NBA Playoffs: Ranking the 5 mentally and physically toughest teams of all-time
By Robby Sabo
5. The Wallace Brothers’ Detroit Pistons
In 2004 the stage was set and the outcome, well, that too was a forgone conclusion.
The Los Angeles Lakers, who had won three of the previous four NBA Championships, were going to steamroll the pleasantly surprising Detroit Pistons.
There was one little problem for Kobe, Shaq and Phil Jackson: these Pistons – a group of misfits and outcasts – didn’t get the memo.
This was supposed to be the time that the champion Lakers helped Karl Malone and Gary Payton finally earn those elusive rings they were chasing. It was the time that Shaq and Kobe cemented their legacy together as one of the best one-two punches of all-time.
Instead, overlooked individuals like Rasheed Wallace, Ben Wallace, Chauncey Billups, Rip Hamilton and Tayshaun Prince were led by an old-school basketball mind in Larry Brown to play tough, physical and completely overwhelming ball.
The defensive show these guys put on in the 2004 playoffs brought back memories of a more physically dominating time in the association.
It was sheer hustle and will that propelled these guys. No example better defines this Pistons team than this play:
In the finals, Detroit limited the high-powered Lakers to 75, 68, 80 and 87 points respectively during the four-wins that saw them crowned as the NBA Champions in five-games.
The 2004 playoffs brought us back – if only for a short time – to the simpler days where physical ball ruled the NBA.
Next: Number 4