The 2005 NBA Finals was the championship series of the National Basketball Association's (NBA) 2004–05 season, and the culmination of the season's playoffs. The Western Conference champion San Antonio Spurs played the Eastern Conference champion Detroit Pistons for the title, with the Spurs holding home court advantage and the Pistons as defending champions. The series was played under a best-of-seven format (unlike the previous three rounds, the team with home court advantage hosted games one, two, six, and seven if all were necessary). It also marked the Pistons' first NBA Finals loss since 1988.
The Spurs won the series four games to three in the first NBA Finals to go to a Game 7 since 1994. The games were broadcast on ABC, with Al Michaels, and Hubie Brown commentating. National radio coverage was provided by ESPN Radio through announcers Jim Durham, and Dr. Jack Ramsay.
Background This series was not only the first matchup of the previous two NBA champions since the 1987 Finals (Lakers d. Celtics, 4–2), it was a match up of the two premier defensive teams of that era: from the 2002–03 season to the 2004–05 season, the Spurs and Pistons routinely finished in the top three in Points Allowed: in 2003, Detroit was #1, and San Antonio #3; in 2004, the teams finished in a tie for the #1 spot; in 2005, the Spurs were #1 and the Pistons were #2. The Spurs were considered capable of playing at a faster pace, as evidenced by their convincing win against the high-scoring Phoenix Suns during the Western Conference finals. However, both teams performed exceptionally well when scoring over 100 points (Detroit was 22–3, San Antonio was 28–2).
Going into the 2005 Finals, the Spurs had won two championships (1999 and 2003), while Detroit had three (1989, 1990, and 2004). The 2004 Championship was considered a major upset by some sportswriters because of the Lakers' big name talent. Others saw the result as fully legitimate, pointing out that Detroit's defense outplayed the Lakers' offense. Further, the balanced Detroit offense proved especially difficult to deal with when Karl Malone's injured knee left the Lakers without a reliable presence to slow down the Pistons' Rasheed Wallace. Many thought that a contributing factor to the Lakers' loss was the well-publicized tension between superstars Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant.
Both the Spurs and the Pistons were ranked number two in their respective conferences, with the Phoenix Suns ranked number one in the West and the Miami Heat ranked number one in the East.
Sportswriters all across the country generally considered this one of the few too-close-to-call series to occur. Most picked the series to go to six or seven games.
The Spurs breezed through the playoffs with relative ease, compared to the Pistons. They defeated the Nuggets 4–1 to open the playoffs, winning four straight after losing the home opener. They then defeated the SuperSonics within six games the following series. Phoenix was expected by many to put up a challenge, but the Spurs won the series easily, four games to one.
The Pistons had a slightly tougher road back to the Finals. The opening round was a fairly easy five-game victory over Philadelphia. Next, the Pistons faced the Indiana Pacers, one of the NBA's most resilient teams. Indiana was expected by most experts to falter and miss the playoffs after the Pacers–Pistons brawl; however, led by retiring Pacers legend Reggie Miller, the Pacers still made the playoffs and unexpectedly won their first-round series against the Atlantic Division champion Boston Celtics. The Pacers mounted a formidable challenge but after a Game Six loss, Reggie Miller's storied 18-year career was over. Detroit's next opponent was the East #1 seed Miami, led by Dwyane Wade and Shaquille O'Neal. After winning Game One, the Pistons fell 2–1 after three games and 3–2 after five games. By winning Game Six on their home court, the Pistons forced a Game Seven. In Game Seven, Detroit overcame the odds to beat the Heat at American Airlines Arena, and thus advanced to the NBA Finals for the second straight year.
Road to the Finals
San Antonio Spurs (Western Conference champion) Detroit Pistons (Eastern Conference champion)2nd seed in the West, 2nd best league recordRegular season2nd seed in the East, 5th best league recordDefeated the (7) Denver Nuggets, 4–1First roundDefeated the (7) Philadelphia 76ers, 4–1Defeated the (3) Seattle SuperSonics, 4–2Conference semifinalsDefeated the (6) Indiana Pacers, 4–2Defeated the (1) Phoenix Suns, 4–1Conference finalsDefeated the (1) Miami Heat, 4–3
Regular season series Both teams split the two meetings, each won by the home team:
Rosters San Antonio Spurs
Detroit Pistons
Series summary Game Date Road team Result Home team Game 1 June 9 Detroit Pistons 69–84 (0–1) San Antonio Spurs Game 2 June 12 Detroit Pistons 76–97 (0–2) San Antonio Spurs Game 3 June 14 San Antonio Spurs 79–96 (2–1) Detroit Pistons Game 4 June 16 San Antonio Spurs 71–102 (2–2) Detroit Pistons Game 5 June 19 San Antonio Spurs 96–95 (OT) (3–2) Detroit Pistons Game 6 June 21 Detroit Pistons 95–86 (3–3) San Antonio Spurs Game 7 June 23 Detroit Pistons 74–81 (4–3) San Antonio Spurs
Features This was the first NBA Finals to have the sticker version of the Larry O'Brien Trophy adorn the center court (team logo still visible in the middle), with the NBA Finals wordmark logo on opposite ends of the court. This remained in effect until the 2009 NBA Finals; the position of the O'Brien trophy was modified for the 2007 NBA Finals.
Game summaries All times are in Eastern Daylight Time (UTC−4). If the venue is located in a different time zone, the local time is also given.
Game 1
Manu Ginóbili was the star of Game 1, turning in a virtuoso performance in the fourth quarter to lead the Spurs to victory. Ginobili scored 15 of his 26 points in the fourth quarter to complement a huge game by Tim Duncan (24 points, 17 rebounds).
