2004 NBA Finals

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The 2004 NBA Finals was the championship round of the 2003-04 National Basketball Association season. The Los Angeles Lakers of the Western Conference battled the Detroit Pistons of the Eastern Conference for the NBA title, with the Lakers holding home court advantage. The series was played under a best-of-seven format, so the first team to collect four game victories wins the series.

Despite the star-studded Lakers being the heavy favorite, the Pistons won the series 4 games to 1 to win their first title since 1990. Piston point guard Chauncey Billups was named the Most Valuable Player of the series. [1]

Television: ABC (Al Michaels and Doc Rivers announcing)

Contents

[edit] Background

[edit] Los Angeles Lakers

The Lakers had won three consecutive championships from 2000 to 2002, but lost to the San Antonio Spurs in the Western Conference playoffs in 2003 to end their streak at three. However, led by superstars guard Kobe Bryant and center Shaquille O'Neal, the Lakers were still perennial title contenders.

In the 2003 offseason, the Lakers made major changes, with initially varying results. The Lakers, hoping to find a point guard and a power forward to defend against Tim Duncan and the Spurs, signed veteran stars Gary Payton and Karl Malone for well below market value, hoping to give both veterans their first championship rings. With a star-studded roster, the Lakers were afterwards considered the favorites to finish with the best regular-season record as well as the NBA title. Proclaimed by the media as one of the greatest teams in NBA history, some even thought that they could break the Chicago Bulls' record 72-10 regular season record from the 1995-96 season.

During the regular season, after starting the season 18-3, the Lakers were afflicted by numerous injuries and stumbled to a 56-26 record to finish the season with the third seed in the Western Conference.

The Lakers breezed past their first round opponent, the Houston Rockets, 4-1, but then lost the first two games in their series against the Spurs before a dramatic comeback that saw them win 4-2. Then, they faced the Minnesota Timberwolves and their superstar forward Kevin Garnett. In a large part due to Malone's excellent defense on Garnett, the Lakers won the series 4-2 to advance to the Finals.

[edit] Detroit Pistons

The Pistons won two back-to-back championships in 1989 and 1990, but with retirements and departures of several stars, they faded from playoff prominence. The team hired former star Joe Dumars as general manager of the team in 2000, and he began stockpiling draft picks and trading players. He landed defensive stalwart Ben Wallace and guard Richard Hamilton by trading established stars in controversial trades, signed Chauncey Billups (considered an underachiever), and drafted Tayshaun Prince with the 23rd pick in the 2002 Draft. He was named the NBA Executive of the Year in 2003 for returning the Pistons to prominence.

The Pistons made a major change as well, but perhaps a riskier change, firing head coach Rick Carlisle, who had led the Pistons to two consecutive Central Division titles and had received the NBA Coach of the Year Award in 2002. In his place, Dumars hired legendary coach Larry Brown, who had most recently led the Philadelphia 76ers to the NBA Finals in 2001. However, it was considered a gamble at the time, as Brown had failed to lead the Sixers deep into the playoffs afterwards, while Carlisle had led the Pistons to the Eastern Conference Finals just the year before.

The Pistons, while having a respectable record throughout the season, were not considered the favorites for the Eastern Conference crown. That distinction belonged to the Carlisle-coached Indiana Pacers. However, in a three team trade at the trade deadline, Dumars traded Chucky Atkins, Lindsey Hunter, Bobby Sura, Zeljko Rebraca and other considerations for guard Mike James and forward Rasheed Wallace, who proved to be the final pieces of the championship team (Hunter would rejoin the Pistons a week later). The Pistons, who were already a good defensive team, became a defensive force to be reckoned with. They became the first team in NBA history to hold five consecutive opponents under 70 points, and finished the season with a 54-28 record and the third seed in the Eastern Conference.

In the playoffs, both teams met with a great deal of adversity. The Pistons easily overcame the Milwaukee Bucks 4-1, but struggled against the New Jersey Nets and narrowly escaped 4-3. In a defensive series with Indiana, the Pistons offense proved more productive and they won 4-2 to advance to the NBA Finals.

