Editing Miami Heat (section)

===Dallas Mavericks===
The Heat–Mavericks rivalry began in the [[2006 NBA Finals]], where the two teams met and both entering their first NBA Finals appearance. A year prior, the Heat had acquired [[Shaquille O'Neal]]. The Mavericks were led by [[Dirk Nowitzki]], and the Heat were led by [[Dwyane Wade]]. Dallas had home-court advantage in the series due to a better regular season record (60–22) than Miami's (52–30) and took the first two games in the series, entering Game 3 with a commanding 2–0 lead. They looked set to win Game 3 until a rally by the Heat, including many free throws from Wade, resulted in the Mavericks losing the third game. The Heat won all of its home games, as the Mavericks dropped games 3, 4 and 5. In a highly controversial Game 5, a 101–100 victory for the Heat, Wade shot more free throws than the entire Mavericks team. Mavericks owner [[Mark Cuban]], as well as Nowitzki, were both fined for acts of misconduct. During Game 6, the series returned to Dallas, where the Mavericks fell 95–92. [[Jason Terry]] airballed a three-point attempt that could have tied the game. Wade picked up the ball, throwing it in the air in celebration as the Heat won the NBA Championship, and its first one as well. Wade was named the Finals MVP.

In the 2010 off-season, Miami acquired [[LeBron James]] from the [[Cleveland Cavaliers]] and [[Chris Bosh]] from the [[Toronto Raptors]] to team up with Wade and form their own "big three" (to rival the [[Boston Celtics|Celtics]]' big three) that was expected to win the championship. The Heat finished 58–24, acquiring the southeast division title and the second seed in the Eastern Conference. During the regular season, the Mavericks swept the Heat 2–0. The Heat cruised through the Playoffs without much competition, eliminating every team – the [[Philadelphia 76ers]], defending Eastern Conference champions [[Boston Celtics]] and the top-seeded [[Chicago Bulls]] all five games. Meanwhile, the Mavericks had tallied 57–25 for the third seed, leaving them to face the [[Portland Trail Blazers]] in the first round. The Mavericks had been defeated in the first round all but one time since the 2006 Finals, including a defeat from the seventh-seeded [[San Antonio Spurs]] just the previous season. Because of this, the Mavericks were underdogs throughout the playoffs, but they were able to dispatch Portland in six games. They faced the defending NBA champions [[Los Angeles Lakers]] and pulled off the impossible by sweeping them, ending their bid for a three-peat. In the conference finals, they defeated the [[Oklahoma City Thunder]], resulting a rematch between the two teams. After taking a 2–1 lead however, the Heat stumbled in the next three games. They were eliminated on their own home floor after losing 105–95 during Game 6 in Miami – extending LeBron's quest for a ring. The loss had also brought further public humiliation for [[LeBron James]], who had been scrutinized and negatively criticized for leaving the Cavaliers to join the Heat. LeBron was criticized for only averaging 17.8 points. Cavaliers fans rejoiced in the Heat's loss due to the anger that was caused by LeBron's decision to join the Heat, which they felt was unfair and a betrayal.

After that, the Mavericks would never win another game against the Heat. Dallas hosted the Heat for the season opener on December 25, 2011, of the lockout-shortened 2011–12 season that was shortened to 66 games. The Heat spoiled the Mavericks' championship banner-raising night, giving them a 105–94 loss.

Although the Heat and the Mavericks have not met in the postseason ever since, the rivalry continued as [[Mark Cuban]] publicly discussed his extreme personal dislike for the Heat. He described "hate" was not being strong enough of a word to describe his dislike for the Heat.<ref>{{cite web |author=Dan Favale |url=http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1921640-mark-cuban-hate-not-strong-enough-word-to-describe-dislike-of-miami-heat |title=Mark Cuban: Hate Not 'Strong Enough' Word to Describe Dislike of Miami Heat |website=Bleacher Report |date=January 13, 2014 |access-date=May 14, 2015 |archive-date=May 18, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150518222523/http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1921640-mark-cuban-hate-not-strong-enough-word-to-describe-dislike-of-miami-heat |url-status=live }}</ref> He also had a personal dislike for Wade.