At the end of this series the "experts" were still trying to figure it out. It was superb hustling hard-nosed defence along with disciplined well executed offense. The Lakers got out-worked and out-played by a bunch of young gritty Pistons. Great upset!
Die hard laker fan here but this pistons team is a very underrated championship team. They had a sharp shooting clutch play making PG. a scoring SG. an elite defending SF. A stretch 4 and an enforcer in the paint. Just a really really complete team
@@optimusprimeshead5369 2004 Piston and 2008 Celtics are the most overrated championship teams in them modern era. Both their fanbases act like they were dynasties Lmao
Jordan Downs yes. Very few finals now a days feels like this anymore, it all feels cheap and fabricated now a days. In part due to the high octane social media age with athletes, super teams, but also due to the vastly different playing style now a days which (as incredible as it is at times) has made real tough, gritty, every possession is critical basketball (the very best kind) extinct.
la as a team had 49 points with prime shaq and prime kobe and gary payton karl malone fisher george walton rush slava with 4 seconds to go in the 3rd lol ....like what?...that dont make no sense...LeBron today alone scored 46 points 12 rebounds and 5 assists
I feel the reason why is cuz most NBA Finals are predictable. Usually we already know how the series is gonna go. 2004 and 2011 were the only upsets that no one expected and that’s why everyone loves them. They didn’t feel scripted.
They don't trade for Sheed if they draft Melo or Wade. While I agree they definitely should have gotten one of them, without Sheed who knows if the Pistons even win one? Maybe they win 4, maybe they win 0. Without Sheed it's tough to know, his defensive versatility was special. In the end, it's safe to say this team should have been a dynasty regardless. Getting rid of Larry Brown was arguably an equally big mistake.
They dont need melo or wade to be a dynasty....all they need is to put Defense on....they should have won back to back if it wasnt for Horry's 3 in '05 finals....
@@SL-pg4dh everybody who says Melo would throw chemistry off is smoking crack. He was a 19 year old kid, would’ve been coming to a team full of strong personalities, with an already established culture. He absolutely would’ve fit in. He got along fine with Chauncey years later? I mean, Darko was lazy, entitled and (he even admitted himself years later) and alcoholic. Did he mess up the chemistry? No, he just got his ass benched. Corliss Williamson was never a good defender, I watching his whole career with the Kings. He was undersized vs big forwards and slow footed vs wing players. Memhmet Okur was a softie on the defensive end but he had a role and just had to play adequate D.... but as a role player they fit in FINE. Melo was absolutely a better athlete than Corliss/Memo, playing in a culture of effort, work and accountability he absolutely would’ve learned better man to man defense. You guys forget he was in a zone w/Cuse, who traditionally doesn’t produce good defenders at the pro level. BUT Melo was still a teen with plenty of potential to learn and develop.
Not really. I'm surprised they even got through San Antonio. I do think if lakers were at full strength they would've given the pistons a hard fought series
He wanted the Lakers doing so bad. This commentary was pathetic the entire series. Dude was majorly butthurt that the Shaq/Kobe run was getting dismantled before his eyes.
Haha artificially made 😂 that team looked so generic.. almost like a 2K setup.. it actually made them look silly I could only imagine what all of those HOF’s were thinking 💭 after they were swept like that 🧹 it goes to prove you can place as many elite players together as you want but if the chemistry isn’t there you have nothing.. Malone definitely did not belong on the Lakers nor did Byron Russel.. they thought him and Malone could add to Kobe & ShaQ & it was gonna be a walk in the park.
this was one of the best championship games ever. The Pistons had five good players who with great teamwork beat the most starstudded teams of all time; the Lakers with Malone and Peyton added for overkill but the meat and potatoes team had beat them. Timeless
@@pragadeeshkannan4938 yup they are not yet retired that's why may not say so yet. KD, Curry, Klay and Dray are actually all time greats. Why? I believe at the level of Gary payton is Dray at least if not more. Malone has a strong argument over Klay but Klay has more rings and was vital for those rings. But on star power I can out Malone over Klay. As for KD and curry we may not be able to put Kd with Shaq or Kobe in terms of All time. But we know Curry and KD are definitely all time greats. Don't forget the warriors had Buggie Cousins and great bench.
