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View all NBA Sites. More MLB News ». More MLB Rumors ». In , the team reached the Eastern Conference Finals , the farthest it had advanced since moving from Fort Wayne, against the Celtics. After pushing the defending champions to a 2—2 tie, the Pistons were on the verge of winning Game 5 at the Boston Garden with seconds remaining. After a Celtics' turnover, Isiah Thomas attempted to quickly inbound the ball and missed Daly's timeout signal from the bench the NBA had not yet instituted the rule that allowed coaches to call timeout themselves.
Larry Bird stole the inbound pass and passed it to Dennis Johnson for the game-winning layup. While the Pistons would win Game 6 in Detroit, they would lose the series in a tough Game 7 back in Boston. Motivated by their loss to the Celtics, the Pistons , aided by midseason acquisition James Edwards , improved to a then-franchise-record 54 victories and the franchise's first Central Division title. In the postseason , the Pistons avenged their two previous playoff losses to the Celtics in the Eastern Conference Finals, defeating them in six games and advancing to the NBA Finals for the first time since the franchise moved to Detroit.
In that game, Isiah Thomas scored an NBA Finals record 25 points in the third quarter while playing on a severely sprained ankle. However, the Lakers won the game, —, on a pair of last-minute free throws by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar following a controversial foul called on Bill Laimbeer, referred to by many Piston supporters, and Laimbeer himself, as a "phantom foul. The Pistons completed the building of their roster by trading Dantley for Mark Aguirre , a trade that Piston fans would criticize heavily initially, but later praise.
The team won 63 games, shattering the old franchise record, and steamrolled through the playoffs and into a NBA Finals rematch with the Lakers. This time the Pistons came out victorious in a four-game sweep to win their first NBA championship. Game 4 of the series marked the final game of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's career.
The Pistons successfully defended their title in After winning 59 games and a third straight division title, the Pistons cruised through the first two rounds of the playoffs and advanced to the eastern conference finals for the 4th straight year, before playing a tough Eastern Conference Finals series against Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls.
Facing each other for the third straight season, the Pistons and Bulls split the first six games before the Pistons finished the series with a decisive 93—74 victory in Game 7. After splitting the first two games at The Palace, the Pistons went to Portland, where they had not won a game since , to play Games 3, 4 and 5.
The Pistons summarily won all three games in Portland, becoming the first NBA team to sweep the middle three games on the road. The decisive game came down to the final second. Trailing 90—83 with two minutes remaining, the Pistons rallied to tie the game, then took a 92—90 lead when Vinnie Johnson sank an 18 foot jumper with The Pistons' championship run came to an end in the Eastern Conference Finals, where the battered and bruised Pistons were swept by the eventual NBA champion Chicago Bulls, 4 games to 0.
The most critical Piston injury belonged to Isiah Thomas who had surgery on his wrist just prior to the Playoffs. The Conference Finals were best remembered for the Pistons walking off court in the last game just before it ended, unwilling to shake hands with the Bulls.
After the series, Jordan said he was "shocked that Isiah didn't play as hard. The team quickly declined, bottoming out in the —94 season when they finished 20— The team's fortunes improved after that season, but the rebuilding process soon sputtered.
As a result of the poor finish in the season , the Pistons were able to draft Grant Hill , a promising small forward. However, this period also saw the team make numerous questionable personnel decisions, such as the loss of free agent Allan Houston to the New York Knicks , [5] the signing of free agent wash-outs Christian Laettner , Loy Vaught , Cedric Ceballos , and the late Bison Dele ; and head coaching changes from Ron Rothstein to Don Chaney to Doug Collins to Alvin Gentry to George Irvine in an eight-year span.
Of those coaches, only Collins had any sort of success with the Pistons, winning 54 games in the —97 season. The franchise even changed its team colors in from its traditional red, white, and blue to teal, burgundy, gold and black in what proved to be a highly unpopular move with fans. This period has become known, derisively, as the "teal era.
Detroit Pistons logo — The logo marked the return of the traditional colors. After being swept by the Miami Heat in the playoffs , Joe Dumars who had retired following the season was hired as the team's president of basketball operations.
