2004 NBA Finals

Team Coach Wins Detroit Pistons Larry Brown 4 Los Angeles Lakers Phil Jackson 1
Dates	June 6–15
MVP	Chauncey Billups (Detroit Pistons)
Hall of Famers	Pistons: Chauncey Billups (2024) Ben Wallace (2021) Lakers: Kobe Bryant (2020) Karl Malone (2010) Shaquille O'Neal (2016) Gary Payton (2013) Coaches: Larry Brown (2002) Phil Jackson (2007) Tex Winter (2011) Officials: Dick Bavetta (2015)
Eastern finals	Pistons defeated Pacers, 4–2
Western finals	Lakers defeated Timberwolves, 4–2
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The 2004 NBA Finals was the championship round of the 2003–04 National Basketball Association (NBA) season, and the conclusion of the season's playoffs. This season's NBA Finals was contested between the Western Conference playoff champion Los Angeles Lakers and the Eastern Conference playoff champion Detroit Pistons. The Lakers held home court advantage, and the series was played under a best-of-seven format.

Although the Lakers, headed by Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal, were considered the heavy favorites,^[1] the underdog Pistons handily won the series in five games. The series is commonly referred to as a "five-game sweep" due to the fact that Detroit dominated in each of their four wins while the Lakers barely managed to win Game 2 in overtime. This marked the Pistons' fifth championship victory overall as a franchise (including two NBL championships: in 1944 and 1945 as the Fort Wayne Pistons) as well as its first NBA title since two 1989–90 NBA championship seasons which was nearly fifteen years prior. The series ultimately featured the perceived underdog Pistons^[1] dominating a Lakers team composed of four future Hall of Famers. As of the 2023-24 NBA season this is the last time the Pistons have won an NBA Title. Pistons' owner William Davidson became the first owner in American sports history to win two championships in one calendar year; eight days earlier, his Tampa Bay Lightning defeated the Calgary Flames to win the NHL Stanley Cup Finals in seven games.

Background

Los Angeles Lakers

The Lakers had won three consecutive championships from 2000 to 2002 but lost to the eventual champions, the San Antonio Spurs, in the Western Conference Semifinals in 2003 to end their streak at three. The Spurs beat the Lakers in 6 games.^[2]

In the 2003 offseason, the Lakers made major changes with initially varying results. Needing to find a point guard and a power forward to defend against Tim Duncan and the Spurs, the Lakers signed veteran stars Gary Payton and Karl Malone for well below market value; they also hoped to give both veterans their first championship ring. The Lakers were afterwards considered the favorites to win the NBA title.^[3]

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 second seed in the Western Conference.^[2]

The Lakers breezed past their first-round opponent, the Houston Rockets, headlining a matchup between Shaquille O'Neal and a young Yao Ming. They defeated the squad 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.^[4] They then faced the Minnesota Timberwolves and league MVP Kevin Garnett. The Lakers won the series 4–2 to advance to the Finals.^[5]

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 relevance.^[6] 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 who was 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.^[7]

The Pistons made another major—perhaps, riskier—coaching change, firing head coach Rick Carlisle, who had led the Pistons to consecutive Central Division titles, 100 regular season wins, 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 against the Lakers.

In a three-team trade involving the Boston Celtics and Atlanta Hawks at the trade deadline, Dumars traded Chucky Atkins, Lindsey Hunter, Bobby Sura, Željko Rebrača, and other considerations for guard Mike James and forward Rasheed Wallace, who had been traded from the Portland Trail Blazers to the Hawks and then to the Pistons at the trade deadline.^[8] They proved to be the final pieces of the championship team. Lindsey Hunter would rejoin the Pistons a week later after being waived by the Celtics and be partnered with Mike James to create a formidable guard tandem off the bench dubbed "The Pit Bulls".^[9] 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.^[10]

The Pistons easily overcame the Milwaukee Bucks 4–1 but struggled against the defending conference champion New Jersey Nets. After splitting the first four games of the series, the Nets won Game 5 in Detroit in triple overtime to take a 3–2 series lead back to New Jersey. After falling behind by 12 early in Game 6, the Pistons stormed back in the second quarter and held on for an 81-75 victory to force a seventh game. The Pistons never trailed after the midway point of the first quarter and cruised to a 90–69 win to take the series.

In the Eastern Conference Finals, a match up with the 61-win, Carlisle-led Indiana Pacers, the Pistons faltered in the final 90 seconds of Game 1, falling 78–74. In Game 2, Rasheed Wallace almost squandered a Detroit lead. With Detroit clinging to a 69–67 lead with under 30 seconds to play, Billups recovered the basketball after a Jermaine O'Neal blocked shot of Rasheed Wallace. Jamaal Tinsley stripped Billups and found Reggie Miller open down the court for what appeared to be the tying lay-up. As Miller approached the basket, Tayshaun Prince ran in from the left wing and blocked Miller's lay-up as it left his fingertips. Richard Hamilton recovered the loose ball before it went out of bounds and was fouled by Tinsley. Hamilton would make three free throws in the game's final 15 seconds to seal the victory 72–67 and tie the series. The Pistons rode the momentum of Game 2, including dominant wins in Games 3 and 5, to a 4–2 series victory, advancing to the NBA Finals for the first time in 14 years.^[11]

Road to the Finals

Regular season series

The teams split the two meetings, each won by the home team:

Team rosters

Detroit Pistons