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History of the NBA Finals

Detroit Pistons vs. Portland Trail Blazers - 1990

Courtesy Detroit Pistons

Detroit's Isiah Thomas took MVP honors in the 5-game defeat of Portland.

Four score and seven years from now, basketball purists will have to admit that what the Detroit Pistons brought forth upon the NBA hardcourts was something special. The names Isiah, Joe D. and Vinnie will conjure up nice memories, and even the die-hard purists will have to give the sledgehammer, Bill Laimbeer, his due.

Like them or not, the Pistons captured the 1989-90 NBA championship, becoming only the third team in history to win consecutive titles. And while they have failed to win the hearts of America's basketball fans, they did earn the respect of everybody who watched them dramatically dispose of Portland in five games in the 1990 NBA Finals.

Respect. That was the name of the game for the Pistons, who collectively believed they had not received enough after sweeping the hobbled Los Angeles Lakers in the 1989 NBA Finals. The 1989 title, the Pistons said, was for a much-unloved city and a much-belittled franchise. The 1990 championship was for the Pistons themselves.

"This came about as a bit of a grudge because of lack of respect from last year," said Laimbeer. "You rank this one as more of a satisfaction for a job well done. It's a satisfaction because we accomplished something we were supposed to do. We repeated."

"We never talked about it all season... ." said Isiah Thomas, Detroit's floor leader who averaged 27.6 points against Portland and captured Most Valuable Player honors for the title series. "We wanted to repeat as champions, but not so much to prove it to anybody else. We wanted to do it for ourselves."

There's no doubt that the Pistons have the stuff of which champions are made. They are cocky, slick, hard-nosed and unselfish. But most of all, they play suffocating defense and know how to turn their game up a notch when the pressure is on.

That was never more evident than in Game 5 against Portland, when the Trail Blazers held a commanding 90-83 lead with 2:07 remaining and their home fans began a victory celebration in noisy Memorial Coliseum. So what are the Pistons to do?

With the championship there for the picking, the Pistons did what any upstanding title team would do. They scored nine consecutive points, the last two coming on Vinnie Johnson's final-second jumper, to record a 92-90 victory and wrap up the championship. Johnson, held to one point for three quarters, scored 15 in the final period, including seven in his team's two-minute blitz.

"My shot couldn't have come at a better time," Johnson said. "Bill Laimbeer told me, 'I don't care if you miss 500 in a row, I'm still with you.' The shot felt good when it left my hand and it fell. I got real lucky."

There are those who would argue that luck had nothing to do with the Pistons' title run. It primarily was a matter of experience: Detroit, an NBA Finalist for three straight campaigns, versus the young, talented Trail Blazers, who had suffered a series of early playoff defeats in recent years. Thomas, for one, predicted that the Blazers would find it difficult to develop the hardness and toughness it takes to handle the pressures of a final round. Portland Coach Rick Adelman concurred when all was said and done.

"I thought we were the best team in the league for the last four or five years," Thomas said. "But being the best and proving it are two different things. That's what we found out."

Amen, said Adelman. "We want to be back here," he said. "This has given us a taste. We've profited by this, I think. You don't understand the level it takes to win a title until you experience it."

The Pistons were a battle-tested club and they continually showed that through the regular season (they compiled a 59-23 record to win their third straight Central Division title) and during the playoffs, in which they defeated Indiana, the New York Knicks and Chicago. They were severely tested in the Eastern Conference Finals, when Michael Jordan and the Bulls extended them to seven games.

Portland compiled the same regular-season record as Detroit but finished second in the Pacific Division to the Lakers. The Blazers easily beat Dallas in their playoff opener, but then were extended to seven games by San Antonio and six by Phoenix. Portland benefited from the Suns' Western Conference Semifinal victory over the Lakers, who were seeking to make their fourth straight appearance in the NBA Finals.

So it was experience against youthful enthusiasm when the series opened at The Palace in Detroit. And it wasn't surprising that the former prevailed.

The Trail Blazers controlled Game 1 from the outset, building an early 11-point lead that still stood at 10, 90-80, with 6:49 remaining in the fourth quarter. But suddenly, while Thomas was making 12 of the last 16 Detroit points (he finished with 33), Portland players began tossing up bad shots, committing fouls and turning the ball over. Just that quickly, the Pistons pulled out a 105-99 triumph despite looking like what Coach Chuck Daly called a fatigued, uninspired team.

"We didn't know what to expect down the stretch and now we do," said Portland forward Buck Williams.

