1995–96 Miami Heat season

1995–96 Miami Heat season
Head coach	Pat Riley
Arena	Miami Arena
Results
Record	42–40 (.512)
Place	Division: 3rd (Atlantic) Conference: 8th (Eastern)
Playoff finish	Eastern First Round (eliminated 0-3)
Stats @ Basketball-Reference.com
Local media
Television	SportsChannel Florida, Sunshine Network, WBFS
Radio	WINZ

The 1995-96 Miami Heat season was Miami's eighth season in the NBA.^[1] Under new head coach Pat Riley, the Heat would be restructured. The franchise acquired LeRon Ellis, Alonzo Mourning, and Pete Myers from the Charlotte Hornets for Matt Geiger, Khalid Reeves, and Glen Rice.^[2] The Heat won 11 of their first 14 games, but won only 9 of their next 32 games.^[2] Riley would continue make changes. At the trading deadline, Riley would make three more deals. The club acquired Tim Hardaway, Chris Gatling, Walt Williams, Tyrone Corbin and Tony Smith.^[2] In the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals of the playoffs, the Heat lost in three straight games to the Chicago Bulls.

Mourning became the first Heat player to appear in an All-Star Game, as he was selected for the 1996 NBA All-Star Game in San Antonio.

Offseason

NBA Draft

Round	Pick	Player	Position	Nationality	School/Club Team
1	10	Kurt Thomas	PF/C	United States	TCU
2	46	George Banks	F	United States	UTEP

Roster

Miami Heat roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. No. Name Height Weight DOB (YYYY–MM–DD) From SF 2 Askins, Keith 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 197 lb (89 kg) Alabama SG 7 Chapman, Rex 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Kentucky SF 23 Corbin, Tyrone 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 210 lb (95 kg) DePaul SG 5 Danilovic, Sasha 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 200 lb (91 kg) Serbia PF 15 Gatling, Chris 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 235 lb (107 kg) Old Dominion PG 10 Hardaway, Tim 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 175 lb (79 kg) Texas–El Paso C 21 King, Stacey 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 230 lb (104 kg) Oklahoma SG 22 Lenard, Voshon 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 205 lb (93 kg) Minnesota SG 25 Malone, Jeff 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 240 lb (109 kg) Mississippi C 33 Mourning, Alonzo 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 240 lb (109 kg) Georgetown C 24 Schayes, Danny 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 235 lb (107 kg) Syracuse SG 14 Smith, Tony 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Marquette PF 40 Thomas, Kurt 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 230 lb (104 kg) Texas Christian SF 42 Williams, Walt 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 219 lb (99 kg) Maryland	Head coach Pat Riley (Kentucky) Assistant coach(es) Jeff Bzdelik (UIC) Tony Fiorentino (Dowling College) Bob McAdoo (North Carolina) Scotty Robertson (Louisiana Tech) Stan Van Gundy (SUNY–Brockport) Legend (C) Team captain (DP) Unsigned draft pick (FA) Free agent (S) Suspended Injured Roster

Regular season

Season standings

Atlantic Division	W	L	PCT	GB	Home	Road	Div
y-Orlando Magic	60	22	.732	–	37–4	23–18	21–3
x-New York Knicks	47	35	.573	13	26–15	21–20	16–8
x-Miami Heat	42	40	.512	18	26–15	16–25	13–12
Washington Bullets	39	43	.476	21	25–16	14–27	10–14
Boston Celtics	33	49	.402	27	18–23	15–26	12–12
New Jersey Nets	30	52	.366	30	20–21	10–31	8–17
Philadelphia 76ers	18	64	.220	42	11–30	7–34	5–19

