Schedule and 2005-06 Results
Regular Season Records: Detroit 64-18, Miami 52-30
Game 1 on Tuesday, 23 May: Miami wins at Detroit, 91-pts-86
Game 2 on Thursday, 25 May: Miami loses at Detroit, 92-pts-88
Game 3 on Saturday, 27 May: Detroit loses at Miami, 98-pts-83
Game 4 on Monday, 29 May: Detroit loses at Miami, 89-pts-78
Game 5 on Wednesday, 31 May: Miami loses at Detroit, 91-pts-78
Game 6 on Friday, 02 June: Detroit loses at Miami, 95-pts-78

SERIES NOTES:

After Game 6: The Miami Heat hosted and defeated the Detroit Pistons 95-pts-78 to complete a 4-games-2 win of best-of-7 MLB/NBA/NHL playoff series 984. With the series 984 win, the best-of-7 NBA playoff series record for the Miami Heat improves to 7-4. With the series 984 loss, the best-of-7 NBA playoff series record for the Detroit Pistons falls to 21-13. The win order for the victorious Miami Heat in series 984 was WLWWLW: Series 984 thus becomes the sixth NBA Semifinals series, the 15th NBA series (all rounds), and the 32nd MLB/NBA/NHL series (all rounds) to follow this win order. The seventeen-point defeat suffered by the Detroit Pistons was the biggest elimination-game defeat of the Pistons in terms of victory margin since series 900 Game 4, when the New Jersey Nets defeated Detroit by twenty points to sweep the Pistons from their 2003 NBA Semifinals playoff series. The last three games of series 984 featured the same number of points for the losing team - 78. Series 984 thus becomes the fifth best-of-7 NBA playoff series in which losing teams posted the same point total for three consecutive games, and only the second in which those three games were the last three games of the series (in series 672 Games 5-7, the losing team scored 84 points in each of the last three games betweeen the Houston Rockets and the New York Knickerbockers in the 1994 NBA Finals).

After Game 5: With best-of-7 MLB/NBA/NHL playoff series 984 in Detroit for Game 5, the host Pistons defeated the Miami Heat 91-pts-78 to stave off elimination from the 2006 NBA playoffs. Miami still leads the series 3-games-2. When leading a best-of-7 NBA playoff series 3-games-2, the Miami Heat have a 2-2 series record. When trailing a best-of-7 NBA playoff series 3-games-2, the Detroit Pistons have a 4-7 series record overall, but a 4-1 series record in their last five such series.

After Game 4: The Heat in Miami hosted and defeated the Detroit Pistons 89-pts-78 to take a 3-games-1 lead in best-of-7 MLB/NBA/NHL playoff series 984. When leading a best-of-7 NBA playoff series 3-games-1, the Miami Heat have a 1-0 series record, having defeated the New Jersey Nets in series 981 in the 2006 NBA Quarterfinals. When trailing a best-of-7 NBA playoff series 3-games-1, the Detroit Pistons have a series record of 1-3, with the sole win occurring in their latest such series (series 888, over the Orlando Magic in the 2003 NBA Preliminary round). Through series 984 Game 4, NBA teams in the 2006 playoffs that led at halftime have a 57-15 (.792) game record; the Miami Heat have a 10-0 game record upon leading at the half.

After Game 3: With best-of-7 MLB/NBA/NHL playoff series 984 in Miami for Games 3 and 4, the Heat defeated the Detroit Pistons 98-pts-83 to take a 2-games-1 lead in series 984. When leading a best-of-7 NBA playoff series 2-games-1, the Miami Heat have a series record of 3-2 with a two-series winning streak: Those last two series victories occurred in the 2006 NBA Preliminary round (series 973) and the 2006 NBA Quarterfinals (series 981). When trailing a best-of-7 NBA playoff series 2-games-1, the Detroit Pistons have a 5-8 series record, but have won five out of the last seven such series.

After Game 2: The Detroit Pistons hosted and defeated the Miami Heat 92-pts-88 to even best-of-7 MLB/NBA/NHL playoff series 984 at 1-game-all. When tied 1-game-all in a best-of-7 NBA playoff series, the Detroit Pistons have a series record of 12-5 with a six-series winning streak, while the Miami Heat have a series record of 2-2. Detroit led Miami 25-pts-12 after one quarter of series 984 Game 2. In the history of best-of-7 NBA playoff games from 1947 through just before series 984 Game 2, home teams leading by 13+ points after one quarter of play had a game record of 111-17 (.867); the Detroit Pistons in that situation had a game record of 5-1.

After Game 1: The Miami Heat visited and defeated the Detroit Pistons 91-pts-86 to take a 1-game-nil lead over the Pistons in best-of-7 MLB/NBA/NHL playoff series 984. When leading a best-of-7 NBA playoff series 1-game-nil, the Miami Heat have a series record of 4-1 with a four-game winning streak. When trailing a best-of-7 NBA playoff series 1-game-nil, the Detroit Pistons have a series record of 3-9.

Pre-series assessment: In the 2005-06 regular season, Detroit finished 12 games ahead of Miami. From 1947 through the 2006 NBA Quarterfinals, when NBA teams led their best-of-7 playoff series opponents by 12 regular-season games, they have posted a 12-3 (.800) best-of-7 series record in those series against those opponents. Best-of-7 MLB/NBA/NHL playoff series 984 is the 11th best-of-7 NBA playoff series for Miami, and the 34th for Detroit. In best-of-7 playoff series, Miami has a 6-4 series record, a 0-2 Semifinals-round series record, and a 5-5 Game 1 record, while Detroit has a 21-12 series record, a 5-5 Semifinals-round record, and a 21-12 Game 1 record. Series 984 is the second best-of-7 NBA playoff series meeting between Miami and Detroit; Detroit won series 951 over Miami in the 2005 NBA Semifinals.