[edit] Detroit Pistons Roster [2]

(Head Coach: Larry Brown)

[edit] Los Angeles Lakers Roster [3]

(Head Coach: Phil Jackson)

[edit] Series Summary[4]

Team Game 1 Game 2 (OT) Game 3 Game 4 Game 5 Wins
Los Angeles (West) 75 99 68 80 87 1
Detroit (East) 87 91 88 88 100 4
  • (OT) denotes a game that required overtime.

[edit] Schedule

All dates appear at local time. The starting times are scheduled starting times (not the actual tip-off). Games were held three times a week on Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays.

  • Game 1 - June 6, Sunday, 6:00 p.m. PDT, at Los Angeles Detroit 87, Los Angeles 75: Detroit leads series 1-0[5]
  • Game 2 - June 8, Tuesday, 6:00 p.m. PDT, at Los Angeles Los Angeles 99, Detroit 91 (OT)]: Series tied 1-1[6]
  • Game 3 - June 10, Thursday, 9:00 p.m. EDT, at Detroit Detroit 88, Los Angeles 68]: Detroit leads series 2-1[7]
  • Game 4 - June 13, Sunday, 9:00 p.m. EDT, at Detroit Detroit 88, Los Angeles 80]: Detroit leads series 3-1[8]
  • Game 5 - June 15, Tuesday, 9:00 p.m. EDT, at Detroit Detroit 100, Los Angeles 87]: Detroit wins series 4-1[9]

The Finals were played using a 2-3-2 site format, where the first two and last two games are held at the team with home court advantage. This is only used in the Finals, all other playoff games are held in a 2-2-1-1-1 format (the team with home court advantage starts).[10]

[edit] Features

The NBA heavily publicized the series as it has done with all other NBA Finals series. There was a sentiment among fans that the Pistons were the clear underdogs, and many described the series as a David vs. Goliath matchup. The Lakers had a lineup of Stars such as Karl Malone, Gary Payton, Derek Fisher, Kobe Bryant, and Shaquille O'Neal - their offensive capability was expected to overpower Detroit's defensive-based gameplan.[11]

Payton and Malone Also added to the publicity of the Finals. Perennial All-Stars who had both previously reached the Finals, Payton had led the Seattle SuperSonics there in 1996, while Malone had led the Utah Jazz there in 1997 and 1998. However, Michael Jordan and the Bulls denied them championship rings a total of three times. By the time of his retirement in 2003, the two veterans were aged and failed to lead their respective teams deep into the playoffs. Thus, this Finals series was seen as the last chance for two of the greatest players in NBA history to finally become NBA champions (Later on, Malone retired while Payton became a champion as a key bench player for the Miami Heat).

[edit] Game One

Sunday, June 6, 2004, 14:30 at the Staples Center.

Considered to be a stunning upset by most of the NBA world, the Detroit Pistons managed to defeat the Lakers' star-studded team with imposing defense. Defensively clamping down on everyone but Bryant and O'Neal, the Pistons managed to hold everyone else to a total of 16 points.

The Pistons trailed the Lakers 41-40 at halftime, but a 10-4 surge capped by Billups's 3-pointer gave the Pistons the lead. O'Neal's foul trouble furthered the scoring gap, with the Pistons leading by 13 points early in the 4th quarter.

Team 1st Qt. 2nd Qt. 3rd Qt. 4th Qt. Total
Detroit 22 18 24 23 87
Los Angeles 19 22 17 17 75

[edit] Game Two

Kobe Bryant's 3 pointer puts the game into overtime.
Kobe Bryant's 3 pointer puts the game into overtime.

Tuesday, June 8, 2004, 15:04 at the Staples Center.

