2004 NBA season

You normally don’t think of a team that enters the postseason as a #2 seed in its bracket as a real dark horse. But in the NBA, when you lack a marquee superstar and have to follow a path that leads you through the two-time defending conference champions and two series without homecourt advantage, a dark horse is exactly what you are. That’s the path the 2004 Detroit Pistons rode to a championship.