Kobe 4 of 13, 0 of 4 from 3, 5 turnovers. Shaq went 7 of 14. Should've gotten 2x as many shots. This was the game that let me know the Lakers were in deep shit.
Lakers have always been vulnerable. Shaq would never come out to perimeter to defend during a screen. Most teams in 00s didn't shoot good from range. It was mostly iso. The pistons abused the lakers with alot of switching and giving up good shot for a better shot. Basically all 4 guys on Detroit can shoot and stretch the floor. None of them had ego
@@st4r444Not that many Big men defended the Perimeter and were mostly known as Rim Protectors. Only few had a rarity to be able to switch to guards like KG, Russell, Hakeem, Ben Wallace and Dennis Rodman.
The best defensive team in NBA history is the only thing that lost the Lakers this series. This Pistons team held 6 straight NBA teams to under 70 total points during the regular season. This '04 team was just special, a team I'd put up against ANY of the all-time teams simply because of that defense.
The Pistons were the ones to realize that the key was never stopping Shaq, it was stopping Kobe, and then stopping Kobe. Man I miss this era of Deee-troit Baaa-sketball
2004 Pistons was the best team when they won championship against Lakers! They had great players during that time but sucks they didn’t repeat & 2005 was their last NBA Finals appearance
This Pistons team is my favourite team of all time. The discipline on the defensive end was insane. The Lakers needed 5 1/2 minutes to score their first points. They had a fucking three peat.
So many early 2000s memories! That pistons defense!!, Kobe and Shaq dynasty, Al Michaels calling the finals, the floor cam, "Let's get it started" by Black Eyed peas, the Darko Millic bleached top hair 😂 Crazy that this has already been 20 years since staying up late as a kid watching this series!
The big mistake Joe Dumars and Pistons management made in 2005 was that they minimized their bench. In 2004, thay had one of the deepest benches in the NBA, and come 2005, they had one of the weakest benches in the NBA. Because of this, the starting five were played the stew out of. The fact that they managed to go seven games with the Spurs, and could have beaten them, with practically five players, proved how formidable the Pistons were during this time. This Pistons crew will always be my favorite 🏀
I think it was cap casualties that was the reason for that. Corliss mehmet okur mike james all got paid big money for bigger roles. Joe d actually did a good job getting mcdyess.
Damn I loved this finals! No, it wasn't a great series as far as the teams being more even in talent, athleticism, or determination, but it was the flakers getting CRUSHED by the HUGE underdog Pistons. DEEEEtrooiit Baasketbaaaaaaall!!!
In 89 and 04 pistons crushed la 8-1 and the only loss game in ot in la after a lucky 6 point swing late on a bs call...otherwise pistons have actually owned la 11-5 in finals games....they got robbed in 88 in game 7...
Payton was terrible in the triangle offense. He looked awful in the series. As a matter of fact he got torched by Sam Cassell in the previous series. I tell my friends all the time if Cassell hadn't got hurt, it would have been a Pistons-Timberwolves finals.
@@Only2GendersCommonSense Kobe had gotten his ankle messed up this game and barely played 9 minutes in game 2. Throw out that game and his average goes to 19 PPG. And I will admit he shot pretty bad in that series but he also secured them the win in Indiana when Shaq fouled out. Although I am Kobe's biggest fan, this year it was still clear that Shaq was the best player on the team. And with the Pistons-Lakers series there was so much crap going on off the court but I give the Pistons a ton of credit. They were arguably the greatest defensive team of all time and were supremely hungry for a championship which is no coincidence that they made that consecutive run of so many Eastern Conference Series.
Sam Rodriguez dude u can’t disregard a game n then do the stats n it wasn’t that anyway...he made terrible decisions vs Detroit the entire series n they were good but u have to play better vs teams like Detroit not like shit like Kobe played.. he’s just not jordan
No cabe duda lo difícil que es hoy ganar con tanto tirador Estos equipos que a duras penas metian 100 puntos no tenian nada que hacer en el básquet actual
Imagine someone just tuning in at the end to see that the Lakers won. Then turning the television off and celebrating all night thinking that the Lakers were going to easily win it all.
