2006–07 NBA season

history

The 2006–07 NBA season was the 61st season of the National Basketball Association. The regular season began on November 1, 2006 and ran through June 14, 2007. The league fielded 30 teams, each playing an 82 game regular season schedule. The top eight seeds from each conference reached the NBA Playoffs, which began on April 21, 2007 and ended on June 14, 2007. The San Antonio Spurs were crowned the champions after sweeping the Cleveland Cavaliers in the NBA Finals.

Notable occurrences

  • A new design for the official NBA game ball was revealed on June 28, 2006, at the NBA Draft. Amid complaints by players and coaches, the league switched back to the previous ball on January 1, 2007.
  • The 2007 NBA All-Star Game was played on February 18, 2007, at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nevada, the first time the event was held in a non-NBA city. The West defeated the East 153-132, with Kobe Bryant winning the game's MVP award.»NBA All-Star Game, nba.com/allstar2007, accessed April 25, 2007.
  • For the second straight year, the Hornets played a split home schedule between New Orleans, Louisiana and Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, due to Hurricane Katrina.
  • The Denver Nuggets and the New York Knicks entered into a brawl near the end of a December 16 match up. All ten players on the court at the time, including Nuggets star Carmelo Anthony (the league's leading scorer at the time), were ejected. Seven players were suspended as a result of the incident, the most notable of which was Carmelo Anthony's 15 game suspension.
  • After 11 seasons with the Philadelphia 76ers, All-Star guard Allen Iverson was traded to the Denver Nuggets.»Miller, Smith go to Sixers in deal for Iverson, sports.espn.go.com, December 20, 2006, accessed April 25, 2007.
  • After the 2006 Playoff controversy, the format of team seeds changed. Each division winner may be seeded no lower than 4th, but the top non-division-winning playoff team may seed higher than a divisional champ if they have a better win-loss record. Home court advantage is given to the team with the better record, regardless of seeding.
  • The Phoenix Suns and the Dallas Mavericks notched multiple 12+ game win-streaks during the course of the regular season. The Suns rattled off streaks of 15 and 17 games straight (tied for fifth longest in NBA history), while the Mavericks' streaks stretched to 12, 13, and 17 games straight.»All-Time Winning Streaks, nba.com, March 13, 2007, accessed May 1, 2007. The San Antonio Spurs joined these two teams by notching a 13 game winning streak.
  • Kobe Bryant notched four consecutive 50+ point games against the Portland Trail Blazers, Minnesota Timberwolves, Memphis Grizzlies and New Orleans Hornets; his streak ranks fourth behind streaks by Wilt Chamberlain.Associated Press. »Kobe scores 50 (again), leads Lakers past Hornets, scores.espn.go.com, March 23, 2007, accessed May 1, 2007.
  • Jason Kidd and Vince Carter of the New Jersey Nets become only the tenth pair of teammates in NBA history to record triple doubles in the same game. Nearly 20 years had passed since the last tandem, Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen, performed this feat.
  • The Toronto Raptors won their first division title in the franchise's twelve year history. It also marked the first time a Canadian-based NBA team had won a division title.Associated Press. Gelston, Dan, »Toronto 94, Philadelphia 85, sports.yahoo.com, April 6, 2007, accessed April 25, 2007.
  • The Golden State Warriors, who had not qualified for the playoffs since 1994, became the first 8 seed to defeat a 1 seed in a best-of-seven playoff series, defeating the 67-win Dallas Mavericks in 6 games.»Warriors Make History, Close Out Mavs, nba.com, May 7, 2007, accessed November 16, 2007.
  • Dirk Nowitzki won the NBA MVP Award and Tony Parker won the NBA Finals MVP Award,»Parker, Spurs Close Out Cavs for Fourth Title, nba.com, June 15, 2007, accessed June 15, 2007. the first time either award was won by a European-born player.
  • Long-time Boston Celtics coach and executive Red Auerbach died on October 28 of a myocardial infarction at age 89.
  • The 2007 NBA Finals, won by the San Antonio Spurs 4-0 over the Cleveland Cavaliers, was the least-watched Finals series in NBA History, with a rating of 6.2.