Schedule

Game	Date	Opponent	Result	Heat points	Opponents	Record	Streak	OT
1	November 4	Cleveland	Win	85	71	1-0	Won 1
2	November 8	Houston	Win	89	82	2-0	Won 2
3	November 10	New Jersey	Win	106	80	3-0	Won 3
4	November 11	@ Orlando	Loss	93	94	3-1	Lost 1
5	November 15	Indiana	Loss	97	103	3-2	Lost 2
6	November 17	@ Atlanta	Win	91	88	4-2	Won 1
7	November 18	Orlando	Win	93	90	5-2	Won 2
8	November 22	Golden State	Win	103	93	6-2	Won 3
9	November 24	@ Washington	Loss	94	110	6-3	Lost 1
10	November 25	Vancouver	Win	111	91	7-3	Won 1
11	November 28	Dallas	Win	111	89	8-3	Won 2
12	November 30	@ Detroit	Win	118	107	9-3	Won 3
13	December 1	Charlotte	Win	108	101	10-3	Won 4	OT
14	December 3	@ Toronto	Win	112	94	11-3	Won 5
15	December 4	@ Boston	Loss	120	121	11-4	Lost 1	2OT
16	December 6	Boston	Loss	101	105	11-5	Lost 2
17	December 9	@ Phoenix	Win	94	92	12-5	Won 1
18	December 10	@ Sacramento	Loss	90	110	12-6	Lost 1
19	December 12	@ Golden State	Loss	80	105	12-7	Lost 2
20	December 14	@ LA Clippers	Loss	84	89	12-8	Lost 3
21	December 16	Utah	Loss	74	83	12-9	Lost 4
22	December 19	@ New York	Loss	70	89	12-10	Lost 5
23	December 20	@ New Jersey	Win	112	104	13-10	Won 1	OT
24	December 22	Detroit	Loss	75	84	13-11	Lost 1
25	December 23	@ Charlotte	Loss	75	87	13-12	Lost 2
26	December 26	New Jersey	Win	96	93	14-12	Won 1
27	December 28	@ Indiana	Loss	77	91	14-13	Lost 1
28	December 30	LA Clippers	Win	105	96	15-13	Won 1
29	January 4	Seattle	Loss	81	84	15-14	Lost 1
30	January 6	@ Denver	Win	88	86	16-14	Won 1
31	January 8	@ Utah	Loss	92	94	16-15	Lost 1
32	January 10	@ Portland	Loss	89	90	16-16	Lost 2
33	January 12	@ Seattle	Loss	81	113	16-17	Lost 3
34	January 13	@ Vancouver	Loss	65	69	16-18	Lost 4
35	January 15	@ LA Lakers	Loss	88	96	16-19	Lost 5
36	January 17	Washington	Win	96	89	17-19	Won 1
37	January 19	Charlotte	Loss	106	114	17-20	Lost 1
38	January 20	@ Atlanta	Loss	78	98	17-21	Lost 2
39	January 22	San Antonio	Win	96	89	18-21	Won 1
40	January 24	New York	Loss	79	88	18-22	Lost 1
41	January 26	@ Chicago	Loss	80	102	18-23	Lost 2
42	January 27	@ Cleveland	Win	102	85	19-23	Won 1
43	January 29	@ New York	Loss	85	94	19-24	Lost 1
44	January 30	Phoenix	Loss	99	114	19-25	Lost 2
45	February 1	Philadelphia	Win	124	104	20-25	Won 1
46	February 3	Boston	Loss	99	100	20-26	Lost 1
47	February 5	Sacramento	Win	103	92	21-26	Won 1
48	February 7	Atlanta	Win	101	89	22-26	Won 2
49	February 13	Toronto	Loss	87	98	22-27	Lost 1
50	February 15	Denver	Win	97	91	23-27	Won 1
51	February 17	Orlando	Loss	93	95	23-28	Lost 1
52	February 19	@ Cleveland	Loss	70	73	23-29	Lost 2
53	February 21	@ Philadelphia	Win	66	57	24-29	Won 1
54	February 23	Chicago	Win	113	104	25-29	Won 2
55	February 25	Philadelphia	Win	108	101	26-29	Won 3
56	February 27	@ New Jersey	Win	93	90	27-29	Won 4
57	February 28	@ Orlando	Loss	112	116	27-30	Lost 1
58	March 1	Portland	Loss	88	102	27-31	Lost 2
59	March 3	@ Minnesota	Loss	87	89	27-32	Lost 3
60	March 5	Minnesota	Win	113	72	28-32	Won 1
61	March 8	Toronto	Win	109	79	29-32	Won 2
62	March 10	Cleveland	Win	88	81	30-32	Won 3
63	March 12	@ Dallas	Win	125	118	31-32	Won 4
64	March 14	@ San Antonio	Loss	100	120	31-33	Lost 1
65	March 16	@ Houston	Win	121	97	32-33	Won 1
66	March 20	Detroit	Win	102	93	33-33	Won 2
67	March 22	@ Milwaukee	Win	122	106	34-33	Won 3
68	March 24	@ Boston	Win	111	95	35-33	Won 4
69	March 27	LA Lakers	Loss	95	106	35-34	Lost 1
70	March 29	Washington	Win	112	93	36-34	Won 1
71	March 30	@ Detroit	Win	95	85	37-34	Won 2
72	April 2	Chicago	Loss	92	110	37-35	Lost 1
73	April 4	@ Chicago	Loss	92	100	37-36	Lost 2
74	April 6	@ Indiana	Loss	95	99	37-37	Lost 3
75	April 8	@ Washington	Loss	99	111	37-38	Lost 4
76	April 10	@ Charlotte	Win	116	95	38-38	Won 1
77	April 11	Milwaukee	Win	115	105	39-38	Won 2
78	April 13	New York	Win	103	95	40-38	Won 3
79	April 15	New Jersey	Win	110	90	41-38	Won 4
80	April 17	@ Philadelphia	Loss	86	90	41-39	Lost 1
81	April 19	@ Milwaukee	Win	106	100	42-39	Won 1
82	April 21	Atlanta	Loss	92	104	42-40	Lost 1
1	April 26 (First Round)	@ Chicago	Loss	85	102	0-1	Lost 1
2	April 28 (First Round)	@ Chicago	Loss	75	106	0-2	Lost 2
3	May 1 (First Round)	Chicago	Loss	91	112	0-3	Lost 3