Lakers had injuries to fox and Malone and Payton was trash and Kobe was meh...and Shaq wasn't as dominant...makes sense...rasheed made Detroit way better...although west teams are always favored vs the east pre 2011 LeBron miami days...post mj era ..from 1998-2010 the west always had home court except for 2008. ...since 2011 LeBron only had it 2 times so the east has only had home court 3 times since 97...even in mjs last season with bulls he didn't have home court in the finals vs Utah..that's 10 times in a row from 1998-2007 lol..and in the 10 years aince only 3 times...3 in 20 years lol...
Zone? Quite the contrary. Larry Brown hated zones and they were rarely used in those 2003/2005 Pistons. They were mostly about straight up,physical man-to-man defense, not to mention their help defense,switches and effective doubles were insane. When Pistons started to run zones often, with Flip Saunders as the coach, things went downhill for them. The 2 best defensive teams of the decade(Spurs and Pistons) rarely used any zones. Interestingly enough, Poppovich was a Larry Brown assistant, which may explain why they had similar defensive styles.
@@egyptianpiffin No worries. They did become known for zone later on, when Flip Saunders was the coach, but their reign was over, never got to the finals again
I didn't get a chance to read the book but I remember watching their games an all that... but this finals loss hurt but I could tell something wasn't right with all the problems they had during the season with kobe an Karl then shaq an kobe
ensayofr Shaq was not to overweight to take his talents to south beach. He quit on this team. If he isn't posting up, he's not doing anything. Shaq got so many lane violations in his career, because stays by the basket. And that my friend, is why he shoots higher percentage. Ben Wallace shut him down
If lakers went with a younger pf instead of Malone and had Malone come off the bench, I think lakers could've kept up, the Pistons were young and hungry...maybe even start fisher cause he was pretty young too
Back then I thought it was a foregone conclusion the Lakers was gonna win. Little did I know how stout that Pistons team was and the Lakers wasn’t a team. Plus Shaq and Kobe was going through drama
It was obviously a bad pick, but you can't blame them either. Their biggest need was CENTER... Ben Wallace at that time was playing PF, and they didn't have Rasheed Wallace until later during the year. Not to mention those guys would have struggled to get playing time knowing how Larry Brown handles rookies.The fact that Pistons even had the #2 pick was just bizarre considering that they had went to the ECF the year before. They didn't really NEED to draft another ball-dominant scorer like Wade or Melo.
@@Wheelio Here's how I could have figured this out. You could draft Chris Bosh to fill a need at power forward, then you didn't need to trade for Rasheed Wallace. Or you trade the pick and get a valuable backup center.
Not a lot credit the pistons for this championship they always talk about what went wrong for the Lakers and how the team fell apart but this pistons team worked hard and got the job done no team has ever worked as hard as these guys did I miss dem 2000s bad boys
Former Laker Elden Campbell's pinch hitting defense on Shaq in the 2nd half helped put this game away. Big Elden wouldn't even let Shaq catch entry passes.
I miss this DEFENSE..! This is real basketball.
Deniz Atay if you pass gas these days its a technical...
Yeah True 2000's Basketball is the best
Zedd Rosenberg not really it was way to Manny low scoring games in the 2000s. 90s basketball was the best.
Michael Peter dude shut up
Truly is. This was when any team barely reaches 100 in a finals game even in a blowout like this Game 3. just WOW!
Defense, fast breaks, ball movement, no forced or low percentage shots... this is real basketball.
At the end of this series the "experts" were still trying to figure it out. It was superb hustling hard-nosed defence along with disciplined well executed offense. The Lakers got out-worked and out-played by a bunch of young gritty Pistons. Great upset!
Die hard laker fan here but this pistons team is a very underrated championship team. They had a sharp shooting clutch play making PG. a scoring SG. an elite defending SF. A stretch 4 and an enforcer in the paint. Just a really really complete team
I like the Lakers a lot, but I'm a Pistons fan and remember watching this series as a kid. Rip Hamilton was a monster and our D was tough!
Which is hilarious considering they won all of 1 title together
@@optimusprimeshead5369 hey we almost went back to back. our record was even better in 05 that year.
@@shwickid222How tho?! The Pistons finished with the same exact W/L RS record 54-28 in both 2004 & 2005.
