The Pistons own one of the greatest upsets in NBA history as they defeated Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal-led Lakers in the 2004 Finals
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Despite all the differences between Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal, the Los Angeles Lakers came through as the Western Conference Champs in the 2004 Playoffs and were the favourites to win their 4th title in five years.
The superstar duo, arguably the greatest of all time, might have been spitting fire against each other off the court, but on it, they were determined to win and prove themselves superior over the other.
Above that, they also had the chip on their shoulders of making a statement after they lost in the second round in the previous season’s Playoffs after doing a three-peat before it.
But, the Eastern Conference champs had a chip of their own – being the underdogs in the Finals. Although, if their Finals MVP is to be believed, they had no doubt that they could win the championship.
Chauncey Billups didn’t see defeating Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal-led Lakers as an upset
The current Head Coach of the Portland Trail Blazers was quite a point guard himself back in the day. Not as sensational as his superstar of Portland, Damian Lillard, but Billups was the leader of one of the toughest teams in NBA history.
With the help of solid players Ben Wallace and Rasheed Wallace in the starting lineup, and no other stars per se, the Pistons, against all odds, truly believed they could beat the Lakers.
In his recent appearance on All The Smoke podcast, the lead protagonist of that team spoke about it in vivid detail.
They neither could nor tried stopping the Purple and Gold duo, they just played at their own strength and stopped all the other players having some of the most smothering defense of all time.
The feud for supremacy between Kobe and Shaq surely helped Billups and Co. to take the opportunity and stun their opponents. But, as the man says, their pick and roles and few other set plays were enough to beat those Lakers.
