5 unforgettable moments at The Palace of Auburn Hills
The Detroit Pistons aren't going to the playoffs this year, so their home finale Monday against the Washington Wizards marks the last game ever at the team's home for 29 years, The Palace of Auburn Hills.
The arena has seen its fair share of basketball history for a nondescript suburban building surrounded by industrial parks and a restaurant, and Metro Detroit residents will clearly be hoping the same fate doesn't befall The Palace that occurred to the nearby Pontiac Silverdome.
Either way, with the Pistons joining the Red Wings in downtown Motor City next season, here are five of the most memorable NBA moments inside The Palace walls.
5. Pistons snap 19-game losing streak to Bulls
It took a Grant Hill triple-double on April 13, 1997, for the Pistons to end a 19-game losing streak to Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls. Hill was a five-time All-Star in his six years in Detroit, but the Pistons never got past the first round of the playoffs.
4. Detroit tops Chicago in Game 7 of 1990 ECF
Neither of the Pistons' NBA championships in 1989 or 1990 were won on their home floor, but Jordan and the Bulls took them to Game 7 of the '90 Eastern Conference Finals. At the height of the "Jordan Rules" era, the Pistons overcame 31 points from MJ to advance to the Finals, where they beat the Portland Trail Blazers for their second straight title.
3. The King's Palace
People like to talk about how the Cleveland Cavaliers are LeBron James' team.
Well, this was really the case in the 2006-07 season, when LeBron dragged a squad that also featured Larry Hughes and Drew Gooden all the way to the NBA Finals.
The flagship moment of that run came in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Finals against the Pistons, when James scored 29 of Cleveland's last 30 points in a 109-107 double-overtime victory. His final tally: 48 points, nine rebounds, and seven assists. The next-highest scoring Cav was Zydrunas Ilgauskas with 16.
2. Malice at The Palace
The NBA probably wishes everybody would just forget about it, but the sheer stupidity and chaos of the events on Nov. 19, 2004 will live in infamy forever. No history about The Palace can ever be written without the Pacers-Pistons brawl.
When the dust settled on perhaps the worst fracas in pro-sports history, nine players would lose 146 games to suspension and about $11 million in salary. Five fans were banned from The Palace for life, and the effects are still felt to this day around the NBA with rules limiting the sale of alcohol at games.
1. Pistons win 2004 title at home
When the 2004 NBA Finals began, nobody said "Pistons in five." But that's exactly what happened. As the Los Angeles Lakers continued to fracture internally (Shaq reportedly threatened to kill Kobe that season), Chauncey Billups, Rasheed Wallace, and Ben Wallace led Detroit to the championship, taking Game 5 before a raucous Palace crowd.
(Photo courtesy: Getty Images)