@@optimusprimeshead5369 2004 Piston and 2008 Celtics are the most overrated championship teams in them modern era. Both their fanbases act like they were dynasties Lmao
Kobe Bryant’s worst playoff game. 11 points on 30% with 4 TOV’s. That Pistons defense was incredible, and the home crowd brought the energy.
he was tired from game 2
@@michaelbonazza1326😂 prince shut him down
Am i the only one who think the 2004 finals was so smooth and classic to watch
Me too
Jordan Downs yes. Very few finals now a days feels like this anymore, it all feels cheap and fabricated now a days. In part due to the high octane social media age with athletes, super teams, but also due to the vastly different playing style now a days which (as incredible as it is at times) has made real tough, gritty, every possession is critical basketball (the very best kind) extinct.
la as a team had 49 points with prime shaq and prime kobe and gary payton karl malone fisher george walton rush slava with 4 seconds to go in the 3rd lol ....like what?...that dont make no sense...LeBron today alone scored 46 points 12 rebounds and 5 assists
I feel the reason why is cuz most NBA Finals are predictable. Usually we already know how the series is gonna go. 2004 and 2011 were the only upsets that no one expected and that’s why everyone loves them. They didn’t feel scripted.
KennyD and now2019 finals lolol
A kobe and shaq team held under 70pts...
With Karl Malone
With gary payton and derek fisher.
The Pistons were the better team because of team defense and stifling pressure. They shut down the Lakers.
thanks for the video. to all youngsters out there enjoy, you will never see a true all around TEAM like that again.
Detroit played 90's style ball this series
no. '80s.
Sage Antone 80s wasn’t a lot of defense being played.. it’s 90s
No, 04 Pistons played better defense than any team from 90's. Only 93 Knicks comes close. Check the numbers
Larry Brown was a real thorn in the Lakers side.I love it.
You will never see basketball like this again. I loved this series so much because it made the media look stupid.
Imagine scoring 68 points in a Finals game.
Try 67 for the Celtics in game 6 in the 2010 finals
and shaq and kobe believe their team can beat 15-16 warriors haahah
And there’s all these idiot laker fans out there that think shaq could have averaged 50 a game for the series 🤣
@@alexajlouni5351 lol lakers 2000-2002 can beat any warriors team. Can't even three peat for fucksake haha.
@@alexajlouni5351 sorry, can't imagine how 15-16 warriors can score more than 68 against 2004 pistons
David Stern was rolling over in his grave during the Pistons defensive style run over those years.
And Spurs
Stern was alive when that was going on.
Pistons and the spurs had the league on locked down
@@SL-pg4dh Typically I hate defensive teams but their finals was very entertaining, way better than Lakers/76ers, Lakers/Nets.
but stern died this year?
if the Pistons would have drafted Wade or melo, they could have been a Dynasty
They don't trade for Sheed if they draft Melo or Wade. While I agree they definitely should have gotten one of them, without Sheed who knows if the Pistons even win one? Maybe they win 4, maybe they win 0. Without Sheed it's tough to know, his defensive versatility was special. In the end, it's safe to say this team should have been a dynasty regardless. Getting rid of Larry Brown was arguably an equally big mistake.
Melo would've crippled that team with his live and let live defense!
Wade yes, melo would have thrown their chemistry off.
They dont need melo or wade to be a dynasty....all they need is to put Defense on....they should have won back to back if it wasnt for Horry's 3 in '05 finals....
@@SL-pg4dh everybody who says Melo would throw chemistry off is smoking crack. He was a 19 year old kid, would’ve been coming to a team full of strong personalities, with an already established culture. He absolutely would’ve fit in. He got along fine with Chauncey years later? I mean, Darko was lazy, entitled and (he even admitted himself years later) and alcoholic. Did he mess up the chemistry? No, he just got his ass benched. Corliss Williamson was never a good defender, I watching his whole career with the Kings. He was undersized vs big forwards and slow footed vs wing players. Memhmet Okur was a softie on the defensive end but he had a role and just had to play adequate D.... but as a role player they fit in FINE. Melo was absolutely a better athlete than Corliss/Memo, playing in a culture of effort, work and accountability he absolutely would’ve learned better man to man defense. You guys forget he was in a zone w/Cuse, who traditionally doesn’t produce good defenders at the pro level. BUT Melo was still a teen with plenty of potential to learn and develop.
