1983–84 Detroit Pistons season

NBA team season March 2026 August 2023 Detroit Pistons 1984 49 33 Central 2 4 Chuck Daly Jack McCloskey William Davidson Pontiac Silverdome First round(lost to Knicks 2–3) DET The 1983–84 Detroit Pistons season was the Detroit Pistons' 36th season in the NBA and 27th season in the city of Detroit.1983-84 Detroit Pistons The team played at the Pontiac Silverdome in suburban Pontiac, Michigan. During the 1984 playoffs against the New York Knicks, the Silverdome had a venue conflict that forced the team to play their last playoff game in Detroit proper at the Detroit Red Wings' home, Joe Louis Arena, in the fifth and deciding game of the round. The team would play a number of home games, both regular season and post-season, at the venue over the next few seasons (due to the roof collapsing) before eventually getting an arena of their own four years later. New coach Chuck Daly made an immediate impact on the team, leading the Pistons to their first winning season and post-season berth since the 1976-77 season. Detroit finished with a 49-33 (.598) record, 2nd in the Central Division. In the first round series, the Pistons faced off with the New York Knicks and star Bernard King. The tightly contested series went to a 5th game at a sold-out Joe Louis Arena in downtown Detroit. The Pistons trailed by eight points with 1:34 remaining in the fourth quarter, when Thomas caught fire, scoring 16 points in the remaining 94 seconds to force overtime, but it wasn't enough to overcome King's 44 points as the Pistons fell 127–123 in a playoff classic.https://www.nytimes.com/1984/04/28/sports/knicks-win-in-overtime-and-eliminate-the-pistons.html Knicks Win in Overtime and Eliminate the Pistons The New York Times 28 April 1984 Goldaper Sam https://www.freep.com/story/sports/nba/pistons/2020/04/27/detroit-pistons-isiah-thomas-game-5-1984-nba-playoffs-knicks/3023410001/ Detroit Pistons' Isiah Thomas remembers all the crying from his first vintage NBA moment Part of the 5th game in the series was the atmosphere as the Pistons returned to the city proper after moving to the Silverdome in 1978. Thomas said, "I must say that it was a wild scene. Coleman Young called me up and said, ‘Welcome to the city.’ Everybody in the hood was like, ‘Zeke, you’re coming to put on a show tonight.’ And being a city guy, it was almost like you were going home. When I got into Joe Louis, the atmosphere was so electric, it was awesome. You can't describe it—it made you want to get off. I just felt like I could do anything. The fans were screaming and every move you made, people were oohing and aahing—it was sweet. I'm not a Baptist; I was raised Catholic. But sometimes I'd go to a Baptist church and you'll see what they call the Holy Ghost, where the spirit will take over their body and it moves them. During that game I got the Holy Ghost — I just got the spirit into my body and I was doing stuff and making moves — I felt I was above the court looking at everybody and I could just do anything. It was great!"https://pistonpowered.com/2011/11/29/chevette-to-corvette-no-18-the-1983-84-detroit-pistons/ Chevette to Corvette No. 18: The 1983-84 Detroit Pistons 29 November 2011 Detroit was led on the season by guard Thomas (21.3 ppg, 11.1 apg, NBA All-Star), center Bill Laimbeer (17.3 ppg, 12.2 rpg, NBA All-Star) and forward Kelly Tripucka (21.3 ppg, NBA All-Star). On Dec 13, 1983, the Pistons finished 3OT with the Nuggets. The Pistons beat the Nuggets 186-184. This is the highest scoring game in NBA history. Thomas scored 47. Kiki Vandeweghe scored 51 and Alex English also scored 47 points. Draft picks 1983 NBA draft Round Pick Player Position Nationality College 1 8 Antoine Carr PF/C Wichita State 5 101 Ken Austin PF Rice Roster No.NamePos.HeightWeightDOB (YYYY-MM-DD)From34Ken AustinSF6-92051961-07-15Rice54Kent BensonC6-102351954-12-27Indiana23Earl CuretonC6-92101957-09-03Detroit Mercy9Lionel HollinsPG6-31851953-10-19Arizona State15Vinnie JohnsonSG6-22001956-09-01Baylor40Bill LaimbeerC6-112451957-05-19Notre Dame53Cliff LevingstonPF6-82101961-01-04Wichita State25John LongSG6-51951956-08-28Detroit Mercy33Walker RussellPG6-51951960-10-21Western Michigan22David ThirdkillSF6-71951960-04-12Bradley11Isiah ThomasPG6-11801961-04-30Indiana24Ray