A look back at the 2004 NBA Finals Game 1 between the Pistons and Lakers

With the NBA season on hold, we go back in time, game by game, to examine the Detroit Pistons’ surprise 2004 Finals victory over the Los Angeles Lakers.

The ABC coverage of the 2004 NBA Finals began with a bit of foreshadowing as Al Michaels suggested the Detroit Pistons winning the Larry O’Brien trophy wouldn’t be as shocking as Smarty Jones loss the day prior in the Belmont Stakes. As the night progressed, it became clear that the sports world was witnessing yet another huge upset.

Entering the series, the Pistons felt like David to the Los Angeles Lakers‘ Goliath. The Lakers had four starters who would inevitably end up in the Hall of Fame, hadn’t yet seen a Game 7, and the Pistons were the three seed in a weak Eastern Conference.

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Detroit’s signature defense came out strong at the beginning of Game 1, limiting Los Angeles to two points through the first three minutes. The remainder of the game didn’t go much better for the Staples Center fans.

The Lakers’ high-powered offense was slowed down both figuratively and literally.

Larry Brown called on token full-court pressure to prevent Los Angeles from getting into their offense early and intensified the perimeter defense to force late-clock, low-percentage shots.

After a regular season where the Lakers’ pace (estimated possessions) finished at 92.3, Detroit limited them to approximately 80 possessions in Game 1.

The playoffs always bring about a slower pace, but the Lakers’ played much quicker in the previous three rounds: 85.7 vs. Minnesota and 87.1 vs. San Antonio and Houston.

Defensively, the focus fell on stopping everyone but Shaquille O’Neal. The game plan was clear in that regard. Ben Wallace, Elden Campbell, Rasheed Wallace, and even Corliss Williamson were required to defend Shaq one-on-one most of the time.

When Detroit did double O’Neal, there was a concerted effort for help defense to come via the interior.

Watch as Rasheed Wallace helps from a man away allowing the perimeter defenders to rotate and cover shooters:

Contrast that with Chauncey Billups doubling from one pass away leading to a wide open shot from behind the arc:

Most of the time, however, Shaq did his work without any help coming. And it showed in the box score to the tune of 34 points on 81 percent shooting.

No other Laker enjoyed any sort of real success.

Kobe Bryant shot just 37 percent on 27 attempts. Gary Payton made a single attempt. Karl Malone scored his first points more than 32 minutes into the game.

The focus on Kobe was palpable.

Much of Detroit’s strategy involved sending Kobe toward the boundary into a wall of defenders, either forcing a tough shot or a pass to a less dangerous player like this play in the second quarter:

The difference when Bryant got inside of the defense was striking, as in this layup resulting from beating Ben Wallace to the paint:

The game plan was possible because of how well Detroit fought over and under screens. Perfect execution is, of course, not possible though. And that’s where the Pistons’ excellent help defense was critical.

When Tayshaun Prince lagged behind multiple screens for Kobe, Richard Hamilton and Sheed were waiting to stem the tide and force a contested jumper:

While Detroit’s defense was terrific, it would not have mattered had they not been able to execute offensively. Fortunately for Motor City fans, they did just that.

Where the Lakers struggled to create space along the perimeter, Chauncey Billups took full advantage of strong screens from Pistons big men to get open jumpers:

When Los Angeles helped its defenders who couldn’t get over screens, the Detroit big men dropped to the corner for in-rhythm jumpers:

Occasionally, the Lakers tried to trap the ball-handler on screens. But they rarely committed hard enough and Detroit passed their way out of it.

At the end of the first half, Hamilton noticed the trap was coming before it fully developed and two passes later, the Pistons dunked their way to a tie game:

The high pick-and-roll game was huge for the Pistons in Game 1 of the NBA Finals but it was not their only successful action offensively.

Late in games, talent often supersedes scheme. That reality is amplified in the NBA playoffs when defense tightens and shot-making is crucial.

Lacking high-end offensive talent, Detroit stuck to their guns and forced the Lakers to defend multiple looks.

For his part, Larry Brown leveraged his prior reliance on screen action to come up with a bucket in the most critical of times.

With just over four minutes left, Los Angeles had closed the gap to six points. Coming out of a timeout, Brown called a play no one on the home bench saw coming.

Tayshaun Prince approached Hamilton as if he were going to either screen or come off a Rip screen. Hamilton, in turn, cut toward the opposite half of the court. That action drew Kobe’s attention and Tayshaun took advantage by moving his way to the corner around a screen. The result was perfection in the eyes of Pistons fans:

The Pistons went back to the same Hamilton-Prince action a couple of possessions later which resulted in another open three which Tayshaun missed, but it didn’t matter.

The first made bucket effectively ended Game 1. The Lakers never got closer than seven the rest of the way and Detroit shocked the NBA world by grabbing an early series lead.

Game 1 was a masterclass in coaching and execution by Detroit. They punched the favorites in the mouth early and never let up. And in doing so, they sent a clear message that talent alone was not going to carry the Lakers to victory.

Stray Observations:

• Detroit ran a ton of dribble hand-off action that we see today
• What you don’t see is very creative passing, almost all passing is station-to-station
• The Pistons posted up every time they had a mismatch in the paint (even with Ben Wallace)
• ABC had a horrible overhead camera angle for way too many possessions
• Phil Jackson called a timeout after the first free throw (of two) early in the game, a rarity back then