2004 nba finals

The Lakers held home court advantageand the series was played under a best-of-seven format. Although the Lakers, headed by Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Nealwere considered the heavy favorites, [1] the underdog Pistons handily won the series in five games, 2004 nba finals.

The Pistons shocked the basketball world by defeating the Lakers in the Finals. In the epitome of team-ball over star power, the Pistons would become one of the most unlikely champions when they defeated a Los Angeles Lakers team sporting four future Hall of Famers in the Finals. The victory is considered one of the greatest upsets in U. In what was considered a lopsided trade at the time, Dumars re-signed and sent All-Star forward Grant Hill to the Orlando Magic in exchange for two unheralded pros: second-year guard Chucky Atkins and center Ben Wallace. Atkins was the player Dumars had targeted in the deal; Wallace was the throw-in. It was Wallace, however, who would become the centerpiece of a defense that fueled the Pistons to their first championship since

2004 nba finals

The playoffs was the first appearance for the Memphis Grizzlies in their nine year history which began in Vancouver. However, they failed to win a single game in their first 3 playoff appearances , , , before earning their first playoff game and series victories in The Minnesota Timberwolves , entered their eighth consecutive post season. The Denver Nuggets made the playoffs for the first time since The New Orleans Hornets made their final postseason appearance as a member of the East. They would not make the playoffs again until , as a member of the West the result of a realignment with the addition of the Charlotte Bobcats in the —05 NBA season. Their playoff series with the Miami Heat , led by Dwyane Wade , was the last playoff series where the home team won all seven games until 's Boston—Atlanta and Boston—Cleveland playoff series. The Houston Rockets made playoffs for the first time since As a result, was the first time in 14 years that all Texas teams made the playoffs, and the second time first in ten years that all former ABA teams made the playoffs. This was Steve Francis ' only career playoff appearance. For the Knicks, on the other hand, this was their last appearance until The Portland Trail Blazers and Utah Jazz missed the playoffs for the first time since and , respectively. That game and Game 3 of the same series were the only playoff games to take place in The Pyramid before the Grizzlies moved to FedExForum in the autumn of With their series win over the Denver Nuggets, the Minnesota Timberwolves won their first playoff series in franchise history. With their first round series loss to the Sacramento Kings, the Dallas Mavericks lost a first round playoff series for the first time since

Houston Rockets 85, Los Angeles Lakers May 4 pm. Retrieved September 4,

Today, the lowest number of 3-point attempts by an NBA team each game was Plus, even if I did, I have far less credibility than any NBA player, having never played basketball past the middle-school level. Will the Lakers win in four or five games? Almost no one thought the Pistons would win the championship. But the numbers are still good until the Lakers stamp them out. Jalen Rose -- who played for the Toronto Raptors at the time -- worked as a television reporter during the series, and thought of my favorite game plan for the Pistons before game one.

On one side was Shaquille O'Neal , the gargantuan almost myth of a man, 7-foot-1 and some pounds of pure power and force. And on the other side, there was Ben Wallace , nearly pounds lighter and maybe not quite the 6-foot-9 he was listed at. The ball went up and the year-old O'Neal quick-jumped it, swiping the ball before it reached its apex. Over the next 90 seconds, three plays summarized the prevailing series narrative: the small-market, outmanned Detroit Pistons against the championship institution that is the Los Angeles Lakers. The Lakers, aiming for a fourth title in five years with their megawatt superteam full of star power and ring-hunting veterans, faced a Pistons squad full of outcasts and underdogs. The Pistons opened the scoring 12 seconds in with a 3-pointer from Rasheed Wallace, set up on a sweet, free-flowing set with weakside screens and sharp cuts. The Lakers then took their first possession, hammering through a set that ended with Malone attempting his patented free throw line fadeaway, which bounced woefully short off the front iron. Carving out his territory in the paint, O'Neal then snared the ball from behind a leaping Ben Wallace, tossing the league's best rebounder aside, and opened the Lakers' account in the series with a dunk. Two possessions later, with left in the first quarter and the score , Hamilton turned the corner on Kobe Bryant and found Ben Wallace on the left wing, O'Neal sagging off dramatically to leave Wallace wide open for the pick-and-pop. Wallace hoisted the foot jumper

2004 nba finals

About logos. AST : Chauncey Billups Question, Comment, Feedback, or Correction? Subscribe to our Free Email Newsletter. Do you have a sports website? Or write about sports? We have tools and resources that can help you use sports data. Find out more. We present them here for purely educational purposes. Our reasoning for presenting offensive logos.

Mississippi time zone

It is also the last series to have Game 1 be played on a Sunday. June 5, Detroit Pistons 2, Milwaukee Bucks 1. Detroit Pistons 81 , New Jersey Nets Darvin Ham. Kobe Bryant missed Layup. Scoring by quarter: 18— 20 , 16— 20 , 17 —9, 20— Scoring by quarter: 16— 20 , 20 —13, 23 —19, 14— Rivers was replaced by Hubie Brown the following season. In Game 2, Rasheed Wallace almost squandered a Detroit lead.

The Pistons shocked the basketball world by defeating the Lakers in the Finals.

April 2, Ben Wallace missed 9 ft Hook Shot. Minnesota leads series, 1—0. Little Rock. New Jersey Nets 82 , Detroit Pistons Scoring by quarter: 34 —27, 14— 20 , 25— 26 , 31 — Scoring by quarter: 14— 21 , 19— 22 , 22— 26 , 28 — Jackson returned to the Lakers in the following offseason; despite penning a book dubiously entitled: The Last Season: A Team in Search of Its Soul , in which he voiced disdain for Kobe Bryant ; calling him 'uncoachable'. Corliss Williamson missed Layup. The Pistons easily overcame the Milwaukee Bucks 4—1 but struggled against the defending conference champion New Jersey Nets. Scoring by quarter: 29 —17, 20— 22 , 21 —11, 13— This was the first playoff meeting between the Grizzlies and the Spurs. Scoring by quarter: 19— 28 , 26— 29 , 21 —17, 25—