Best defensive team in nba history '04 pistons ??
Without a doubt.
Hunter Terry they weren't even the best defensive team that season
Clayton Stluka please enlighten me on who your dumbass thinks was a better defense than the pistons? Twolves? Spurs? No
You mad Bro!? I'll give u that it's debatable
Hunter Terry
64 Celtics.
It's hilarious still seeing laker fans crying about this lol. The Pistons were a vastly superior team, deal with it.
+arman1261 what's funny is darko has a ring and melo still dont lol what couldve been
I'm not crying.
Not really. I'm surprised they even got through San Antonio. I do think if lakers were at full strength they would've given the pistons a hard fought series
They have Gary Payton and Karl Malone .. what do you mean by full strength ?
Ric Daniel Full credit to Pistons. They had everything going for them at the right time.
I can't believe they put the score backwards and he even said it
Ikr 😂
He wanted the Lakers doing so bad. This commentary was pathetic the entire series. Dude was majorly butthurt that the Shaq/Kobe run was getting dismantled before his eyes.
This never gets old
15 years ago still hurts to me, but 2005 nba finals its hurts also.............. i miss you kobe bryant!
I love defensive basketball! Every trip down court is important.
Malone never got a ring because of Pistons and Jordan
truthseeker89 for life And Scottie Pippen. (“Mail doesn’t get delivered on Sunday”)
Mostly because of Karl Malone
Rip was in unbelievable shape he never stopped running Kobe was so frustrated
No Lakers outside of Kobe or Shaq scored in double figures until Game 5 let that sink in for a second... They had no chance!
These Pistons were so brave, the perfect antidote to artificially-made Lakers - Malone, Payton.
Haha artificially made 😂 that team looked so generic.. almost like a 2K setup.. it actually made them look silly I could only imagine what all of those HOF’s were thinking 💭 after they were swept like that 🧹 it goes to prove you can place as many elite players together as you want but if the chemistry isn’t there you have nothing.. Malone definitely did not belong on the Lakers nor did Byron Russel.. they thought him and Malone could add to Kobe & ShaQ & it was gonna be a walk in the park.
Old has been title chasers
this was one of the best championship games ever. The Pistons had five good players who with great teamwork beat the most starstudded teams of all time; the Lakers with Malone and Peyton added for overkill but the meat and potatoes team had beat them. Timeless
Fluke ass championship
@@TaybeenTrill248 How about no
I think 2017-2019 warriors are even star studded than this lakers team. My opinion 😊
@@Simon_and_Lami Did they have 4 all-time greats?
@@pragadeeshkannan4938 yup they are not yet retired that's why may not say so yet. KD, Curry, Klay and Dray are actually all time greats. Why? I believe at the level of Gary payton is Dray at least if not more. Malone has a strong argument over Klay but Klay has more rings and was vital for those rings. But on star power I can out Malone over Klay. As for KD and curry we may not be able to put Kd with Shaq or Kobe in terms of All time. But we know Curry and KD are definitely all time greats. Don't forget the warriors had Buggie Cousins and great bench.
Kobe 4 of 13, 0 of 4 from 3, 5 turnovers. Shaq went 7 of 14. Should've gotten 2x as many shots. This was the game that let me know the Lakers were in deep shit.
Lakers have always been vulnerable. Shaq would never come out to perimeter to defend during a screen. Most teams in 00s didn't shoot good from range. It was mostly iso. The pistons abused the lakers with alot of switching and giving up good shot for a better shot. Basically all 4 guys on Detroit can shoot and stretch the floor. None of them had ego
@@st4r444Not that many Big men defended the Perimeter and were mostly known as Rim Protectors. Only few had a rarity to be able to switch to guards like KG, Russell, Hakeem, Ben Wallace and Dennis Rodman.
omg that look like the old school piston
Kobe rules
You mad Bro!? this is last year post ok, I'm not worrying about that now, its done bro Lol
Besides Kobe didn't take that game seriously
@You mad Bro!? I think he referring to similarity to jordan rule defense
Kobe Bryant Completely shot the Lakers out of this series
The best defensive team in NBA history is the only thing that lost the Lakers this series. This Pistons team held 6 straight NBA teams to under 70 total points during the regular season. This '04 team was just special, a team I'd put up against ANY of the all-time teams simply because of that defense.
