The Detroit Pistons pulled off one the most stunning upsets in NBA Finals history when they crushed the Los Angeles Lakers in five games in 2004. Tayshaun Prince was part of that Pistons team and during an appearance on the Knuckleheads podcast, he shared how Isiah Thomas and some other players of the “Bad Boys” helped them win.
“Before we even flew out to L.A., (Joe Dumars) was like, ‘Hey man, y’all come to my office, want to meet with y’all. Got a couple of people want to talk to y’all and those people from the former Bad Boys team,” Prince said. “So, Zeke, Isiah met with us and he was talking about how to prepare for a Finals, what to expect, all these different things.
“As he was talking to us, he said, ‘Y’all gonna win Game 1, I ain’t even worried about that. So we gonna talk about Game 2 on.’ That’s what he said off the rip,” Prince continued. “(Thomas said), ‘Ain’t even worried about Game 1, y’all gonna win that. Because they ain’t gonna know what’s going to hit ’em, they haven’t seen nothing like y’all before.’
“So, he just started talking from Game 2 on,” Prince stated. “And I was sitting there like, ‘What? Game 1 is probably the most important game.’ He’s like, ‘Yeah, nah, y’all gonna win that one. They ain’t gonna know what hit them. They have no clue.’ Just to hear those Bad Boys guys talk to us about their experience in the Finals and what to expect, what to get prepared for, and how to handle the stage and all that kind of stuff.”
Well, Thomas ended up being on the money with his prediction. as the Pistons shockingly won Game 1 87-75 in Los Angeles. They slowed down an offense spearheaded by Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant, and it was a sign of things to come.
The Lakers managed to win Game 2 99-91 in overtime to tie up the series, but it was all Pistons from then on out. They won the next three games by holding the Lakers to an average of just 78.3 points. In Game 3, the Lakers only managed to get to 68 points, their lowest tally in a playoff game since the franchise moved to Los Angeles.
It was a defensive masterclass from the Pistons and Prince, who averaged 10.0 points, 6.8 rebounds, 2.0 assists, 1.8 steals, and 0.4 blocks per game in the Finals, certainly played a big part in that. He guarded Bryant exceptionally well, limiting the future Hall of Famer to just 38.1% shooting from the field in the series.
The Pistons Almost Won Back-To-Back Titles
From 1999 to 2010, the NBA was dominated by the Lakers and the San Antonio Spurs. The Lakers won five titles in that period while the Spurs won four and the Pistons nearly managed to beat both of those teams.
The Pistons made it back to the NBA Finals in 2005 and the team standing between them and back-to-back titles was the Spurs. It ended up being a brutal series that went seven games and it looked like the Pistons would be the ones to emerge victorious at the end.
The Pistons led by nine points at one stage in the third quarter but weren’t able to hold on to that advantage. The Spurs managed to storm back with Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili leading the way and went on to 81-74. That Pistons team is shown a lot of reverence for beating the Lakers and one can only imagine the pedestal they would have been put on, had they beaten the Spurs too.
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