2004 NBA Finals Game 1 vs Lakers

Lore & Background

The Pistons' owner William Davidson became the first owner in American sports history to win two championships in one calendar year; eight days earlier, his Tampa Bay Lightning defeated the Calgary Flames to win the NHL's Stanley Cup Finals in seven games. The Detroit Red Wings later won the Stanley Cup at home in 2008, making that the most recent major professional sports championship won by a Detroit-based team at their home venue.

Reader's Guide

The Finals were played using a 2–3–2 site format, where the first two and last two games are held at the team with home court advantage. The Pistons became the fourth team to sweep the middle three games since the NBA started using the 2-3-2 format in 1985, but the first to do so at home; the previous three times this had occurred, it was done by away teams (1990 Pistons, 1991 Chicago Bulls, 2001 Lakers). This feat would later be accomplished by two more teams (the 2006 and 2012 Miami Heat, both on their home floor) before the Finals reverted to 2-2-1-1-1 format in 2014. This was the first Finals series to be played on a Sunday–Tuesday–Thursday rotation since 1990, the last year CBS had the NBA's national television contract. It is also the last series to have Game 1 be played on a Sunday.

Did You Know?

• The Pistons won the series 4-1, with each of their four wins coming by decisive margins, while the Lakers narrowly avoided a sweep by winning Game 2 in overtime.
• The most recent major professional sports championship won by a Detroit-based team at their home venue is the Detroit Red Wings' Stanley Cup victory in 2008 at Joe Louis Arena.