It was more than that. Shaq defense was horrible this series. Payton and Malone were completely non factors.
@@ericheart1198 shaq didnt even try to jump at all
He was awful in the finals for sure vs pistons
U just a kobe hater
The entry pass by Okur at 2:39... a beautiful, lost art in today's NBA.
Shit was so nasty. In a good way.
pistons all day I don't think ppl really know how good that team really was and could have been if we didn't draft Darko and got wade or something
They could have been a dynasty.
Carmelo would be a 5x champ or more. He will be a starting SF of pistons and their source of offense.
Wade would fit in, melo would have fucked up their chemistry.
Melo wouldnt have fit he needs the ball this team is defense. We take wade and take rip out? The smartest move was trade the pick
If Malone stayed healthy Lakers are the Champs point blank period no need for no other opinions 🥺
11:46 I wondered if someone turned on their TV at that moment and thought that the Lakers won 😂
Watching this finals never gets old.
10:53 that should've been Carmelo coming into the game
carmelo would have been starting instead of prince and it would have thrown the chemistry off. they don't win the ring if they draft melo.
Kaniky Paul ah darko killed it lol
Man I loved that Detroit squad.. 😍
The Pistons were the ones to realize that the key was never stopping Shaq, it was stopping Kobe, and then stopping Kobe. Man I miss this era of Deee-troit Baaa-sketball
Stopping Kobe and the role players you let Shaq score and shut down everyone else
Back then thought this era would never end
2004 Pistons was the best team when they won championship against Lakers! They had great players during that time but sucks they didn’t repeat & 2005 was their last NBA Finals appearance
This Pistons team is my favourite team of all time. The discipline on the defensive end was insane. The Lakers needed 5 1/2 minutes to score their first points. They had a fucking three peat.
LOL Darko comes in for 1 play and does this @11:09 What a Bum
I watch this game the whole series love it they play great the Detroit did
So many early 2000s memories! That pistons defense!!, Kobe and Shaq dynasty, Al Michaels calling the finals, the floor cam, "Let's get it started" by Black Eyed peas, the Darko Millic bleached top hair 😂
Crazy that this has already been 20 years since staying up late as a kid watching this series!
2023...and I honestly never knew The Lakers were held to 68 points..wow😳🍻🍺
The big mistake Joe Dumars and Pistons management made in 2005 was that they minimized their bench. In 2004, thay had one of the deepest benches in the NBA, and come 2005, they had one of the weakest benches in the NBA. Because of this, the starting five were played the stew out of. The fact that they managed to go seven games with the Spurs, and could have beaten them, with practically five players, proved how formidable the Pistons were during this time. This Pistons crew will always be my favorite 🏀
Absolutely right plus beef was brewing with Larry Brown and the front office all season long.
Yup, Dumars built a title team with no stars but also ruined them by never getting them help outside of Mcdyess
I think it was cap casualties that was the reason for that. Corliss mehmet okur mike james all got paid big money for bigger roles. Joe d actually did a good job getting mcdyess.
carmelo was missing piece if it wasnt for fisher liucky .04 shot i think spurs win 2004 and 2005
Every screen they gave billups the defense would always go under.. They just didnt learn..
Damn I loved this finals! No, it wasn't a great series as far as the teams being more even in talent, athleticism, or determination, but it was the flakers getting CRUSHED by the HUGE underdog Pistons. DEEEEtrooiit Baasketbaaaaaaall!!!
In 89 and 04 pistons crushed la 8-1 and the only loss game in ot in la after a lucky 6 point swing late on a bs call...otherwise pistons have actually owned la 11-5 in finals games....they got robbed in 88 in game 7...
Payton was terrible in the triangle offense. He looked awful in the series. As a matter of fact he got torched by Sam Cassell in the previous series. I tell my friends all the time if Cassell hadn't got hurt, it would have been a Pistons-Timberwolves finals.
If the Wolves had made they would of gotten crushed by this pistin squad.
DTB1997 which explains why he averaged 15-5-5 this series lmao. Kobe is the one who shot 36%
Payton got his ring in Miami...
i'm surprised they even got through San Antonio. @DTB1997
The T-Wolves still missed out on Steph Curry. I know it's totally unrelated and happened 5 years later, but just wanted to remind you.