Tolbert6-92251958-09-10Indiana7Kelly TripuckaSF6-62201959-02-16Notre Dame41Terry TylerSF6-72151956-10-30Detroit Mercy Regular season Season standings DET DET z - clinched division title y - clinched division title x - clinched playoff spot Game log Regular season Detroit Pistons 1984 #0000FF #FF0000 Total: 49–33 (home: 30–11; road: 19–22) Detroit Pistons October yes #FF0000 #0000FF 1 0 0 1 |- | 1 | October 28, 1983 | Boston | W 127–121 | | | | Pontiac Silverdome | 1–0 Detroit Pistons November #FF0000 #0000FF 6 2 1 6 |- | 3 | November 1, 1983 | Milwaukee | W 106–93 | | | | Pontiac Silverdome | 2–1 |- | 7 | November 11, 1983 | @ Boston | L 118–126 | | | | Boston Garden | 3–4 |- | 11 | November 18, 1983 | Utah | W 128–120 | | | | Pontiac Silverdome | 6–5 |- | 12 | November 19, 1983 | @ New York | L 101–104 (OT) | | | | Madison Square Garden | 6–6 |- | 16 | November 27, 1983 | @ Boston | L 99–114 | | | | Boston Garden | 7–9 Detroit Pistons December #FF0000 #0000FF 5 2 3 3 |- | 24 | December 17, 1983 | Boston | L 115–129 | | | | Pontiac Silverdome | 11–13 |- | 25 | December 20, 1983 | Dallas | W 116–104 | | | | Pontiac Silverdome | 12–13 |- | 29 | December 28, 1983 | @ New York | W 111–108 | | | | Madison Square Garden | 15–14 Detroit Pistons January #FF0000 #0000FF 4 2 3 4 |- | 32 | January 4, 1984 | Phoenix | W 128–114 | | | | Pontiac Silverdome | 17–15 |- | 33 | January 6, 1984 | New York | W 118–107 | | | | Pontiac Silverdome | 18–15 |- | 34 | January 8, 1984 | @ Milwaukee | W 111–100 | | | | MECCA Arena | 19–15 |- | 39 | January 18, 1984 | New Jersey | L 115–124 | | | | Pontiac Silverdome | 22–17 |- | 41 | January 21, 1984 | @ New Jersey | L 103–120 | | | | Brendan Byrne Arena | 23–18 Detroit Pistons February #FF0000 #0000FF 6 1 5 3 |- | 46 | February 5, 1984 | @ Boston | L 134–137 (OT) | | | | Boston Garden | 25–21 |- | 51 | February 18, 1984 | @ Dallas | W 120–115 | | | | Reunion Arena | 29–22 |- | 54 | February 22, 1984 | New York | W 114–111 | | | | Pontiac Silverdome | 31–23 Detroit Pistons March #FF0000 #0000FF 5 4 5 3 |- | 59 | March 2, 1984 | New York | L 102–117 | | | | Pontiac Silverdome | 34–25 |- | 60 | March 4, 1984 | Los Angeles | L 114–118 | | | | Pontiac Silverdome | 34–26 |- | 63 | March 9, 1984 | New Jersey | W 122–118 | | | | Pontiac Silverdome | 37–26 |- | 65 | March 13, 1984 | @ Milwaukee | L 95–116 | | | | MECCA Arena | 38–27 |- | 67 | March 16, 1984 | New Jersey | L 108–117 | | | | Pontiac Silverdome | 38–29 |- | 68 | March 19, 1984 | @ Utah | L 125–143 | | | | Salt Palace Acord Arena | 38–30 |- | 70 | March 23, 1984 | @ Los Angeles | W 121–118 | | | | The Forum | 40–30 |- | 71 | March 24, 1984 | @ Phoenix | W 120–109 | | | | Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum | 41–30 |- | 41 | March 29, 1984 | @ New Jersey | L 116–118 | | | | Brendan Byrne Arena | 43–31 |- | 75 | March 31, 1984 | Milwaukee | W 107–105 | | | | Pontiac Silverdome | 44–31 Detroit Pistons April #FF0000 #0000FF 3 0 2 2 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 77 | April 6, 1984 | @ New York | W 115–107 | | | | Madison Square Garden | 46–31 |- | 78 | April 7, 1984 | @ Milwaukee | L 92–110 | | | | MECCA Arena | 46–32 |- | 81 | April 13, 1984 | Boston | W 128–120 (OT) | | | | Pontiac Silverdome | 49–32 DET 1984 Playoffs Detroit Pistons 1984 yes #0000FF #FF0000 Detroit Pistons #FF0000 #0000FF Eastern Conference First Round no yes yes 1 2 1 1 |- | 1 | April 17, 1984 | New York | L 93–94 | Kelly Tripucka (26) | Kent Benson (14) | Isiah Thomas (9) | Pontiac Silverdome14,127 | 0–1 |- | 2 | April 19, 1984 | New York | W 113–105 | Bill Laimbeer (31) | Bill Laimbeer (15) | Isiah Thomas (13) | Pontiac Silverdome14,275 | 1–1 |- | 3 | April 22, 1984 | @ New York | L 113–120 | Kelly Tripucka (40) | Bill Laimbeer (10) | Isiah Thomas (5) | Madison Square Garden16,354 | 1–2 |- | 4 | April 25, 1984 | @ New York | W 119–112 | Isiah Thomas (22) | Bill Laimbeer (10) | Isiah Thomas (16) | Madison Square Garden18,205 | 2–2 |- | 5 | April 27, 1984 | New York | L 123–127 (OT) | Isiah Thomas (35) | Bill Laimbeer (17) | Isiah Thomas (12) | Joe Louis Arena21,208 | 2–3 |- DET 1984 yes Awards and records Isiah Thomas, All-NBA First Team References See also 1983-84 NBA season Category:Detroit Pistons seasons Det Detroit Pistons Detroit Pistons