With former Pistons and NBA Champions, Darvin Ham and Rasheed Wallace linking up to coach the Los Angeles Lakers in the ’22-23 season, we are taking a look back at the moves and wins that led Ham and Wallace to beat the Lakers for the title in the ’04 NBA Finals.
Pistons Hire Larry Brown As Head Coach
Detroit brought Coach Larry Brown on board to lead the team. The Pistons became a defensive juggernaut under Brown and had a 13 game win streak between December of ’03 and January of ’04.
Pistons Trade For Rasheed Wallace
After playing only one game for the Atlanta Hawks, a trade was made and Wallace was sent to Detroit.
Wallace helped the Pistons win the next 16 of their 19 games.
Pistons Defeat Milwaukee In The 1st Round
The Pistons may have lost game 2 at home, but their defensive dominance took them the rest of the way.
Detroit defeated Milwaukee in 5 games to advance to the semi-finals.
Detroit Takes Down The Nets
Detroit was swept by New Jersey in the previous season, but came back with a vengeance in the ’03-’04 semifinals.
The Pistons won the first two games at home, but the Nets forged ahead with a 3-2 lead.
Detroit went back to their defensive prowess, keeping Jason Kidd from scoring efficiently and holding back the Nets offensive onslaught to take the series in 7 games.
Pacers Fall To Detroit
The Pistons got off to a rocky start in game 1 against top seed Indiana.
Indiana proved difficult to keep down, but ultimately the Pistons stuck to their defensive strength and took the mighty Pacers out of the equation in 6 games, stamping Detroit’s ticket to the NBA Finals, and a showdown with the Los Angeles powerhouse duo of Shaq and Kobe.
Detroit Shakes Up Los Angeles
Detroit went into the NBA Finals with NBA fans and sports media doubting their survival against the top heavy Los Angeles Lakers.
Without a superstar on their starting lineup, the Pistons were in stark contrast to the Lakers lineup of Kobe, Shaq, Payton and Malone.
The Pistons shocked the analysts by taking game one, which many considered a fluke after the Lakers secured victory in game 2.
That would be the only win Los Angeles had in the series as Detroit used their impressive defense to shut down Shaq, Kobe and any other offensive weaponry the Lakers had at their disposal.
5 games later, it was finished, and Detroit was preparing for a victory parade.