Hahaha kobe first 2 points in the 3rd quarter. he owes everything to shaq!!!
funny how Kobe fans don't bring this series up
Yeah, they have selective memory.
Also the 2000 finals where Kobe averaged 15 ppg on 36% (including an 8 point game on 4 for 20 shooting).
@@Only2GendersCommonSense Kobe had gotten his ankle messed up this game and barely played 9 minutes in game 2. Throw out that game and his average goes to 19 PPG. And I will admit he shot pretty bad in that series but he also secured them the win in Indiana when Shaq fouled out. Although I am Kobe's biggest fan, this year it was still clear that Shaq was the best player on the team. And with the Pistons-Lakers series there was so much crap going on off the court but I give the Pistons a ton of credit. They were arguably the greatest defensive team of all time and were supremely hungry for a championship which is no coincidence that they made that consecutive run of so many Eastern Conference Series.
@@Only2GendersCommonSense you must have selective memory too...
Sam Rodriguez dude u can’t disregard a game n then do the stats n it wasn’t that anyway...he made terrible decisions vs Detroit the entire series n they were good but u have to play better vs teams like Detroit not like shit like Kobe played.. he’s just not jordan
Funny how you don’t mention that Kobe is the reason why lakers even won that’s funny
This was the greatest comeuppance in NBA history, made me a Pistons fan for 1 season
😬 LA was held to 68 points Piston D was crazyyy
2004 Pistons vs 2008 Celtics in a ecf show down who would win?
hardest question ever...
+Ramon Maldonado Yeah I don't know either
+Devin Stigger i think ill put my money on pistons
It's tough both teams had that lunch pale hard hat mentality I would've said Detroit in a no brainier if they would've took a chance on Carmelo
mtrujillo1973 But Pistons had Big Ben. But that would be a fantastic 7 game series though. Wooo
One of many games that separates Jordan from Kobe. Jordan is not scoring 11 points in an NBA Finals game.
back when nba tv used to show the finals games as well
Hemilton was a beastttttt
Wow Elden Campbell jammed on his former team.
Best defensive team ever in modern era
No cabe duda lo difícil que es hoy ganar con tanto tirador
Estos equipos que a duras penas metian 100 puntos no tenian nada que hacer en el básquet actual
Corona virus made me come here because I love basketball
One of the best nba finals !!!👍👍👍
2019 NBA, this video is called defense
2020 nba, this video is called defense
2021 NBA, this video is called defense
Pistons won despite not even utilizing an all star talent like Mehemet Okur all season and playoffs.
Imagine someone just tuning in at the end to see that the Lakers won. Then turning the television off and celebrating all night thinking that the Lakers were going to easily win it all.
Pistons were the favorite too win this series in Vegas believe it or not
Lakers had injuries to fox and Malone and Payton was trash and Kobe was meh...and Shaq wasn't as dominant...makes sense...rasheed made Detroit way better...although west teams are always favored vs the east pre 2011 LeBron miami days...post mj era ..from 1998-2010 the west always had home court except for 2008. ...since 2011 LeBron only had it 2 times so the east has only had home court 3 times since 97...even in mjs last season with bulls he didn't have home court in the finals vs Utah..that's 10 times in a row from 1998-2007 lol..and in the 10 years aince only 3 times...3 in 20 years lol...
Hussein Rizk This is ridicolous. Nobody gave them more than one game lmao.
lol no they were not!
Lol...I’m gonna go with ‘not’
I see a lot of rip Hamilton game in steph curry. Off the ball movement crazy
So Darco is the first one to win a championship from the 2003 draft class
His airball lol after the ovation
Holding Lakers at 68 pts is insane
That pistons zone is one of the greatest of the modern era of ball. Insane.
Zone? Quite the contrary. Larry Brown hated zones and they were rarely used in those 2003/2005 Pistons. They were mostly about straight up,physical man-to-man defense, not to mention their help defense,switches and effective doubles were insane. When Pistons started to run zones often, with Flip Saunders as the coach, things went downhill for them. The 2 best defensive teams of the decade(Spurs and Pistons) rarely used any zones. Interestingly enough, Poppovich was a Larry Brown assistant, which may explain why they had similar defensive styles.
