2006 Detroit Pistons: A Disappointing Conference Finals Loss

The 2006 Detroit Pistons came into the season as the power of the Eastern Conference. They had won the NBA title in 2004 and reached Game 7 of the Finals a year earlier. They had another fantastic season in ’06. But this was also the start of a three-year stretch where they consistently looked like the best team in the East, only to see different contenders take turns going to the Finals.

Defense was the key to this era of Piston success, and they ranked third in the league for defensive efficiency. Chauncey Billups was the team leader, and the point guard averaged 19 ppg and dished out nine assists. Rip Hamilton was a 20ppg scorer at the two-guard spot. Tayshuan Prince was a steady wingman, scoring 14ppg.

Rasheed Wallace averaged 15 points/7 rebounds per game at the forward spot. Ben Wallace didn’t provide offense at the center position, but the big man was a ferocious rebounder, cleaning up the misses that the great team defense forced. Wallace averaged 11 boards a night. Antonio McDyess chipped in more rebounding help off the bench.

Detroit won their first eight games, including a road trip to Phoenix, where the Suns had an MVP point guard in Steve Nash and were headed for the conference finals. The Pistons won at playoff-bound Memphis in double-overtime. On Christmas Day, Detroit had a Finals rematch with the San Antonio Spurs and got an 85-70 home win. The Pistons came out of that game with a 22-3 record and were running away with the top spot in the East.

A win over the Miami Heat, their top competition in the conference, came in late December. On New Year’s Eve, Detroit lost to the Cleveland Cavaliers, where LeBron James was en route to his first postseason appearance. But the Pistons promptly ripped off eleven straight wins in January, and the record soared to 37-6.

The dog days of February saw momentum slow a bit. Detroit lost to the Indiana Pacers, who would make the playoffs. The Pistons also lost to a bad Atlanta Hawks team. The word “struggle” is all relative though, and Detroit still went 10-3 through February.

An even more sluggish stretch followed, as the Pistons split eight games. But they got hot again as the playoffs loomed. A 10-1 streak including a pair of wins over the Heat, and another victory of the Finals-bound Dallas Mavericks. Detroit’s record reached 64-16 and they had clinched the best overall record in the NBA. The road to the title would run through the Motor City. That secured, the Pistons dropped their last two and finished 64-18.

The Milwaukee Bucks were a sub-.500 team, but in an Eastern Conference woefully short on depth, that was enough for the 8-seed. The Bucks had a nice backcourt in Michael Redd and T.J. Ford, but that was about it. The Piston defense was in lockdown mode for Game 1, holding Milwaukee to 36 percent shooting. The Wallaces had big nights—Rasheed scored 22 and Ben pulled down 17 boards, to lead a 92-74 win.

There was a little more offense in Game 2, but the fundamental dynamic did not change. Detroit jumped out to a nine-point lead after the first quarter, got a 22/7 line from Prince, and 20 more from Billups, en route to a 109-98 win.

Detroit went on the road and with a 2-0 series lead, went soft. They allowed 60 percent shooting in Game 3 and lost 124-104. After three quarters of Game 4, the Pistons were down by two points. This was close to becoming a legitimate series, particularly with Redd going off for a 40-point night.

But the Detroit veterans had a fourth quarter answer. Billups racked up 34 points. Prince delivered 18 points/8 rebounds/7 assists, and McDyess came off the bench for 11 points/11 rebounds. The Pistons took over down the stretch, won 109-99 and all but put this series to bed.

The clinching was made official in Game 5 back home. Detroit raced out to a 16-point lead after a quarter, Hamilton poured in 40 points, and the Pistons dominated the boards. An easy 122-93 win closed out the first round.

LeBron and the Cavs had advanced in an exciting first-round series with the Washington Wizards, where Cleveland won three games on last-second shots. LeBron was coming off a year where he averaged 31/7/7 and finished second in the MVP voting. But were they ready for this stage and an opponent like these Pistons?

