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) Officials: Dick Bavetta (2015)
Eastern Finals
Pistons defeated Pacers, 4–2
Western Finals
Lakers defeated Timberwolves, 4–2
← 2003
NBA Finals
2005 →
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.
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.
^ ab"Detroit believes in upset of Lakers". Associated Press. June 5, 2004. Retrieved May 26, 2021.
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