Player stats

Player	GP	REB	AST	STL	BLK	PTS
Alonzo Mourning	70	727	159	70	189	1623
Rex Chapman	56	145	166	45	10	786
Kurt Thomas	74	439	46	47	36	666
Bimbo Coles	52	201	296	63	12	664
Billy Owens	40	286	134	30	22	590
Tim Hardaway	28	98	280	58	6	482
Kevin Willis	47	420	34	19	25	479
Keith Askins	75	324	121	48	61	458
Chris Gatling	24	175	17	17	11	365
Walt Williams	28	112	65	32	16	337
Kevin Gamble	44	86	82	31	5	305
Sasha Danilovic	19	46	47	15	3	255
Pete Myers	39	73	97	14	11	184
Voshon Lenard	30	52	31	6	1	176
Tony Smith	25	39	68	16	5	109
Terrence Rencher	34	42	54	16	1	103
Danny Schayes	32	89	9	11	16	101
Tyrone Corbin	22	65	23	16	3	101
Ron Grandison	18	36	10	8	1	43
Stacey King	15	23	2	7	2	38
Jeff Malone	7	8	7	3	0	31
LeRon Ellis	12	8	4	2	3	13

^[3]

Transactions

July 1, 1995

• Released Brad Lohaus.
• Released Ledell Eackles.

September 1, 1995

• Traded a 1996 1st round draft pick (Walter McCarty) to the New York Knicks for Pat Riley (coach).

September 29, 1995

• Brad Lohaus signed as an unrestricted free agent with the San Antonio Spurs.

October 5, 1995

• Signed Ron Grandison as a free agent.
• Signed Stacey King as a free agent.
• Signed Bruce Bowen as a free agent.

October 13, 1995

• Waived Bruce Bowen.

November 3, 1995

• Traded Matt Geiger, Khalid Reeves, Glen Rice, and a 1996 1st round draft pick (Tony Delk) to the Charlotte Hornets for LeRon Ellis, Alonzo Mourning, and Pete Myers.

December 12, 1995

• Signed Danny Schayes to a contract for remainder of season.

December 27, 1995

• Waived LeRon Ellis.

December 29, 1995

• Signed Voshon Lenard as a free agent.

January 5, 1996

• Waived Ron Grandison.

February 12, 1996

• Signed Jeff Malone to a 10-day contract.
• Waived Pete Myers.

February 22, 1996

• Traded Bimbo Coles and Kevin Willis to the Golden State Warriors for Chris Gatling and Tim Hardaway.
• Traded Kevin Gamble and Billy Owens to the Sacramento Kings for Tyrone Corbin and Walt Williams.
• Traded Terrence Rencher to the Phoenix Suns for Tony Smith.

March 3, 1996

• Signed Jeff Malone to a contract for remainder of season.

June 26, 1996

• Traded a 2000 1st round draft pick (DeShawn Stevenson) to the Utah Jazz for Martin Muursepp.

^[4]

Postseason

The Heat would qualify for the playoffs by beating out the Charlotte Hornets by 1 game for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference with a record of 42 wins and 40 losses. In the playoffs, the Heat were swept in 3 straight games. The Heat would lose by double digits in each game to the eventual World Champion Chicago Bulls.^[2]

Awards, records, and honors

Pat Riley led the Heat to a 42-40 record which tying the franchise record for best record. Alonzo Mourning was voted by fans to be in the All-Star Game.^[5]

References

Notes

1. 1995-96 Miami Heat
2. Miami Heat (1988-Present)
3. "1995-96 Miami Heat Roster and Stats". Basketball-Reference.com. Retrieved 26 November 2012.
4. "1995-96 Miami Heat Transactions". Basketball-Reference.com. Retrieved 26 November 2012.
5. "Year by Year: 1995-96". Heat History. NBA.com. Retrieved 26 November 2012.

Sources

• Heat on Database Basketball
• Heat on Basketball Reference