The second game was close throughout the first half, but in the third quarter Detroit would score 30 points, cutting the deficit 68-66. However, at the end of the fourth quarter, Kobe Bryant's 3-point shot at 2.1 seconds to go would tie the game at 89-89. The Lakers and Pistons would then go to overtime, with the Lakers outscoring the Pistons 10-2.

Team 1st Qt. 2nd Qt. 3rd Qt. 4th Qt. OT Total
Detroit 16 20 30 23 2 91
Los Angeles 18 26 24 21 10 99

[edit] Game Three

Thursday, June 10, 2004, 14:31 at The Palace of Auburn Hills.

The Pistons beat Los Angeles by 20 in their first NBA Finals appearance at The Palace of Auburn Hills since 1989[12] to take a 2-1 lead in the series.

Team 1st Qt. 2nd Qt. 3rd Qt. 4th Qt. Total
Los Angeles 16 16 19 17 68
Detroit 24 15 24 25 88

[edit] Game Four

Sunday, June 13, 2004, 14:49 at The Palace of Auburn Hills. Again, the Pistons defeated the Lakers, although this time by eight, to take a 3-1 series advantage.

Team 1st Qt. 2nd Qt. 3rd Qt. 4th Qt. Total
Los Angeles 22 17 17 24 80
Detroit 21 20 15 32 88

[edit] Game Five

Tuesday, June 15, 2004, 14:32 at The Palace of Auburn Hills.

In Game 5, the Pistons won their first championship since 1990, and Larry Brown finally won his long-deserved title. The Pistons defense had overcome the high-scoring Laker offense, winning the game by 13, winning the series 4-1, and also ending a long Laker dynasty that lasted for many years. The game saw the end of Phil Jackson's first run as the coach (he returned for the 05-06 season), and saw O'Neal, Payton, and Malone's last games in Laker uniforms (O'Neal and Payton were both acquired by the soon-to-be NBA Champions Miami Heat and Malone retired).

Team 1st Qt. 2nd Qt. 3rd Qt. 4th Qt. Total
Los Angeles 24 21 14 28 87
Detroit 25 30 27 18 100

[edit] Trivia

  • As the broadcaster of this NBA Finals, Al Michaels became the first TV play-by-play announcer to call the Super Bowl, World Series and NBA Finals.
  • The Pistons became the fourth team to win the three middle games in the 2-3-2 format (joining the '90 Pistons, '91 Chicago Bulls and '01 Lakers) but they were the first team to do it at home. The Pistons also became the first team in NBA history to win the middle games both on the road and at home.
  • The Pistons became the fourth NBA franchise to win the NBA Championship at least three times joining the Lakers, Bulls, the Boston Celtics (and eventually the San Antonio Spurs).
  • For the third time, the Piston that was the NBA Finals MVP was a guard as Chauncey Billups followed Joe Dumars and Isiah Thomas.
  • Game 5 marks the last game with Shaquille O'Neal in a Laker uniform.

[edit] Broadcast notes

The games were broadcast on ABC by Al Michaels and Doc Rivers. To promote the series, they used the Black Eyed Peas' song "Let's Get It Started", which they had also used throughout the 2004 NBA Playoffs.

[edit] Officials

[edit] See also

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Game 5 Notebook: Billups Wins MVP (June 16 2004).
  2. ^ Peterson, Rob (June 17 2004). All the Right Moves.
  3. ^ 2003-2004 Lakers Regular Statistics.
  4. ^ NBA Official Recap of Finals
  5. ^ NBA official Recap of Game 1
  6. ^ NBA official Recap of Game 2
  7. ^ NBA official Recap of Game 3
  8. ^ NBA official Recap of Game 4
  9. ^ NBA official Recap of Game 5
  10. ^ [http://www.betinf.com/nba_playoffs.htm 2006 NBA Playoffs Preview (with info on the right side)
  11. ^ LA Laker - Most Love and Hated Team
  12. ^ Detroit Pistons History

[edit] External links

Preceded by
2003 NBA Finals		 NBA Finals
2004		 Succeeded by
2005 NBA Finals
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