As one of the oldest teams in the NBA, the Pistons have gone through a lot of hardships and won the championship only after 41 years. In the 1950s, they were oppressed by the Lakers, but in the 1960s, the Celtics dominated the world, and the Hawks, Lakers, and Warriors were also watching. In the days of competition for hegemony in the 1970s, they failed to create any glory under the leadership of Dave Bing. They only entered the playoffs 4 times, and in the 1979-80 season they created the worst record in team history of 16 wins and 66 losses. Achievements. In the past 30 years, perhaps the most impressive thing about them is that they teamed up with the Lakers on November 22, 1950 to create a 19-18 score (the Pistons won), the lowest in history, which also contributed to the 24 seconds Introduction of rules.
It was not until the 1980s that the Pistons ushered in the spring after they moved to Detroit. The thing is this: In the 1981 draft, they used the No. 2 pick to select the "Smiling Assassin" Isiah Thomas; in February 1982, the team traded with the Cavaliers in exchange for center Bill Laimbeer; in 1983 Chuck Daley was appointed as the head coach starting in 1985; in 1985, they were lucky enough to select Joe Dumars with the 18th pick. From then on, the "bad boys" got together, which also laid the foundation for their championship in the late 1980s. During this time, they were still paying for their youth—falling in the first round of the playoffs in 1984, falling in the Eastern Conference semifinals in 1985, and falling in the first round again in 1986—but this did not prevent them from setting an NBA record: in 1983 On December 13, after three overtimes, they defeated the Nuggets 186-184, which was also the highest score in a single game in NBA history.
The season when the Pistons really started to move towards glory was the 1986-87 season. This season they got Adrian Dantley from the Jazz at the expense of Kelly Tepuga and Kent Benson. This season they achieved a record of 52 wins and 30 losses, and first defeated Washington and then Atlanta in the playoffs, and finally reached the Eastern Conference Finals. They met the Celtics, but they didn't lose until the seventh game. In the 1987-88 season, the Pistons won the Central Division with a record of 54 wins and 28 losses, which was the first time in team history. Dantley leads the team in scoring, followed by Thomas, Dumars, Laimbeer and Johnson. Laimbeer, Rodman and Rick Mohorn each grabbed more than 565 rebounds. With such depth and talented players, the Pistons annihilated Washington, Chicago and Boston in the playoffs this season, and finally reached the Finals to face off against the Lakers.
The Pistons were still unstoppable in the finals, leading 3-2 after the first five games. Before the start of Game 6, the championship trophy was even transported into the Pistons locker room. CBS also invited Pistons owner Davidson to attend the award ceremony. However, the situation took a turn for the worse. 8 seconds before the end, Dumars missed a jumper and Rodman missed a rebound. , Scott caught the ball, and the Lakers narrowly won 103-102 and tied the score to 3-3. After this campaign, Thomas suffered swollen ankles, sprained fingers, poked eyes, and scratched his face, but the "Smiling Assassin" still scored 43 points, 8 assists, and 6 steals. In a life-or-death battle, Thomas' ankle injury worsened. Although he still scored 10 points in the first half to help the Pistons lead 52 to 47, he could not hold on any longer. Six seconds before the end, the Lakers led 106 to 105. AC Green's layup made the score 108 to 105. On the last attack, the Pistons handed the ball to Thomas, but the latter failed to complete the shot and fell to the ground. The Lakers miraculously won the championship trophy, becoming the first team to win consecutive championships since the Celtics in the 1968-69 season. In the 1988-89 season, the "Bad Boys" made a comeback. They achieved a record of 63 wins in the regular season, the best in team history. This season the Pistons moved to a new home, the 21,454-seat Palace of Auburn Hills. Their start was not smooth, but mid-season they traded Dantley and a first draft pick for Dallas forward Marc Aguirre. The team did not have any negative chemical reactions, but it improved the team's spirit.
This season, the Lakers are still looking forward to the championship. Pat Riley even applied for a patent for the slogan "Three-peat". The 42-year-old Kareem Abdul-Jabbar has announced his retirement after this season, which has inspired the Lakers to want him to bring another championship ring. Facing such a powerful opponent, the Pistons were not afraid at all. The local media in Detroit were even happy to see that the Pistons' opponent was the Lakers. They called this finals a "sequel" - they wanted revenge!
The Pistons had capital, they were the best team in the league at the time, with a guard-led offensive system, mainly Isiah Thomas and Joe Dumars; a solid work standard, They also established a bad boy image with their tough defense (Bill Laimbeer was suspended for one game for fighting on January 29, which also interrupted his streak of 685 consecutive games dating to 1982). Their leader is Thomas, whose angelic smile belies his fiercely competitive nature. He can shoot and burst, and he ranks high on the assist list. His backcourt partner Dumars is also very good and a formidable defender. Laimbeer is a rugged inside man, but not a center in the traditional sense. His long-range shooting has become a trademark of the Pistons' offense. In addition, Laimbeer became increasingly abrasive, making himself a deeply hated guy by opposing fans.