Ginobili, who in the previous summer led Argentina in points and assists en route to Olympic gold, took over in the final period. He scored eight points in a decisive 12–2 surge that gave the Spurs a 67–55 lead, then throttled a push by the Pistons with a swooping dunk, 3-pointer and running hook for an 81–67 advantage with less than two minutes to go.
Having been idle for a week, the Spurs opened the game in lackluster fashion – in the first eight minutes the Spurs trailed 19–7 – but were able to fight back and stabilize the game. It may have happened that Detroit's more recent play led to fourth quarter fatigue which enabled the Spurs' strong fourth quarter; in any case, the Spurs prevailed in the first contest.
Game 2
The resilient Detroit Pistons were expected to bounce back from their fourth-quarter letdown in Game 1. Exactly the opposite occurred. From the opening tip, Game 2 was all San Antonio as the Spurs got out to a quick lead and never looked back.
The Spurs took advantage of Detroit's uncharacteristic mistakes throughout the night, which included missing nine shots from inside four feet from the basket. While the Pistons went cold (0–6) from behind the three-point line, the Spurs made 11 3-pointers, including four each by Manu Ginóbili and Bruce Bowen, who did not score a point in Game 1. Ginobili again led the Spurs with a 27 points, while Tim Duncan finished with 18 points and 11 rebounds. Antonio McDyess was the high scorer for Detroit, scoring 15 points off the bench.
The 2–0 lead was a big advantage for San Antonio. In the history of the NBA, the team with home-court advantage started a series with a 2–0 lead 153 times. On just seven occasions, the trailing team rebounded to win the series.
Game 3
In NBA history, only two teams had ever won a Finals series after facing a 2–0 deficit—the Boston Celtics in the 1969 NBA Finals and the Portland Trail Blazers in the 1977 NBA Finals—however, just one year later the Miami Heat would accomplish this feat against the Dallas Mavericks in the 2006 NBA Finals.
With that task looming ahead, the Pistons responded in tremendous fashion. Chauncey Billups and Richard Hamilton combined for 44 points, while Ben Wallace (15 pts, 11 reb, 5 blk, 3 stl) together with Rasheed Wallace and Antonio McDyess harassed Tim Duncan into a 5–15 shooting night. The Pistons dominated the second half, outscoring the Spurs 55–37.
The Pistons became the first team to score more than 90 points in a Finals game against the Spurs during this game.
Game 4
The pattern of the first two games held up in games 3 and 4: home team wins big in the first one and even bigger in the second. And Game 4 was the most lopsided of all during the 2005 NBA Finals; the Pistons' 102 points were the only time either team reached triple digits in the series.
Seven Pistons scored in double figures, especially efficient bench performances by Lindsey Hunter and Antonio McDyess. In 22 minutes, Hunter scored 17 points and dished out 5 assists; McDyess scored 13 and grabbed 7 rebounds in just 19 minutes.
Conversely, only three Spurs scored in double figures (Ginobili, Duncan, Parker), and among all Spurs attempting five or more field goals, only Tony Parker (6–13, 46.2% shooting) managed to surpass the 45% mark. Collectively, the Spurs shot 37% and committed 17 turnovers to the Pistons' NBA Finals-record four.
Hunter's and Billups' 17 points were the fewest to lead an NBA Finals game since George Yardley of the Fort Wayne Pistons led all scorers with 16 points in the fifth game of the 1955 NBA Finals.
Game 5
With the first four games of the 2005 Finals being blowouts by the home team, Game 5 was a widely anticipated close game, and became a memorable game in Finals history.
The game was closely contested by throughout the night as the lead changed 12 separate times, and the game was tied on 18 occasions. Regulation was not enough to settle this game, so the game went into overtime. The Pistons streaked out to a quick lead in the first few minutes of overtime, and seemed to have the game in hand. However, a missed layup by Chauncey Billups with Detroit ahead 95–93 with nine seconds remaining left San Antonio with a chance. On the Spurs' next possession, Robert Horry inbounded the ball to Ginobili, who headed for the left corner and dished it right back to Horry. Rasheed Wallace had left Horry to double-team Ginobili, and Horry was left alone to sink the game-winning basket with 5.8 seconds remaining in the OT. Horry was already famous for nailing last-second shots in the playoffs, including Game Four of the 2002 Western Conference finals between the Lakers and Sacramento Kings.
Horry went 5 for 6 from beyond the arc, including the game-winner, and scored 21 points coming off the bench. He hadn't scored a point until the final play of the 3rd quarter. He carried the team in the fourth quarter and overtime as his teammates struggled with the weight of a must-win game on the road against an accomplished adversary. In addition to the game-winning three-pointer, late in overtime Horry made a spectacular left-handed dunk while being fouled as the shot clock wound down.
Tim Duncan, despite struggling from the free-throw line, finished with 26 points and 19 rebounds for the Spurs. Chauncey Billups was the high scorer for the Pistons, finishing with a game-high 34 points in the losing effort.
To date, this is the most recent NBA Finals game played in Metro Detroit.
Game 6
Game 6 was a close game all along, and the lead kept fluctuating between the two teams. Again, the leading stars on both teams played big games. Detroit pulled away early in the fourth for an 80–73 lead with five minutes to go, but the Spurs continued to threaten them. Soon, it was back to a one-point game.
Then, Rasheed Wallace planted a three-pointer to pull away, and even with a resilient game by the Spurs, the Pistons had clinched the victory.