NBA Betting

History of the NBA Finals

Detroit Pistons vs. Los Angeles Lakers - 1989

AP Photo

President George Bush welcomes the champion Pistons to the White House.

They were cocky, surly, short-tempered and hardly gentle. The Detroit Pistons pushed and shoved and, yes, fought their way to the 1989 NBA championship, the first in the franchise's history.

Overshadowed by their style, however, was the fact that the Pistons also could play basketball very, very well. As the season wore on, they actually proved to be better when principal shovers Rick Mahorn and Bill Laimbeer were on the bench and out of harm's way. That's when super subs Dennis Rodman and John Salley could get into the game, and that's when the Pistons were fluid, quick and tenacious on defense.

This was a club built around that defense and the scoring punch of guards Isiah Thomas, Vinnie Johnson and Joe Dumars. It had depth, good balance and a nice blend of youth and experience. But until they beat the Los Angeles Lakers four straight times In the NBA Finals, the Pistons still lacked the credibility of a champion.

"We haven't won anything yet," said Thomas on the eve of the Lakers showdown. He knew that it didn't matter that Detroit had compiled the best regular-season record In the league (63-19), or that the Pistons were favored to top Los Angeles. What mattered was that Detroit had a chance to accomplish what it couldn't do the previous season: take on the Lakers in the championship round and win. The Pistons had fallen in seven games In 1988 despite putting up a surprising and gallant fight. But this time, the Pistons didn't stumble. They shrugged off the challenge of the crippled Lakers, who lost guards Byron Scott and Magic Johnson to injuries, and celebrated with chants of "Bad Boys, Bad Boys" in the locker room following their 105-97 Game 4 victory in the Forum.

"It means a lot to beat the champs," said Thomas. "You don't want to beat anybody else. We would not be the basketball team we are today If we did not experience what we did (against L.A.) last year."

Detroit had reached the finals after being tested only slightly in the earlier playoff rounds. The Pistons breezed past both Boston and Milwaukee before running into Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls. The Bulls won the opening game on the Pistons' home floor, the Palace of Auburn Hills, and seemed capable of upsetting Detroit. But the Pistons solidified their defense and wound up winning the series in six games.

Meanwhile, the Lakers were surprising everyone, including themselves, with their high-caliber play. Instead of getting stiff challenges, as expected, from Seattle and Phoenix, Los Angeles crushed both opponents and took a record 11-game unbeaten streak into the final round. All of a sudden, the defending champs seemed capable of winning their third straight title.

But whatever momentum the Lakers enjoyed soon dissipated in the wake of untimely injuries. The first to go down was Scott, who was hurt during a practice on the eve of the first game. He tore a hamstring and would not be able to play in the series.

"His injury caught us at the 11th hour," said Coach Pat Riley. "A lot of what we prepared for was taken away. We miss Byron not just because of his shooting, but the rhythm and continuity he gives us."

Of all positions to have an injury, guard was the worst for the Lakers. The Piston guards immediately took control of the series, a pattern that would continue through all four games. Vinnie Johnson, Dumars and Thomas combined for 65 points in Detroit's easy 109-97 Game 1 triumph before their home fans at the Palace. They were just too quick for their Laker defenders.

"We've got to contain their quickness," Riley said. "And we've got to get quicker shots, get them off before they can set up their defense."

The Pistons led by seven at halftime and then outscored the Lakers, 17-6, at the start of the third quarter. Los Angeles managed to cut the lead to 13, only to have Vinnie Johnson roll into one of his unconscious shooting streaks in the fourth period. Johnson scored 10 points early in that quarter to seal the victory. Magic Johnson was strangely quiet, scoring 17 points but not really playing like the league's Most Valuable Player.

"Losing Byron hurts but you can't think about it," Magic said. "I'm just going to have to start looking for my shot. If it's there, I'm going to take a whole lot of them."

No one will ever know how well Johnson would have played the rest of the series. The second game was tied at 75 apiece and the Lakers were playing well when Johnson came up with a hamstring pull of his own in the third quarter. He left the game immediately, but Los Angeles quickly spurted to an eight-point lead. Just as suddenly, however, the Pistons' defense took over.