Yeah you’re absolutely right that’s my bad
I knew they played man but for some reason I thought they were known for zone
@@egyptianpiffin No worries. They did become known for zone later on, when Flip Saunders was the coach, but their reign was over, never got to the finals again
When the Pistons were relevant here in my home state Michigan
Great stuff, best quality I can find on those games. Do you have the game 2 and others ?
"We're not going back to L.A., let's finish this series at home in 5"----Billups to Hamilton
kareem rush was such a shooter miss him
+Sam S You mean that Kareem would have a better career if he played for another team where he could get more time, trust and throws?
+Sam S But you can still watch his brother Brandon's GSW game XI
Detroit Basketball
In 4 years this will be 20 years old. Time is flying by.
Reliving this because of corona
This lakers team was so dysfunctional they had problems all that season...Shaq was over weight...Kobe was Kobe an Karl Malone was injured
have you read Phil Jackson's book about that season? amazing read, he talks about all of that in it, they were a mess
I didn't get a chance to read the book but I remember watching their games an all that... but this finals loss hurt but I could tell something wasn't right with all the problems they had during the season with kobe an Karl then shaq an kobe
boo hoo how about the pistons just being monster at the defensive end . professional athletes are competitors deep down . so save your excuses
AyoJack 24 Only Jesus could save them from the pistons in 04
ensayofr Shaq was not to overweight to take his talents to south beach. He quit on this team. If he isn't posting up, he's not doing anything. Shaq got so many lane violations in his career, because stays by the basket. And that my friend, is why he shoots higher percentage. Ben Wallace shut him down
If lakers went with a younger pf instead of Malone and had Malone come off the bench, I think lakers could've kept up, the Pistons were young and hungry...maybe even start fisher cause he was pretty young too
Brilliant********
End of some of the best nba eras when defense n contact was still allowed, n half court shots werent considered good plays
😢 miss the old times when PF and centers can shoot jumpers or banks in the ball .
11:54 This is incorrect.
Detroit 88
LA Lakers 68.
That Pistons team was such a great defense.
Modern NBA teams should watch this
great game
Back then I thought it was a foregone conclusion the Lakers was gonna win. Little did I know how stout that Pistons team was and the Lakers wasn’t a team. Plus Shaq and Kobe was going through drama
No names who won just by out hustling the opponent. Amazing stuff.
I miss this lighting.
11:09 That shot by Darko...😳👎🏻 wolf. Still can’t believe the Pistons drafted him over Melo, Wade or Bosh.
It was obviously a bad pick, but you can't blame them either. Their biggest need was CENTER... Ben Wallace at that time was playing PF, and they didn't have Rasheed Wallace until later during the year. Not to mention those guys would have struggled to get playing time knowing how Larry Brown handles rookies.The fact that Pistons even had the #2 pick was just bizarre considering that they had went to the ECF the year before. They didn't really NEED to draft another ball-dominant scorer like Wade or Melo.
@@Wheelio Bosh could be essential
@@Wheelio Here's how I could have figured this out. You could draft Chris Bosh to fill a need at power forward, then you didn't need to trade for Rasheed Wallace. Or you trade the pick and get a valuable backup center.
Not a lot credit the pistons for this championship they always talk about what went wrong for the Lakers and how the team fell apart but this pistons team worked hard and got the job done no team has ever worked as hard as these guys did I miss dem 2000s bad boys
That Black Eyed Peas promo brings back memories lol generally bad since im a Laker Fan
Former Laker Elden Campbell's pinch hitting defense on Shaq in the 2nd half helped put this game away. Big Elden wouldn't even let Shaq catch entry passes.
other 29 teams would've be so dead if the Pistons play that D in this era.
Glad they got rid of that floor cam. Super weird angle
I LIKE THE ALGORITHYM SEQUENCE. NICE NUMBERS.
Anyone realize the final score on ABC was flipped?
Makaveli ABC sucks
David stern refuses to acknowledge Lakers loss
Wow i love pistons ❤
Ben Wallace with open slamdunk! 💪💪🔥🔥
6:55 to 7:04 that play was awesome
Darvin Ham slams the dunk! 11:03
Nothing like Darko aka “The human victory cigar” checking into the game.
@11:47 commentator said lakers win it?? 🤔
Damn these are some bad boys