Finals teams offer new stars Associated Press
Jun. 4, 2006 12:00 AM
Dwyane Wade and Dirk Nowitzki are in the NBA Finals for the first time.
For Shaquille O'Neal and Pat Riley, it's just another June.
There will be plenty new - and a dash of old - when the Dallas Mavericks and Miami Heat open the NBA Finals on Thursday night in Dallas.
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Both teams will be making their Finals debuts, the first time that has happened since Milwaukee beat Baltimore in 1971.
Dallas, which joined the NBA in 1980, has been waiting longer. Miami showed up eight years later. But for O'Neal and Riley, the Finals are definitely a matter of been there, done that.
O'Neal won three titles in four appearances with the Lakers, and he also got to the Finals in 1995 with Orlando.
Riley has done plenty of winning, including four titles with the Lakers. He also has lost his share, including four fruitless trips to the Finals.