Not in the first game they weren’t. Detroit locked up Cleveland defensively, forcing 42 percent shooting from the floor, and the Pistons were up 21 by the half. Prince scored 24, Hamilton added 20 and the final was 113-86. Game 2 was more of the same. Detroit led by 16 at the half and forced 41 percent shooting. Rasheed Wallace scored 29, Prince added 20, Ben Wallace hauled down 15 rebounds, and only a fourth-quarter spurt by the Cavs made the 97-91 final cosmetically respectable.

But once again, the defense went soft in a road Game 3. Cleveland shot 50 percent. Detroit got 42 combined points from Billups and Hamilton, but only shot 39 percent themselves in an 86-77 loss. And the offense got even worse in an ugly Game 4. The Pistons shot 33 percent. The played good D themselves in this one and led by six after three quarters. But the fourth quarter on the road got away, turned into a 74-72 loss and the young upstarts from Cleveland tied the series.

It was time for the championship veterans to put their foot down back in the Palace for Game 5. It was another tough defensive battle, and another one that was close in the fourth quarter. Prince would lead the offense with 21 points. Ben Wallace was cleaning up the many missed shots, getting 13 boards. But Detroit was turning the ball over–17 turnovers as a whole. To the shock of the Palace crowd, the Pistons lost 86-84 and were on the brink of elimination.

Game 6 followed a similar script. It was close the whole way. While the offenses were a little sharper, both teams were still under 50 percent from the floor and most of the action took place inside the three-point line. LeBron got his numbers, but he was forced into 8-for-20 shooting. Meanwhile Rasheed Wallace scored 24, while Hamilton and Prince combined for 32. The Pistons pulled out an 84-82 win and got the series back home to Detroit for a Game 7.

A late Sunday afternoon audience tuned in to see if the power of the East could hold off the rising star. For one half, it was anyone’s game. But experience means everything in the NBA playoffs, and this Game 7 was no different. While LeBron had a good game, Detroit’s balance was too much. Prince’s 22 points/7 rebounds led an attack where four players scored in double figures. The Piston defense held the Cavs to 31 percent shooting. It was an ugly game, but no one in Detroit was complaining about the 79-61 final.

Detroit had survived. It was their eighth straight playoff series win within the confines of the Eastern Conference, and they were headed to a third straight conference finals.

Miami had held serve on the bottom half of the bracket. The combination of the young Dwayne Wade, the veteran Shaquille O’Neal, and the Hall of Fame coach in Pat Riley were looking for the franchise’s first trip to the NBA Finals.

Homecourt didn’t help Detroit in Game 1. They were outrebounded, played soft defense, and lost 91-86. With the season all but on the line for Game 2, the Pistons responded. They jumped out a 25-12 lead after the first quarter, got a 24/11 line from Prince and won 92-88. But they had to reclaim homecourt advantage.

It didn’t happen in the crucial middle games down in South Beach. Detroit again played soft defense, allowed 58 percent shooting and lost Game 3 by fifteen points. Then they dumped Game 4 by eleven points. The Pistons were reeling and needed to win three in a row.

They didn’t roll over at home for Game 5. Prince scored 29, the defense denied Shaq the ball, and a 91-78 win kept the series alive. All they needed was a single road win, and they could be back in front of the home crowd for another Game 7.

But they wouldn’t get it. The defensive performance was again lacking on the road, as Detroit allowed 56 percent shooting. They were in an 11-point hole by halftime and the season ended with a 95-78 loss.

It was a bitter way to end such a promising season. And while this era of success was far from over, a stretch of frustrating conference finals losses had begun. Detroit again lost with homecourt advantage in 2007, as LeBron’s Cavs had their breakthrough year. In 2008, the Pistons fell to the Boston Celtics of Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, and Ray Allen. The last really successful era of Detroit Pistons basketball began its downward descent in 2006.