On this date 20 years ago, the "Bad Boys" of Detroit beat the smug boys of Boston 125-108 before an NBA-record 61,938 fans in the Pontiac Silverdome, a few months before the Pistons' current home, the Palace of Auburn Hills, opened. Larry Bird led all scorers with 25 points, and Adrian Dantley led the Pistons with 22.
The match-up was between two of the NBA's elite teams, but they were going in opposite directions. Both teams would go on to win division titles that year, in the days when each conference had just two divisions. They would go on to meet in the Eastern Conference finals, which Detroit won four games to two, putting an end to the Bird-McHale-Parrish Celtics dynasty.
Boston had won its last (to date) NBA title in 1986, then lost to the Lakers in the Finals in '87. In '89, they finished 42-40; Bird played just six games that year due to injury, and though he would play three more years after that, the Celtics didn't so much as reach the conference finals in that time. His career ended with an Eastern Conference semifinals loss to our Cavaliers in 1992. His last game was played at the Richfield Coliseum, a contest the Cavs won 122-104 to take the series four games to three. I remember seeing someone holding a sign at that game that said "Larry Legend: Nance, that is."
Back to 1988, the Pistons would go on to lose the NBA Finals to the "Showtime" Lakers, but they'd get a rematch in '89, and Detroit took home the trophy that time. They successfully defended their title in '90 against the Portland Trail Blazers, before being dethroned in '91 by Michael and Scottie's Bulls.
The Dery Brothers Guardians Cast S6:E8 – Home sweep!
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Matt and Todd are in a great mood coming off the sweep of Oakland. Your
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3 weeks ago
3 comments:
Yes, and when the Pistons lost to the Bulls they re-defined the term, "sore losers." Isiah Thomas and the rest of that group showed just how classless a team could be after being dethroned by a superior team.
The Pistons got swept by the Bulls in the playoffs that year in 4 games -- losing game 4 by twenty points -- and I'll never forget how many classless fouls they committed near the end, and then walked off the court without so much as acknowledging the Bulls.
And now Isiah Thomas is coaching the team that plays in America's largest city, and doing a hack job of it. Hardly surprising, if you ask me.
Speaking of Isiah, his record as a coach/manager/executive is not nearly as positive as his playing achievements. Consider these:
* Bought the ailing Continental Basketball Association (CBA) and ran it straight into the ground;
* Was the GM for the Toronto Raptors, and presided over a team that averaged a measely 22 wins per year. (Granted, they were an expansion franchise, however by their 3rd season they had slipped to 16-66 after winning 30 games in their 2nd season);
* As head coach for three years, took a Pacers team that had just reached the NBA finals to 3 consecutive first-round playoff losses;
* Hardly any need to mention what's gone down in New York under Isiah's watch: sexual harassment suit, horrible player transactions, pathetic record, etc.
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