As the Lakers missed shot after shot, Detroit forged a 104-98 advantage with 3:17 remaining. But the Lakers made one last-gasp run and actually had a chance to tie the game with two seconds left. Veteran James Worthy could make only one of two free throws, however, and a late basket gave the Pistons a final 108-105 victory.

The Lakers managed only 13 points in the fourth period, matching a playoff record for fewest points in the last quarter. But on the positive side, Los Angeles became the first team in the 1989 playoffs to top the 100-point mark against Detroit.

The Piston guards improved on their first-game performance. Dumars, who was emerging as the dominant player of the series, scored 33 points, including 26 in the first half. Thomas added 21 and Vinnie Johnson 18.

Worthy and Michael Cooper had 19 each for Los Angeles, which left for home and Game 3 believing the series should have been tied at one game apiece.

"We were fortunate to win," said Pistons Coach Chuck Daly. "We got a break when Magic went down." Johnson cried in the locker room afterward, asking over and over, "Why now, why me?" He knew that the hamstring injury probably would not let him return, at least at full strength, for the rest of the series.

But Johnson refused to rule out playing in Game 3. "I'm going to see how I feel when I wake up the morning of the game," he said. The Pistons expected him to show up, just like Thomas had played Game 7 the year before on a badly sprained ankle. And they were right. He led his team onto the Forum floor June 11 and went through warmups. After that, however, everything went downhill for the Magic Man.

Johnson tried to play but had no lateral movement. He was limping and struggling and, after almost five difficult minutes, Riley finally took him out.

"He made a valiant try but it was no use," said Riley. Johnson just shook his head afterward. "I work seven or eight months to get to this point and then to not get to play is very disappointing. I think that is what makes it so tough. You want so badly to play, but you can't."

Remarkably, the Lakers still hung tough. But they lacked a finishing punch to knock off the much-deeper Pistons, who had a better bench entering the series and now were able to exploit an even stronger advantage over their opponents. And the Lakers still didn't have a solution regarding the Piston guards, who continued to dominate things offensively.

In Game 3, Dumars enjoyed an outstanding third quarter. He scored 21 of his 31 points in that period, including 17 straight. That should have been enough to put away Los Angeles, but the Lakers, behind center Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's best game of the playoffs, led by two points entering the fourth quarter. Then Vinnie Johnson took over, firing in 10 quick points while Dumars rested.

Detroit appeared safe with a 113-108 lead and 28 seconds left to play. But two foul shots by backup guard David Rivers narrowed the margin to 113-110, and a turnover gave the ball back to L.A. with six seconds remaining. Rivers tried a three-pointer, but Dumars blocked it and the game ended with Detroit on top, 114-110.

Abdul-Jabbar, who was concluding his brilliant 20-year career, finished with 24 points and 13 rebounds. But 74 points from the Detroit guards and 19 rebounds from Rodman were enough to give the Pistons a 3-0 advantage.

"The whole object is to stay in the game and overcome emotional bursts and that's what we did," said Daly.

The Lakers put up a brave front but they knew things were getting desperate. "I'd like to be playing with everyone healthy and see what we could do," Cooper said.

The Pistons wanted to end the series quickly and they accomplished that goal by completing their sweep in Game 4. Detroit was not exactly overwhelming the Lakers, but the combination of Dumars, who scored 23 more points in the finale and was voted the series' Most Valuable Player, and a stout defense was good enough.

That defense was sorely tested by Worthy, who whirled and dashed for 40 points in Game 4. But he didn't have enough help and the Lakers complicated matters by shooting only 44.3 percent from the field. Still, they jumped off to a 16-point first-half lead and were in front, 78-76, going into the final 12 minutes. That's when another Piston reserve, center James Edwards, stepped into the spotlight. Edwards scored 13 points down the stretch, enough to allow the Pistons to pull away for their eight-point victory.

Detroit wound up holding its playoff opponents to an average of 92.9 points per game, the lowest figure since the league adopted the 24-second rule before the 1954-55 season.

"You don't know how sweet this one is," said Salley during the Pistons' victory celebration. "We are champions. Man, that sounds awful good. And we earned the right to say it."