]

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.[17]

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.[18]

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.,[19][20],.[21] 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).[22]

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.[23]

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 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 lost to the defending Eastern Conference champion Boston Celtics three times, were 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.[24] 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.[25] 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.[26] 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.[27] After the game, there were reports of players crying in the locker room afterwards.[28] 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.[29][30]

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.[31]

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 Semifinals, 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.[32] 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.

Draft picks

Main article: 2010 NBA Draft
Round Pick Player Position Nationality College/Team
2 32 Pittman, DexterDexter Pittman C  United States Texas (Sr.)
2 41 Varnado, JarvisJarvis Varnado PF  United States Mississippi State (Sr.)
2 42 Butler, Da'SeanDa'Sean Butler SF  United States West Virginia (Sr.)
2 48 Williams, LataviousLatavious Williams (traded to Oklahoma City) SF/PF  United States Tulsa 66ers (D-League)

Roster

Players Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight DOB (Y–M–D) From
C 50 Anthony, Joel 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 245 lb (111 kg) 1982–08–09 UNLV
G 0 Bibby, Mike 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 195 lb (88 kg) 1978–05–13 Arizona
F 1 Bosh, Chris 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 230 lb (104 kg) 1984–03–24 Georgia Tech
G 15 Chalmers, Mario 6 ft 1 in (1.85 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
F 40 Haslem, Udonis (C) 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 235 lb (107 kg) 1980–06–09 Florida
G 55 House, Eddie 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 178 lb (81 kg) 1978–05–14 Arizona State
F 5 Howard, Juwan 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 253 lb (115 kg) 1973–02–07 Michigan
C 11 Ilgauskas, Žydrūnas (IN) 7 ft 3 in (2.21 m) 260 lb (118 kg) 1975–06–05 Lithuania
F 6 James, LeBron 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 250 lb (113 kg) 1984–12–30 St. Vincent–St. Mary HS (OH)
F 22 Jones, James 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 215 lb (98 kg) 1980–10–04 Miami (Fla.)
C 21 Magloire, Jamaal (IN) 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 255 lb (116 kg) 1978–05–21 Kentucky
F 13 Miller, Mike 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 218 lb (99 kg) 1980–02–19 Florida
C 45 Pittman, Dexter (IN) 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 290 lb (132 kg) 1988–03–02 Texas
G 3 Wade, Dwyane (C) 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 220 lb (100 kg) 1982–01–17 Marquette
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)
Athletic trainer(s)
Strength and conditioning coach(es)
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (DP) Unsigned draft pick
  • (FA) Free agent
  • (S) Suspended
  • Injured

2010–11 Salaries

Player 2010–11 Salary
LeBron James $14,500,000
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

Depth chart

Pos. Starter Bench Reserve Inactive
C Joel Anthony Žydrūnas Ilgauskas Erick Dampier
Jamaal Magloire
Dexter Pittman
PF Chris Bosh Udonis Haslem Juwan Howard
SF LeBron James James Jones
SG Dwyane Wade Mike Miller
PG Mario Chalmers Mike Bibby Eddie House

Pre-season

Game log

2010–11 season schedule

Regular season

Standings

Southeast Division 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
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

Total: 58–24 (Home: 30–11; Road: 28–13)
2010–11 season schedule

Playoffs

Game log

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 7.3
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

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

Awards, records and milestones

Awards

Week/Month

All-Star

Season

Records

Milestones

Transactions

Trades

June 23, 2010
 To Oklahoma City Thunder
To Miami Heat
June 24, 2010
 To Oklahoma City Thunder
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
    Future Second-Round Pick
    Trade Exception
 To Miami Heat
July 9, 2010
 To Toronto Raptors
  • Two 2011 First-Round Picks
    Trade Exception
 To Miami Heat
July 12, 2010
 To Minnesota Timberwolves
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 the 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, LeBron 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.[58]

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][59] 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."[12]

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.[60] 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.[61] 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.[62] 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 considered the Miami Heat as the team to break the single season record of 72 regular season victories set by the Chicago Bulls.[16] 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.[63]

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 player's only meeting with the intent to get players 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.[64]

Since the players-only meeting, the team had pulled together a 12 game win streak (10 of them by double-digits) and limited the opposition under the century mark (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.,[65][66],.[67] 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 matchup with the reigning two time champs Kobe Bryant's Los Angeles Lakers which the team won 96–80).[68]

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.[69]

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 has 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.[70] 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.[25] 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.[26] 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.[27] After the game there were reports of players crying in the locker room afterwords.[28] 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.[30][71]

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.[72]

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 Semifinals, 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 a 18–3 run to win, 83–80, capped by a key four point play from Dwyane Wade and clutch shooting from LeBron James.[73] The Heat were selected to face the Dallas Mavericks in the NBA Finals who had defeated the Portland Trailblazers, Los Angeles Lakers, and Oklahoma City Thunder. This series would be a rematch of the 2006 NBA Finals, in which Dallas won the first 2 games and then they lost 4 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. Heat won Game 3 in Dallas 88–86 with the game-winning basket scored by Chris Bosh.

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