At the end of the regular season, Dumars and Rodman were selected to the NBA's First Defensive Team. This was also the first time Rodman was selected to the All-Defensive Team consecutively. Thomas averaged 18.2 points per game, ranking first on the team, and all five Pistons players averaged more than 13.7 points per game. Rodman led the team in rebounds with 9.4 per game and led the league in field goal percentage at an incredible 59.5. In the playoffs, they swept Boston and Milwaukee with disdain, and then met the Bulls led by Jordan. The Pistons used Jordan's rules and ended the battle in 6 games. Then, revenge against the Lakers began.
The Lakers lost one game first and were hit hard in the second game. Magic strained his Achilles tendon in the third quarter of Game 2, hobbled off the game, and never returned. At the last moment of the third game, the Lakers trailed 110 to 113. They had a chance to make a final blow. However, when Lakers rookie Rivers shot a three-pointer, Dumars stabbed out diagonally, not only fanning the ball away, but also After landing, save the ball before it goes out of bounds. At this point, the Lakers were unable to parry, and were eventually swept by the Pistons 0-4. In the finals, Dumars averaged 27.3 points and 6.0 assists per game and was elected Finals MVP. In 17 playoff games, the Pistons allowed an average of 92.9 points to their opponents, the fewest points in NBA history since the 24-second offensive rule was implemented in the 1954-55 season. Last season's trophy was somewhat in vain. After all, the Lakers were seriously injured, so winning the championship again this season can truly prove their strength. But it's not easy. Since the Orlando Magic and Minnesota Timberwolves joined the NBA in the new season, the Pistons must provide four players for the new team to choose from, and these four people actually include 2.08-meter power forward Rick Mahon-Mahon. But it's the spiritual pillar of the Pistons. The Timberwolves picked Mahon and the Pistons were shocked. Mahone himself is calm, but Thomas said that with Mahone's departure, the Bad Boys Legion no longer exists. But coach Daley did not believe in evil. The Pistons still maintained their usual aggressive style of play. They still achieved 59 wins this season and became the Central Division champion for the third consecutive year. They had won 13 consecutive games in the regular season. With a 12-game winning streak, they only allowed their opponents to score a league-low 98.3 points on average. In the playoffs, they eliminated the Bulls for the third consecutive year and reached the Finals for the third consecutive year.
The Pistons' opponent is the Trail Blazers led by Drexler. Seven minutes before the end of Game 1, the Trail Blazers still led by 10 points, but under the leadership of Thomas, the Pistons completed the reversal and finally won 105-99. In the second game, Laimbeer threw 6 three-pointers, but the Trail Blazers narrowly won in the last 2 seconds. Before the start of the third game, Dumars' father died of heart failure, but his wife only told him the news after the game. Dumars scored 33 points in this battle, leading the Pistons to defeat their opponents 121-106.
Then his father passed away, but Dumars decided to participate in the next games. In the fourth and fifth games, the score difference between the two sides never exceeded 3 points, but the Trail Blazers were always weak at the last moment. 0.7 seconds before the end of Game 5, Vinnie Johnson of the Pistons made a winning shot, and the Pistons defended their title! Thomas was elected Finals MVP. After two consecutive championships, the Pistons could not continue to dominate the crowd. The Jordan era came. In the next two seasons, the Pistons fell in the Eastern Conference finals and the first round of the playoffs respectively. However, there is still one statistic worth remembering in the 1991-92 season: Rodman ranked first in the league with 18.7 rebounds per game in the 1991-92 season. He set a new single-season rebound record for the team with 1,530, a new offensive rebound record of 523, and a new defensive rebound record of 1,007. He set a team-high 34 rebounds against the Indiana Pacers on March 4, surpassing Lanier's record set in 1972 by one rebound. Ten days later, he set a record with 22 defensive rebounds against Sacramento. On December 1, another record of Lanier also passed away: Isiah Thomas became the team's new scoring leader to date (Lannier, the center of the Pistons in the 1970s, retired in 1984 and Inducted into the Naismith Hall of Fame in 1991).
But starting from the 1992-93 season, the Pistons began to decline, and the bad boys left one after another. Even though Dumars averaged a career-high 23.5 points per game in 92-93, he could not help the team avoid this. Missed the playoffs for the first time since 1983. In the mid-1990s, Grant Hill became the "Car Man" of the Motor City, but he did not lead the team to achieve any glory. The Pistons even wanted to break through the first round of the playoffs. It was not until the 21st century that they became the team again. The powerful Eastern Conference, with Billups, Hamilton, Prince, Big Ben and Wallace as the starting lineup, won the championship trophy again in 2004.