Final standings

Eastern Conference

{| |- | width="33%" valign="top" | {| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;" |+ Atlantic Division''' |- ! Team !! W !! L !! PCT. !! GB |- | align="left" | Toronto Raptors-y (3) || 47 || 35 || .573 || - |- | align="left" | New Jersey Nets-x (6) || 41 || 41 || .500 || 6 |- | align="left" | Philadelphia 76ers || 35 || 47 || .427 || 12 |- | align="left" | New York Knicks || 33 || 49 || .402 || 14 |- | align="left" | Boston Celtics || 24 || 58 || .293 || 23 |} | width="34%" valign="top" | {| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;" |+ Central Division''' |- ! Team !! W !! L !! PCT. !! GB |- | align="left" | Detroit Pistons-z (1) || 53 || 29 || .646 || - |- | align="left" | Cleveland Cavaliers-x (2) || 50 || 32 || .610 || 3 |- | align="left" | Chicago Bulls-x (5) || 49 || 33 || .598 || 4 |- | align="left" | Indiana Pacers || 35 || 47 || .427 || 18 |- | align="left" | Milwaukee Bucks || 28 || 54 || .341 || 25 |} | width="33%" valign="top" | {| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;" |+ Southeast Division |- ! Team !! W !! L !! PCT. !! GB |- | align="left" | Miami Heat-y (4) || 44 || 38 || .537 || - |- | align="left" | Washington Wizards-x (7) || 41 || 41 || .500 || 3 |- | align="left" | Orlando Magic-x (8) || 40 || 42 || .488 || 4 |- | align="left" | Charlotte Bobcats || 33 || 49 || .402 || 11 |- | align="left" | Atlanta Hawks || 30 || 52 || .366 || 14 |} |}

Western Conference

{| |- | width="33%" valign="top" | {| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;" |+ Northwest Division |- ! Team !! W !! L !! PCT. !! GB |- | align="left" | Utah Jazz-y (4) || 51 || 31 || .622 || - |- | align="left" | Denver Nuggets-x (6) || 45 || 37 || .549 || 6 |- | align="left" | Portland Trail Blazers || 32 || 50 || .390 || 19 |- | align="left" | Minnesota Timberwolves || 32 || 50 || .390 || 19 |- | align="left" | Seattle SuperSonics || 31 || 51 || .378 || 20 |} | width="34%" valign="top" | {| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;" |+ Southwest Division |- ! Team !! W !! L !! PCT. !! GB |- | align="left" | Dallas Mavericks -z (1) || 67 || 15 || .817 || - |- | align="left" | San Antonio Spurs-x (3) C || 58 || 24 || .707 || 9 |- | align="left" | Houston Rockets-x (5) ||52||30||.634||15 |- | align="left" | NO/OKC Hornets ||39||43||.476||28 |- | align="left" | Memphis Grizzlies ||22||60||.268||45 |} | width="33%" valign="top" | {| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;" |+ Pacific Division |- ! Team !! W !! L !! PCT. !! GB |- | align="left" | Phoenix Suns-y (2) || 61 || 21 || .744 || - |- | align="left" | Los Angeles Lakers-x (7) || 42 || 40 || .512 || 19 |- | align="left" | Golden State Warriors-x (8) || 42 || 40 || .512 || 19 |- | align="left" | Los Angeles Clippers || 40 || 42 || .488 || 21 |- | align="left" | Sacramento Kings || 33 || 49 || .402 || 28 |} |}

  • x - Clinched playoff berth
  • y - Clinched division title
  • z - Clinched top conference record
  • (1) - (8) - Playoff seedings
  • C - NBA Champions»2006-07 DIVISION STANDINGS, nba.com, accessed July 1, 2007.

Statistics leaders

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" |+ |- ! Category !! Player || Team || Stat |- | Points per game || Kobe Bryant || Los Angeles Lakers || 31.6 |- | Rebounds per game || Kevin Garnett || Minnesota Timberwolves || 12.8 |- | Assists per game || Steve Nash || Phoenix Suns || 11.6 |- | Steals per game || Baron Davis || Golden State Warriors || 2.14 |- | Blocks per game || Marcus Camby || Denver Nuggets || 3.3 |- | Field goal percentage|| Mikki Moore|| New Jersey Nets || .608 |- | Free throw percentage || Kyle Korver || Philadelphia 76ers || .914 |- | Three-point field goal percentage || Jason Kapono || Miami Heat || .514 |- |}

NBA awards

»Golden State’s Ellis Wins 2006-07 NBA Most Improved Player Award, nba.com, April 26, 2007, accessed April 26, 2007. »Chicago's Deng wins sportsmanship award, nba.com, May 3, 2007, accessed May 8 2007.

See also

References

External links

home | This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. See full license termsIt uses material from the Wikipedia article "2006%E2%80%9307_NBA_season ". | compliance | March 21st 2010