He quickly faced what appeared to be a setback for the franchise, as Grant Hill elected to leave the team for the Orlando Magic. Both quickly entered the Pistons' starting lineup, and Wallace would develop into an All-Star in the coming years. Conversely, Hill would play only 47 games in the following four seasons due to a recurring ankle injury. The Pistons suffered through another tough season in —01 , going 32— After the season, Dumars fired head coach George Irvine and hired Rick Carlisle , a widely respected assistant coach who had been a tough substitute contributor for the Celtics during the mids.
In the fall of , the franchise also returned to its red, white and blue uniforms. Detroit Pistons alternate logo — Modern version of "Bad Boys" logo. Carlisle helped lead the Pistons to their first win season since , and their first playoff series victory since The Pistons posted consecutive win seasons and advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals , for the first time since There, however, they were swept in four games by the New Jersey Nets.
Despite the team's improvement, Carlisle was fired in the offseason. There were believed to be five reasons for the firing: first, that Carlisle had appeared reluctant to play some of the team's younger players, such as Tayshaun and Mehmet Okur , during the regular season, which had upset Dumars; second, that some of the players notably Wallace had not gotten along with Carlisle; third, that Carlisle employed an offensive system that was too conservative; fourth, that Hall of Famer Larry Brown had become available; and finally fifth, that Carlisle was rumored to be interested in the Pacers head coaching job during the Pistons' playoff run.
Brown accepted the job that summer and Carlisle landed the job in Indiana as expected. Bush for the team's victory in the NBA Finals. The Pistons' transformation into a championship team was completed with the February acquisition of Rasheed Wallace. The Pistons now had another big man to pose a threat from all parts of the court.
The Pistons finished the season 54—28, recording their best record since In the playoffs , after defeating the Milwaukee Bucks in five games, they defeated the defending Eastern Conference champion New Jersey Nets in seven games after coming back from a 3—2 deficit.
Detroit then defeated the Indiana Pacers , coached by Carlisle, in six tough games to advance to the NBA Finals for the first time since The Pistons posted double-digit wins in three of their four victories, and their defense held the Lakers to a franchise-low 68 points in Game 3.
Despite losing key members of their bench during the offseason including Okur, Mike James and Corliss Williamson , the Pistons were considered a strong contender to win a second consecutive title in They won 54 games during the regular season , their fourth consecutive season of 50 or more wins.
During the playoffs , they easily defeated the Philadelphia 76ers 4—1 and then rallied from a 2—1 deficit to finish off the Pacers , 4—2. Once again Detroit fell behind, but won Eastern Conference Championship in seven games. In the Finals the Pistons faced the Spurs. The Pistons' —05 season was marked by a major controversy, as well as distracting issues involving Larry Brown. In the first month of the season, the Malice at the Palace erupted, one of the largest fan-player incidents in the history of American sports.
No more excuses. The Pistons were storming the throne room, grabbing the basketball, stealing it, owning it, banking it off glass, slamming it through the rim, counting the seconds until destiny lifted her veil and gave them that long-awaited kiss, smack on the lips.
Who in Detroit will ever forget? Our first NBA champions? This was the moment we had awaited forever, since the team was a laugh, since the roof collapsed on the arena, since the aura of champions used to leave them paralyzed.
Monroe 7. Kuester G. Monroe 6. Kuester B. Wallace 4. Curry T. Prince 6. Finals F. Saunders C. Billups Brown C. Finals R. Carlisle B. Wallace Semis R. Irvine J. Stackhouse 9. Gentry , G. Irvine G. Hill Gentry G. Hill 7. Collins , A.
Collins G. Chaney G. Hill 5. Chaney T. Mills 6. Rothstein J. Dumars 9. Daly D. Rodman Finals C. Daly J. Daly B. Laimbeer Laimbeer 9. Daly A. Dantley 9. Semis C. Daly I. Thomas Robertson B. Laimbeer 8. Robertson K. Tripucka 7. Robertson T. Tyler 6. Vitale , R.
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