2004 NBA Finals
The 2004 NBA Finals was the championship round of the 2003–04 National Basketball Association season.
This Finals was contested between the Los Angeles Lakers of the Convention and the Detroit Pistons of the Eastern Conference; the Lakers held home court edge. The series was performed under a best-of-seven arrangement.
Although the Lakers, headed by Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal, were considered the favorites that were heavy, the Pistons conveniently won the series in five matches. This win marked the Pistons‘ fifth triumph overall as a franchise in addition to its first name as the 1990-1991 NBA period fifteen decades. The series featured the underdog Pistons, controlling a Lakers team composed of four Hall of Famers.
Pistons‘ owner William Davidson became the first owner in American sport history to win two championships in one calendar year; eight days earlier, the Tampa Bay Lightning of the National Hockey League had won the Stanley Cup Finals in seven games over the Calgary Flames.
The Lakers had won three consecutive championships from 2000 to 2002, but lost to the eventual champions, the San Antonio Spurs in the Western Conference Semifinals in 2003 to end their streak at three. The Spurs beat the Lakers in 6 matches.
From the 2003 offseason, significant changes were made by the Lakers, with varying consequences that were originally. Hoping to find a point guard and a power forward to defend against Tim Duncan and the Spurs, the Lakers signed veteran stars Gary Payton and Karl Malone for well below market value; they also hoped to give both veterans their first championship ring. The Lakers were considered the favorites to win the NBA title.
During the regular season, after starting the year 18–3, the Lakers were afflicted by numerous traumas and stumbled into some 56–26 record to complete the season with the second seed in the Western Convention.
The Lakers breezed beyond their ancestral competition, the Houston Rockets, headlining a matchup between Shaquille O’Neal and a youthful Yao Ming, defeating the squad 4-1 but then dropped the first two matches in their series against the Spurs prior to a dramatic comeback that saw them triumph 4–2. [3] Subsequently they confronted league MVP Kevin Garnett and the Minnesota Timberwolves. The Lakers won the series 4–2 to advance to the Finals. [4]
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