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 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.
Television: ABC (Al Michaels and Doc Rivers announcing)
[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 1995-1996 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 (ironically) 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 second 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] Series Scoring Summary
| 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 AngelesDetroit 87, Los Angeles 75: Detroit leads series 1-0
- Game 2 - June 8, Tuesday, 6:00 p.m. PDT, at Los AngelesLos Angeles 99, Detroit 91 (OT): Series tied 1-1
- Game 3 - June 10, Thursday, 9:00 p.m. EDT, at DetroitDetroit 88, Los Angeles 68: Detroit leads series 2-1
- Game 4 - June 13, Sunday, 9:00 p.m. EDT, at Detroit Detroit 88, Los Angeles 80: Detroit leads series 3-1
- Game 5 - June 15, Tuesday, 9:00 p.m. EDT, at Detroit Detroit 100, Los Angeles 87: Detroit wins series 4-1
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's (Los Angeles') home court (Staples Center). This has been used in virtually all Major League Baseball best-of-seven playoff series since the founding of the league. The NBA, after experimenting it in the early years, only restored this original format for the Finals in 1985. As of yet, all other playoff series are still played on a 2-2-1-1-1 site format.
[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 fight, with the Pistons (David) playing hard defense and "the right way" against the Lakers (Goliath), which had a plethora of talent but was more of an offensively minded, flashier team. Also helping to publicize the series was the schism between Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant, with Bryant allegedly being tired of sharing the spotlight with O'Neal and thus pressuring Lakers management to trade the center away.
Also adding to the publicity of the Finals was Gary Payton and Karl Malone. 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.
[edit] Game One
Sunday, June 6, 2004, 14:30 at the Staples Center.
An absolutely stunning upset for most of the NBA world, the Detroit Pistons managed to defeat the Lakers' star-studded team with imposing defense. Offensively 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
Tuesday, June 8, 2004, 15:04 at the Staples Center
The second game of the finals was very important for the Lakers, as no team has ever come back from a 0-2 deficit with home court advantage. The 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
| Team | 1st Qt. | 2nd Qt. | 3rd Qt. | 4th Qt. | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles | 16 | 16 | 19 | 17 | 68 |
| Detroit | 24 | 15 | 24 | 25 | 88 |
The Pistons blew out Los Angeles by 20 in their first finals appearance at The Palace of Auburn Hills since 1989 to take a surprising 2-1 lead in the series.
[edit] Game Four
Sunday, June 13, 2004, 14:49 at the Palace of Auburn Hills
| Team | 1st Qt. | 2nd Qt. | 3rd Qt. | 4th Qt. | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles | 22 | 17 | 17 | 24 | 80 |
| Detroit | 21 | 20 | 15 | 32 | 88 |
Once again at home, the Pistons took another step towards a big Finals upset, defeating the Lakers by 8 and taking a 3-1 series lead heading into game 5.
[edit] Game Five
Tuesday, June 15, 2004, 14:32 at the Palace of Auburn Hills
| Team | 1st Qt. | 2nd Qt. | 3rd Qt. | 4th Qt. | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles | 24 | 21 | 14 | 28 | 87 |
| Detroit | 25 | 30 | 27 | 18 | 100 |
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 and Malone's last NBA game in his career.
[edit] Broadcast notes
The games were broadcast on ABC. 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] External links
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