It was on this day in 2004 that the Detroit Pistons beat the Los Angeles Lakers 100-87 in Game 5 to win the NBA championship.  The win gave the Pistons their third title in franchise history, and first since they won back-to-back championships in 1989 and 1990.

The Lakers entered the series as the favorite, as they boasted a star-studded line-up full of future Hall of Famers.  In addition to Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal the Lakers also added both Karl Malone and Gary Payton in the off-season, via free agency.

Los Angeles’ high-powered offense was believed to be too much for the defensive-minded Pistons to handle by many experts, however, the Pistons once again proved the old cliche,  “defense wins championships,” to be true as they handled the Lakers in convincing fashion.  Los Angeles failed to reach the century mark in all five games, and three of their four losses were by double-digits.  Chauncey Billups was named the NBA Finals Most Valuable Player.

Here are the Pistons celebrating their championship.

Notable Birthdays

Wade Boggs, MLB – Born June 15th 1958 (age 54) in Omaha, Nebraska

Andy Pettitte, MLB – Born June 15th 1972 (age 40) in Baton Rouge, Louisiana

Tim Lincecum, MLB – Born June 15th 1984 (age 28) in Bellevue, Washington