Adelman lamented that the Pistons got more aggressive at the end of the game, especially on defense, and his club didn't counter with more aggressive play of its own. It was a game, he was convinced, that the Trail Blazers should have won, if only their shot selection in the final minutes had been better and if they had fulfilled their role as the league's best rebounding team. Instead, the Pistons outboarded them by eight.

"If we rebound and if we take care of the ball, we win," Adelman said. "Those are lessons we need to learn from."

For most of Game 2, at least, the Blazers proved to be quick studies. This one figured to go Detroit's way. The mighty Pistons would shake off the cobwebs, take the Trail Blazers more seriously and thump them good before the home fans.

Instead, Portland wiped out an early 11-point deficit and led by eight at the half and by as many as five with five minutes left in regulation. But Laimbeer made back-to-back three-pointers (he made a record-tying six in a 26-point explosion) and Detroit suddenly led, 94-92, with 44 seconds remaining. Thomas then missed on a wild drive and an 18-foot jumper while Portland guard Terry Porter was making two foul shots to send the game into overtime.

Another three-pointer by Laimbeer gave Detroit the lead, 103-102, with four seconds left in the extra session. Daly inserted his hobbled defensive ace, Dennis Rodman, into the lineup, but his ankle was too tender and he was forced to foul a driving Clyde Drexler.

Drexler made both free throws to cap his 33-point performance and the delighted Trail Blazers went home for three games with the series tied. "I knew we'd play smarter," Williams said. "Now all we have to do is take care of business at home. But it won't be easy."

Truer words were never spoken.

Everything appeared to be in Portland's favor as Game 3 began. The Pistons had not won a game at the Coliseum since 1974 (a span of 20 losses) and the Blazers had not lost at home in nine previous playoff games. But the Detroit machine was revved up and running at full speed on this night.

The Pistons simply played textbook basketball in rolling to a 121-106 victory. Joe Dumars (33), Thomas (21) and Johnson (21) combined for 75 points, a turned-up defense forced Portland into bad shots and Laimbeer reverted to 1989 bad-boy form.

Laimbeer, who had predicted on Daly's television show that the Pistons would produce a supreme effort in Game 3, began knocking around Portland players like bowling pins. Remarkably, the Blazers chose not to turn the other cheek. While Detroit was administering its whipping, Portland players were crying about the officiating in general and Laimbeer's sneaky pushing and shoving in particular. Portland tried to match Detroit's hack-and-slash approach and wound up in deep foul trouble, especially along its front line. Credit Laimbeer with doing a full body check on most of the Blazers' big men. Plus, he added 12 rebounds and 11 points. Rodman, who would nurse his sore ankle the remainder of the series, was replaced in the starting lineup for Game 3 by Mark Aguirre.

The Pistons continued to dominate in the early stages of Game 4, forging a 16-point lead (81-65) late in the third quarter. But this time it was Portland's turn to rally and the Blazers actually pulled ahead briefly, 107-106, before Thomas nailed a 20-foot jumper with 31 seconds remaining.

Portland had possession with a chance to take the lead, but Porter's drive down the lane resulted in a turnover, and two Thomas foul shots put Detroit up 112-109. The victory was not secured, however, until a desperation three-point shot by reserve guard Danny Young was not allowed because it came an instant too late. "That's the biggest basket I almost made," Young said. "I thought they were going to count it. I couldn't hear the horn and I couldn't see the clock. I was just trying to get as close as I could."

Again the Detroit guards were outstanding, combining for 78 points. Thomas led the way with 32.

That, of course, set the stage for Detroit's amazing Game 5 comeback, its third straight victory on Portland's home court and its record-breaking fifth straight road victory (dating back to 1989) in the NBA Finals. "They (the Pistons) took us out of things we wanted to do, and we couldn't do that to them," was the way Adelman assessed the final result. "They aren't as aggressive or as quick as some teams defensively, but they play so well together as a team and they are so smart. And they respond so well to situations. They don't beat themselves."

Nor could the Trail Blazers handle the Pistons' guards or bench, the same strengths that have separated Detroit from the rest of the league over the last two seasons. Johnson slumped in the first two games and Dumars understandably bogged down when his father died prior to Game 4. But those two plus Thomas outscored Portland's guards, 304-252. And Detroit's bench contributed 125 points and 73 rebounds compared to 54 points and 42 rebounds by Portland subs.

But the real bottom line was experience. "I never thought playoff experience meant much," said Portland's Williams. "But I've changed my mind. The Pistons knew what to do at the end to finish things off. We never could. They knew the feel of the game, how to respond to officiating, how to perform under pressure. It's something we had to learn."