The Detroit Pistons ended the Los Angeles Lakers’ Kobe Bryant-Shaquille O’Neal era in the 2004 Finals. The Pistons naturally needed some motivation to stave off two of the best players in the league at the time. Thankfully, they got the much-needed inspiration from their franchise legend Isiah Thomas, who played a pivotal part in beating the Magic Johnson-led Lakers in the 1989 Finals.
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20 years after winning the NBA Championship, Tayshaun Prince, who was part of the Pistons side at the time, highlighted the role of Thomas in aiding their title ambitions. During an appearance on The Knuckleheads podcast, Prince recalled Thomas telling them that Game 1 was a lock for them.
IT was sure that the Lakers would be overwhelmed by the Pistons in the first game as they had never encountered a team like them in the championship round. He saw their physical defense and overall tenacity easily edging out the loaded Lakers roster.
Prince was stunned by his proclamation. He couldn’t believe Zeke was so confident about their chances for the game that would set the tone for the rest of the series. Prince said,
“Isiah met with us, he was talking about how to prepare for the Finals, what to expect. As he was talking to us, he said, ‘Y’all gonna win Game 1 and I ain’t even worried about that. So we gonna talk about Game 2 on… Because they wouldn’t know what is gonna hit ’em [in Game 1], they haven’t seen nothing like y’all before.'”
“I was sitting there like Game 1 is probably the most important game!” Prince added.
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Isiah Thomas took to his Instagram stories and shared Prince’s revelation.
Zeke recalls mentoring '04 Pistons for Shaq and Kobe Lakers pic.twitter.com/uMqcoypm2Z
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Zeke’s prediction would come to fruition. The Pistons defeated the Lakers 87-75 to begin the series. Chauncey Billups led the way with 22 points, 4 assists, and 3 steals.
Meanwhile, Tayshaun Prince also had a solid game with 11 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists, and 2 steals while shooting 50% from the floor.
It was considered a huge upset at that time since the Lakers were on their home floor and had immense championship experience. Pistons’ Game 1 win would set a terrific tempo for the rest of the series.
The Lakers could just win Game 2 99-91, and that too in OT. Apart from that, they were held below 90 points in the rest of the series as Pistons’ elite defense proved to be too much for them.
Prince attributed the Finals win to the invaluable advice provided to them by Isiah Thomas and other members of the ‘Bad Boy’ Pistons. The city of Detroit also backed their team in unprecedented fashion to bring home the trophy.
