Detroit Pistons: Top 5 individual playoff performances in team history
Detroit Pistons: Top 5 individual playoff performances
#5: Ben Wallace vs Orlando Magic, Game 6 of the 2003 Eastern Conference Semifinals
I’ve always wrestled with the question of who was more important to the success of the Goin’ to Work Pistons: Chauncey Billups or Ben Wallace? I think it comes down to preference. While Mr. Big Shot was the vocal leader that rose to the occasion and knocked down a triple when the game was on the line, Big Ben was the anchor of a historically great, record-setting defense. Who was most important in a give playoff series would sometimes come down to matchup. It’s apropos, then, that arguably the two most impressive games that each of them turned in while playing for the Pistons in the postseason came on the very same night: May 2, 2003.
Related Story. The 5 worst duos in Pistons' team history. light
It was on this night that the heavily favored Detroit Pistons, facing elimination for the second straight game, rallied to tie the series at 3 games apiece. While Wallace’s contributions don’t usually fully manifest in box scores, on this night, his importance could be shown rather easily from a statistical standpoint. The big man grabbed 17 rebounds, but also added 20 points, many of the get-out-of-your-seat variety, while playing all but two minutes of the game. The Fro was unleashed in this one for sure.
#4: Chauncey Billups vs Orlando Magic, Game 6 of the 2003 Eastern Conference Semifinals
Chauncey Billups was also fantastic, playing in all but three minutes of the game, going for 40 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists, and contributing to the smugness being rubbed out of Doc Rivers for a few days, anyway. Remember, this was before Larry Brown and Rasheed Wallace, so Chauncey’s vocal leadership was probably even more meaningful on this night than it would be a couple of years later when that team truly came together in winning the championship.
Mr. Big Shot, inextricably woven through the organization’s backbone with his teammate Big Ben, neither of whom could you remove and still have the foundation necessary to build a champion. Each of these two stars were crucial components of the Pistons DNA during the Goin’ to Work Era, not one more so than the other.