The Detroit Pistons have been the bane of many great players in the NBA. It started in the ’80s when the Bad Boy Pistons tortured Michael Jordan and the Bulls. Then in 2004, a plucky Pistons side prevented Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal from winning a 4th consecutive title. Dwyane Wade revealed that he too was tormented by the Pistons before his first Championship win with the Heat.
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On ‘Unapologetically Angel’, Wade and Reese discussed a slew of topics, from dealing with hate online to the sacrifices players have to make to be a winner. While on the topic of winning, Reese asked the 3x Champion about his 2006 NBA title.
Explaining the backdrop of his maiden Championship win, Wade revealed that he found the Pistons hard to deal with in 2005 when they were eliminated in the Conference Finals. After suffering a broken rib in game 5 of the series, Wade knew that they would have to be tougher to get past the Pistons.
“A year before, we had lost to Detroit. Shoutout to the Pistons, they were tough. Rip, Chauncey, Rasheed, Ben, like they were tough. And I had like broke a rib in game 5, and so we end up losing game 7,” Wade told Angel.
The problem was that the Pistons were one of the best defensive sides in the NBA at the time. Led by 4x DPOY Ben Wallace, Detroit had an uncanny ability to shut down superstars, a feat they displayed flawlessly in their 2004 Championship season.
Therefore, Wade had to find something special in himself to defeat them eventually. He was more prepared for their physical playstyle the next year. This time, the Heat managed to subdue the Pistons in 6 games.
“The whole summer for me was like to get back to the Eastern Conference Finals and play Detroit again… And I was so prepared, so ready, like physically and mentally, and we kinda dominated them to get to the Finals.”
Wade’s performances against the Pistons in these two series are what catapulted him to NBA fame, and it was the start of a Hall of Fame career for the Chicago native.
D-Wade vs the Pistons in ’05 and ’06
After securing the #1 seed in 2005, Wade and the Heat faced the #2 seed and the defending Champions, the Pistons, in the ECF. Despite losing game 1, Wade put on a scoring masterclass in games 2 and 3, dropping 40 and 36 to hand Miami a 2-1 lead.
With the Pistons leveling the series at 2-2, game 5 was crucial. The Heat did take a 3-2 lead, but Wade got injured. He consequently had to sit out game 6, tipping the scales in Detroit’s favor. His return in game 7 didn’t do much as the Pistons closed the series out.
In 2006, it was clear that Wade was out for revenge. He started the series with four consecutive games with 25+ points and had 30+ points in three of them. The Heat raced to a 3-1 lead, and it seemed like the Pistons had no way back.
Despite dropping game 5, Wade and the Heat clinched game 6, securing their first-ever NBA Finals appearance.
The Pistons were under new coach Flip Saunders and were unable to manage the same level of defensive intensity they had under Larry Brown. The Heat exploited this. Added experience from Shaq and Gary Payton proved to be crucial as the Heat managed to ride out the physicality of Ben and Rasheed Wallace.
Facing a weaker defense than 2005, Wade was able to thrive as he had much more freedom to drive to the rim. His 2006 run to the championship is still one of the greatest ever.
