The 2004–05 NBA season was the 64th season for the Pistons, the 57th in the National Basketball Association, and the 48th in the Detroit area.[1] During the offseason, the Pistons signed free agent Antonio McDyess. Coming off their upset victory over the Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA Finals, the Pistons began the season playing around .500. However, things would get out of control at the end of a November 19 game against the Indiana Pacers, when a huge brawl occurred between Pacers players and Pistons fans after Ben Wallace and Ron Artest got into a shoving match.[2] As the season progressed, the Pistons would post an 11-game winning streak near the end of the season, and would eventually finish first overall in the Central Division, and second overall in the Eastern Conference with a 54–28 record. Ben Wallace was named Defensive Player of the Year for the third time, and was selected for the 2005 NBA All-Star Game.
In the first round of the playoffs, the Pistons defeated the Philadelphia 76ers in five games, then defeated the 6th-seeded Pacers in six games in the second round. The Pistons would then defeat the top-seeded Miami Heat in a full seven game series after trailing 3–2 to advance to the Finals for the second straight year. However, they narrowly missed out on repeating as NBA champions, losing to the San Antonio Spurs in the 2005 NBA Finals in seven games.[3]
After the Finals defeat, Larry Brown and the Pistons parted ways after spending two seasons as head coach. He would later be the head coach of his hometown New York Knicks, but after winning only 23 games in his only season in New York, Brown was fired again before returning to coaching with the Charlotte Bobcats.[4] It was later announced in the off-season that Flip Saunders, who was fired as head coach of the Minnesota Timberwolves at midseason, would be the Pistons head coach for next season.
As of 2024[update], this marks the last time the Pistons had reached the NBA Finals.