2004–05 Detroit Pistons season

NBA team season March 2026 August 2023 Detroit Pistons yes yes 2005 54 28 Central 1 2 Larry Brown Joe Dumars Joe Dumars Bill Davidson The Palace of Auburn Hills NBA Finals(lost to Spurs 3–4) DET FSN Detroit WKBD WDFN The 2004–05 Detroit Pistons season was the 64th season for the Pistons, the 57th in the National Basketball Association, and the 48th in the Detroit area.2004-05 Detroit Pistons During the offseason, the Pistons signed free agent Antonio McDyess. Coming off their upset victory over the Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA Finals, the Pistons began the season playing around .500. However, things would get out of control at the end of a November 19 game against the Indiana Pacers, when a huge brawl occurred between Pacers players and Pistons fans after Ben Wallace and Ron Artest got into a shoving match. 5 Players, 7 Fans Charged in Brawl Los Angeles Times December 9, 2004 https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2004-dec-09-sp-brawl9-story.html August 29, 2017 As the season progressed, the Pistons would post an 11-game winning streak near the end of the season, and would eventually finish first overall in the Central Division, and second overall in the Eastern Conference with a 54–28 record. Ben Wallace was named Defensive Player of the Year for the third time, and was selected for the 2005 NBA All-Star Game. In the first round of the playoffs, the Pistons defeated the Philadelphia 76ers in five games, then defeated the 6th-seeded Pacers in six games in the second round. The Pistons would then defeat the top-seeded Miami Heat in a full seven-game series after trailing 3–2 to advance to the Finals for the second straight year. However, they narrowly missed out on repeating as NBA champions, losing to the San Antonio Spurs in the 2005 NBA Finals in seven games. PRO BASKETBALL; In Final Hour, Duncan Carries Spurs to Title New York Times June 24, 2005 https://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/24/sports/basketball/in-final-hour-star-shines-brightest.html October 10, 2017 After the Finals defeat, Larry Brown and the Pistons parted ways after spending two seasons as head coach. He would later be the head coach of his hometown New York Knicks, but after winning only 23 games in his only season in New York, Brown was fired again before returning to coaching with the Charlotte Bobcats. Brown Leaves the Pistons; Knicks Leave a Door Open New York Times July 20, 2005 https://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/20/sports/basketball/brown-leaves-the-pistons-knicks-leave-a-door-open.html October 10, 2017 It was later announced in the off-season that Flip Saunders, who was fired as head coach of the Minnesota Timberwolves at midseason, would be the Pistons head coach for next season. 2025, this marks the last time the Pistons had reached the NBA Finals. Draft picks +Draft picks for the 2004–05 Detroit Pistons season Round Pick Player Position Nationality College 2 54 Rickey Paulding Guard United States Missouri Roster Detroit Pistons 2004–05 #006BB7 #FFFFFF #B50000 #FFFFFF 30 Carlos Arroyo PG 6 2 200 1979-07-30 Florida International 1 Chauncey Billups PG 6 3 202 1976-09-25 Colorado 41 Elden Campbell C 6 11 279 1968-07-23 Clemson 20 Carlos Delfino SG 6 6 230 1982-08-29 Argentina 12 Ronald Dupree SF 6 7 209 1981-01-26 Louisiana State 8 Darvin Ham SF 6 7 240 1973-07-23 Texas Tech 32 Richard Hamilton basketball SG 6 7 193 1978-02-14 Connecticut 10 Lindsey Hunter SG 6 2 195 1970-12-03 Jackson State 5 Horace Jenkins PG 6 1 180 1974-10-14 William Paterson 24 Antonio McDyess PF 6 9 220 1974-09-07 Alabama 31 Darko Miličić C 7 0 275 1985-06-20 Serbia 22 Tayshaun Prince SF 6 9 215 1980-02-28 Kentucky 3 Ben Wallace basketball C 6 9 245 1974-09-10 Virginia Union 36 Rasheed Wallace PF 6 11 230 1974-09-17 North Carolina 44 Derrick Coleman