The 5 most disappointing seasons in Detroit Pistons’ history

The 5 most disappointing seasons in Detroit Pistons’ history

#1: 2004-05 Detroit Pistons

For as long as I’ve been a Pistons fan, I can’t think of a single moment that sucked the air out of me quite like Robert Horry’s 3-pointer for the San Antonio Spurs in Game 5 of the 2005 NBA Finals.

The Detroit Pistons were down 3-2 when they took flight for San Antonio to finish out the series for better or worse. Not many national pundits were predicting the Pistons to win even one more game in the series, let alone two. But sure enough, the Goin’ to Work Pistons, as led that night by Richard Hamilton, who scored a game-high 23 points, defied the odds with a 95-86 Game 6 victory in San Antonio, forcing a decisive Game 7. Back then, the Pistons motto was something akin to, “If it ain’t rough, it ain’t right,” so forgive those of us fans who deeply believed in inevitable triumph.

But they didn’t. As a matter of fact, Game 7 concluded in lackluster fashion with the Spurs coming out on top 81-74. There isn’t much to remember about that particular game, which is somewhat unusual for a game of its magnitude. Instead, many of us think back to the game that got away and wonder what might have been had the Pistons gone back to San Antonio up 3-2 instead of down 3-2.

We’ll never know, but to me, the ’05 team is the most disappointing Pistons team ever because it was on the cusp of winning back-to-back championships and perhaps even chipping away at the belief that they were a squad without a superstar.