2005 Eastern Conference Semifinals Game 6 vs. Detroit Pistons
The Bad Boys of Motown
The Detroit Pistons are an American professional basketball team based in Detroit. They compete in the NBA as a member of the Central Division of the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home games at Little Caesars Arena.
Quick Facts
- Series
- Eastern Conference Semifinals, Game 6
- Teams
- Indiana Pacers vs. Detroit Pistons
- Venue
- The Palace of Auburn Hills
- Result
- Detroit Pistons won 88–79
- Key player
- Reggie Miller (Pacers) scored 27 points in his final playoff game
- Controversial play
- A late-game foul call on Rasheed Wallace vs. Jermaine O'Neal
- Series outcome
- Pistons won 4–2
Lore & Background
The Pistons were founded as the Fort Wayne Zollner Pistons in 1937, turned professional in 1941, and joined the BAA in 1948. They moved to Detroit in 1957. The team won NBA championships in 1989, 1990, and 2004.
Reader's Guide
The Pistons are known for their 'Bad Boys' era in the late 1980s and early 1990s, characterized by a physical, defense-oriented style. Key players from that era include Isiah Thomas, Joe Dumars, Bill Laimbeer, Dennis Rodman, and John Salley.
Did You Know?
- The Pistons were originally a semi-professional company team sponsored by the Zollner Corporation, a foundry that manufactured pistons.
- Fred Zollner brokered the formation of the NBA from the BAA and NBL at his kitchen table in 1949.
- George Yardley became the first NBA player to score 2,000 points in a season, doing so in the Pistons' first season in Detroit.
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