C 6 10 258 1967-06-21 Syracuse Larry Brown Phil Ford Dave Hanners Gar Heard Igor Kokoškov Pat Sullivan Mike Abdenour (trainer) https://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/DET/2005.html March 4, 2005 Regular season Standings DET DET Playoffs Detroit Pistons 2005 yes #006BB7 #ED164B Detroit Pistons First Round yes yes no #ED164B #FFFFFF 3 0 1 1 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 1 | April 23 | Philadelphia | W 106–85 | Rasheed Wallace (29) | B. Wallace, R. Wallace (10) | Richard Hamilton (5) | The Palace of Auburn Hills22,076 | 1–0 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 2 | April 26 | Philadelphia | W 99–84 | Richard Hamilton (23) | Ben Wallace (10) | Chauncey Billups (8) | The Palace of Auburn Hills22,076 | 2–0 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 3 | April 29 | @ Philadelphia | L 104–115 | Ben Wallace (29) | Ben Wallace (16) | Richard Hamilton (12) | Wachovia Center16,907 | 2–1 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 4 | May 1 | @ Philadelphia | W 97–92 (OT) | Chauncey Billups (25) | Ben Wallace (12) | Chauncey Billups (7) | Wachovia Center15,894 | 3–1 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 5 | May 3 | Philadelphia | W 88–78 | Billups, Hamilton (23) | Ben Wallace (13) | Chauncey Billups (7) | The Palace of Auburn Hills22,076 | 4–1 |- Detroit Pistons Conference Semifinals yes no #ED164B #FFFFFF 2 1 2 1 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 1 | May 9 | Indiana | W 96–81 | Richard Hamilton (28) | Ben Wallace (15) | Chauncey Billups (7) | The Palace of Auburn Hills22,076 | 1–0 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 2 | May 11 | Indiana | L 83–92 | Tayshaun Prince (24) | Ben Wallace (16) | Chauncey Billups (10) | The Palace of Auburn Hills22,076 | 1–1 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 3 | May 13 | @ Indiana | L 74–79 | Chauncey Billups (23) | Ben Wallace (14) | Tayshaun Prince (6) | Conseco Fieldhouse18,345 | 1–2 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 4 | May 15 | @ Indiana | W 89–76 | Chauncey Billups (29) | Rasheed Wallace (12) | Richard Hamilton (7) | Conseco Fieldhouse18,345 | 2–2 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 5 | May 17 | Indiana | W 86–67 | Ben Wallace (19) | Tayshaun Prince (9) | Chauncey Billups (7) | The Palace of Auburn Hills22,076 | 3–2 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 6 | May 19 | @ Indiana | W 88–79 | Richard Hamilton (28) | B. Wallace, R. Wallace (11) | Chauncey Billups (8) | Conseco Fieldhouse18,345 | 4–2 |- Detroit Pistons Conference Finals yes no #ED164B #FFFFFF 2 1 2 2 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 1 | May 23 | @ Miami | W 90–81 | Rasheed Wallace (20) | Ben Wallace (13) | Carlos Arroyo (7) | American Airlines Arena20,203 | 1–0 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 2 | May 25 | @ Miami | L 86–92 | Richard Hamilton (21) | Ben Wallace (14) | Chauncey Billups (6) | American Airlines Arena20,228 | 1–1 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 3 | May 29 | Miami | L 104–113 | Richard Hamilton (33) | Rasheed Wallace (8) | Richard Hamilton (5) | The Palace of Auburn Hills22,076 | 1–2 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 4 | May 31 | Miami | W 106–96 | Richard Hamilton (28) | Ben Wallace (15) | Richard Hamilton (8) | The Palace of Auburn Hills22,076 | 2–2 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 5 | June 2 | @ Miami | L 76–88 | Richard Hamilton (21) | Antonio McDyess (9) | Richard Hamilton (5) | American Airlines Arena20,225 | 2–3 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 6 | June 4 | Miami | W 91–66 | Richard Hamilton (24) | Prince, R. Wallace (9) | Chauncey Billups (7) | The Palace of Auburn Hills22,076 | 3–3 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 7 | June 6 | @ Miami | W 88–82 | Richard Hamilton (22) | Ben Wallace (9) | Chauncey Billups (8) | American Airlines Arena20,241 | 4–3 |- Detroit Pistons NBA Finals yes no #ED164B #FFFFFF 2 1 1 3 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 1 | June 9 | @ San Antonio | L 69–84 | Chauncey Billups (25) | Ben Wallace (8) | Chauncey Billups (6) | SBC Center18,797 | 0–1 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 2 | June 12 | @ San Antonio | L 76–97 | Antonio McDyess (15) | B. Wallace, R. Wallace (8) | Rasheed Wallace (4) | SBC Center18,797 | 0–2 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 3 | June 14 | San Antonio | W 96–79 | Richard Hamilton (24) | Ben Wallace (11) | Chauncey Billups (7) | The Palace of Auburn Hills22,076 | 1–2 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 4 | June 16 | San Antonio | W 102–71 | Billups, Hunter (17) | Ben Wallace (13) | Chauncey Billups (7) | The Palace of Auburn Hills22,076 | 2–2 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 5 | June 19 | San Antonio | L 95–96 (OT) | Chauncey Billups (34) | Ben Wallace (12) | Chauncey Billups (7) | The Palace of Auburn Hills22,076 | 2–3 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 6 | June 21 | @ San Antonio | W 95–86 | Richard Hamilton (23) | Ben Wallace (9) | Chauncey Billups (6) | SBC Center18,797 | 3–3 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 7 | June 23 | @ San Antonio | L 74–81 | Richard Hamilton (15) | Ben Wallace (11) | Chauncey Billups (8) | SBC Center18,797 | 3–4 |- DET 2005 yes Awards and records Ben Wallace, NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award Ben Wallace, All-NBA Third Team Ben Wallace, NBA All-Defensive First Team Chauncey Billups, NBA All-Defensive Second Team Tayshaun Prince, NBA All-Defensive Second Team Player statistics Regular season PlayerGPGSMPGFG%3P%FT%RPGAPGSPGBPGPPGCarlos Arroyo† 40 0 17.7 .376 .083 .767 1.5 3.2 .6 .0 5.4Chauncey Billups 80 80 35.8 .442 .426 .898 3.4 5.8 1.0 .1 16.5Elden Campbell† 30 1 11.3 .336 .000 .784 2.7 .5 .3 .2 3.9Derrick Coleman 5 0 10.0 .214 .000 1.000 3.0 .0 .0 .0 1.8Carlos Delfino 30 4 15.3 .359 .257 .575 1.8 1.3 .7 .2 3.9Ronald Dupree 47 0 10.0 .480 .500 .617 2.0 .5 .1 .2 3.2Anthony Goldwire† 9 0 6.1 .267 .333 .875 .9 .0 .0 .0 2.0Darvin Ham 47 0 5.9 .459 .387 .7 .1 .1 .1 1.0Richard Hamilton basketball 76 76 38.5 .440 .305 .858 3.9 4.9 1.0 .2 18.7Lindsey Hunter 76 3 15.1 .358 .274 .793 1.6 1.7 .9 .2 3.8Horace Jenkins 15 0 6.9 .333 .000 .923 .6 .6 .3 .1 2.8Antonio McDyess 77 8 23.3 .513 .000 .656 6.3 .9 .6 .7 9.6Darko Miličić 37 2 6.9 .329 .708 1.2 .2 .1 .5 1.8Smush Parker† 11 1 10.0 .393 .222 .692 .8 1.0 .3 .0 3.0Tayshaun Prince 82 82 37.1 .487 .341 .807 5.3 3.0 .7 .9 14.7Ben Wallace basketball 74 74 36.1 .453 .111 .428 12.2 1.7 1.4 2.4 9.7Rasheed Wallace 79 79 34.0 .440 .318 .697 8.2 1.8 .8 1.5 14.5 Playoffs PlayerGPGSMPGFG%3P%FT%RPGAPGSPGBPGPPGCarlos Arroyo 19 0 7.9 .356 .000 .667 .5 2.1 .2 .1 2.1Chauncey Billups 25 25 39.4 .428 .349 .893 4.3 6.5 1.0 .2 18.7Elden Campbell 10 0 5.7 .308 .500 1.8 .5 .2 .0 1.2Ronald Dupree 14 0 2.7 .286 .4 .0 .0 .0 .3Darvin Ham 14 0 1.7 .333 1.000 .2 .0 .0 .0 .3Richard Hamilton basketball 25 25 43.2 .453 .294 .798 4.3 4.3 .8 .1 20.0Lindsey Hunter 25 0 15.0 .319 .222 .727 1.6 1.6 .9 .3 3.8Antonio McDyess 25 0 19.8 .486 .694 5.9 .8 .6 .9 8.0Darko Miličić 9 0 2.3 .286 1.000 .4 .1 .0 .1 .6Tayshaun Prince 25 25 40.9 .433 .367 .800 6.3 3.3 1.0 .4 13.4Ben Wallace basketball 25 25 39.2 .481 .000 .461 11.3 1.0 1.7 2.4 10.0Rasheed Wallace 25 25 33.0 .439 .337 .741 6.9 1.3 1.0 1.8 13.6 † Denotes player spent time with another team in the season. Stats reflect time with the Pistons only. Transactions List of 2004–05 NBA season transactions References External links Detroit Pistons on Database Basketball Detroit Pistons on Basketball Reference Det Category:Detroit Pistons seasons Category:Eastern Conference (NBA) championship seasons Detroit Detroit