How the Detroit Pistons won one of the craziest games in NBA playoff history: Rewind

In need of your NBA fix? Welcome to the third edition of Detroit Pistons Rewind. Free Press sports writer Marlowe Alter is watching classic Pistons playoff games on the anniversary of each game. Follow him on Twitter @Marlowe Alter.

The game

June 1, 2004: Game 6 of Eastern Conference finals vs. Indiana Pacers at the Palace of Auburn Hills.

Setting the stage

After a dismal 83-68 home loss in Game 4 tied the series, the Pistons regained control with a resounding 83-65 road win behind Richard Hamilton’s 33 points, a playoff career-high.

The Pistons had the health advantage as the series lengthened. Indiana's Jermaine O’Neal sprained his left knee in Game 4 and had to have it drained before Game 6, and starting point guard Jamaal Tinsley had a hamstring tear and knee injury.

The Pacers owned the NBA's best record in the regular season at 61-21; the Pistons went 54-28.

[ How Ben Wallace proved he was heart of '04 champs in suffocation of Nets ]

Starting lineups

Indiana: Jamaal Tinsley, Reggie Miller, Ron Artest, Al Harrington, Jermaine O'Neal.

Detroit: Chauncey Billups, Richard Hamilton, Tayshaun Prince, Rasheed Wallace, Ben Wallace.

A bizarre game for the ages

Richard Hamilton took an unwarranted blow to the face.

Then he delivered the knockout punch to win the East.

After taking a flagrant forearm late in the fourth quarter, his  two free throws gave the Pistons their first lead, and his short baseline jumper put them up four with 73 seconds remaining. The shots lifted them  out of the muck of the East, 69-65, to advance to their first Finals in 14 years.

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Hamilton had nine of his 21 points in the fourth and scored 142 points in the series (23.7 per game), 38 more than anyone else.

Jermaine O'Neal had 20 points and 10 rebounds for the Pacers.

Every shot was challenged in a game that felt more like a 12-round boxing match, both teams stumbling but never wavering in their commitment to fight until the final buzzer.

The Pistons shot a dreadful 32.9% (27-for-82) but held Indiana to 36.4% (24-for-66) and won the offensive rebounding battle 15-6. The 134 combined points tied for the second-lowest total in NBA playoff history.

Despite a fired-up home crowd hanging on every play, the Pistons led for just 3  minutes, 57 seconds — but it was the final 3:57 when they outlasted the desperate Pacers and took their first lead on a four-point possession.

The key sequence came with the score tied at 59, when NBA Defensive Player of the Year Ron Artest sent a forearm to Hamilton’s face in retaliation for Hamilton’s nudge for position seconds earlier. It was a dangerous play, especially considering Hamilton was wearing a face mask to protect his twice-broken nose.

The flagrant foul gave the Pistons two free throws and the ball, and after Hamilton sank  both, Rasheed Wallace came flying in from the left side to dunk home Chauncey Billups’ missed jumper.

The Pistons suddenly led by four with 3:44 left, though a fired-up Hamilton was T’d up for taunting Artest after Wallace’s slam — Reggie Miller missed the free throw.

The Pacers still had two chances to tie, but O’Neal — their lone source of consistent offense — missed what would have been the tying layup with two minutes to play.

The biggest defensive play preceded the flagrant finish, and isn’t as well remembered as another block earlier in the series.

Tayshaun Prince, whose chase-down block on Miller in Game 2 is one of the most memorable defensive plays in NBA history, rose high in the air, his head seemingly grazing the backboard, using every inch of his 7-foot-2 wingspan to block Al Harrington’s dunk attempt at the front of the rim, preserving a 59-all tie with 4:47 left.

[ Why Tayshaun Prince has the experience to be next Pistons GM ]

The whole game was a clinic in eye-gouging-worthy offense, but the opening 24 minutes was especially bad basketball, with rec league-type blunders.

The Pistons blew layups, turned the ball over and missed free throws, and found themselves in a 23-11 hole after the first quarter. They scored just two field goals and two free throws on their first 15 possessions, and shot 10-for-42 (23.8%), with seven turnovers, in the first half. The Pacers weren’t much better, shooting 13-for-33 (39.3%) and committing eight turnovers.

“I’m not going to kid you,” Pistons president of basketball operations Joe Dumars said afterward. “The first half was unwatchable.”

This second-quarter possession sums it up:

They trailed by 11 midway through the second quarter, then trimmed the halftime deficit to 33-27, scoring three times on second-chance opportunities. The Pistons held Indiana to one field goal in the quarter until Artest and Austin Croshere hit back-to-back 3s in the final 35 seconds before half.

Ben Wallace, especially egregious offensively — he fired away his headband early and missed 10 of his 16 shots, blowing several layups at the rim with O’Neal challenging him — never stopped working, finishing with 16 rebounds as his relentless effort created numerous fresh shot clocks for the Pistons.

Even the steady Billups seemed to be pressing, missing his first eight shots. He awakened in the fourth, tying the score at 54, then at 57. He finished 2-for-13 from the field with 10 points.

Despite playing on a bum knee, O'Neal was the game's best player, affecting countless shots at the rim — he finished with three blocks — and picking-and-popping with Anthony Johnson, who was in for Jamaal Tinsley after the starting guard was pulled less than four minutes in.

Artest stayed on Hamilton's hip, preventing him from getting clean looks off the catch, but Hamilton’s conditioning paid off. He took on the scoring burden at the end of the third and into the fourth, finally getting free to score seven straight points.

[ Remembering one of the most devastating losses in Detroit sports history ]

“He’s been the savior, every time the Pistons have gotten themselves in trouble, they’ve turned to Rip Hamilton," Doc Rivers said on ESPN's broadcast.

As Hamilton heated up offensively, Lindsey Hunter helped change the momentum late in the third quarter with Billups sitting, as the Pistons went on an 8-1 run to climb within a point.

Coach Larry Brown went to his pressure scheme, led by Hunter, as the Pistons hounded the ball in the backcourt and mixed in double-teams to milk precious seconds off Pacers possessions. 

And when the Pistons finally took the lead, they didn't squander it.

Hamilton’s short jumper and Prince’s 21-footer from the right wing (67-61, 46 seconds left), sandwiching an Artest dunk attempt over Ben Wallace that back-rimmed, were the daggers. The exclamation point came with 11 seconds left. 

Wallace was left alone on an inbounds play for a ferocious, two-hand dunk, slamming the backboard with his right hand on the way down and chest-bumping Rasheed Wallace at half-court.

The Pistons were Finals-bound, and the Palace was partying, serenading the building with “Beat L.A.” chants.

“This silver trophy is nice, but I like the gold one better," 'Sheed said afterward, referring to the Larry O'Brien NBA championship trophy that was on the line in the next series.

Follow Marlowe Alter on Twitter: @Marlowe Alter. Email him: malter@freepress.com.