After Michael Jordan’s retirement from the Bulls in 1998 and the downfall of the Ewing-led Knicks, the Western Conference dominated the NBA. For five years, either the Spurs or Lakers made it to the NBA finals and crushed their Eastern Conference opponent. In 2000, the Pacers, led by Reggie Miller and Jalen Rose, had the honor of being the victim, getting flogged by Shaq, Kobe, and Phil Jackson in what would be the first of the Lakers’ eventual three-peat. After this though, neither the Pacers nor the Pistons would come close to making the finals, either getting bounced out of the first round or getting destroyed in the second. After coming up short multiple times, both teams made head coaching changes entering the 2003-2004 season, with the Pistons firing Rick Carlisle and replacing him with Brett Brown, while the Pacers gave Isiah Thomas the boot and surprisingly signed Rick Carlisle.
Brown brought in All-Star forward, Rasheed Wallace, creating a hard-nosed, gritty defensive team, with a balanced offense. The Pistons managed to scrounge a few more wins, helping them get a 54-28 record in the East. Unlike Brown, Carlisle managed to completely revitalized the Pacers. Father Time had caught up with Pacers’ shooting guard, Reggie Miller. Miller was well past his hay-day as the Pacers’ Hall of Famer player, but still signed one last two year contract in hopes of getting a ring before he retired. As Miller’s role diminished, both Jermaine O’ Neal and Ron Artest led the Pacers to the number one defense in the NBA, and a league leading 61-21 record.
Both teams had great regular seasons, and their stellar play continued into the playoffs, with both teams running through their first round matchups with ease (Detroit beat Milwaukee 4-1 and Indiana swept Boston). In second round both teams struggled against their matchups. Indiana managed to beat the Dwyane Wade-led Miami Heat in six games while it took the Pistons seven games to get past the trio of Jason Kidd, Kenyon Martin, and Richard Jefferson and their New Jersey Nets. Finally these two defensive powerhouses clash in the Eastern Conference Finals.
Game 1 was flat out ugly. Both teams combined would shoot a measly 37% from the field, resulting in a low scoring affair that wouldn’t be decided till the clock hit zero. With the score tied 74 a piece, the Pacers’ grabbed a key rebound off of Pistons’ guard, Chauncey Billups, missed three-pointer. Jermaine O’ Neal would miss the go ahead jumper, but Pacers’ center Jeff Foster would grab his miss. Foster would swing the ball to Jamaal Tinsley, who had no intention of taking the final shot. Instead he waited for Reggie Miller to break free off of a screen set by Jeff Foster. Miller found just enough space and drilled the game clenching three-pointer. With 37 seconds left, the Pacers were up 77-74. After two Piston misses and a late free throw, the Pacers finished the game with a four point win.
Miller had one of the worst performances of his career that night, going 0-6 from the field till his final shot.
Game 2 was just as rugged as the first, with Detroit blocking a total of 19 shots, but they still could not pull away from the Pacers. For the second game in a row, the final minute of regulation would decide the victor.
The Pistons had the lead, 69-67, and the ball with 30 seconds left in the 4th quarter. Jermaine O’ Neal sent Rasheed Wallace’s shot flying across half court and Chauncey Billups chased after it. With 40 feet separating him from the basket and 5 seconds left on the shot clock, Billups scrambled towards the hoop, but lost control of the ball. Jeff Foster picked it up and hit Reggie Miller on the fast break. Miller would go up for what he believed to be an easy layup, but as soon as he released the ball, Pistons’ guard Tayshaun Prince lept from the dotted line and blocked Miller’s shot to the edge of the baseline. Rip Hamilton then jumped onto the ball and cradled it as he was fouled by Jeff Tinsley.
Miller was in total shock, screaming “goaltend!” as he went and sat on the bench. Prince, meanwhile, landed three rows into the stands. Hamilton would hit 2 game-clenching free throws to seal the game 72-67.
The final four games would be convincing victories, with the Pistons taking taking the series in six games, and eventually winning the NBA championship in the next series against the Lakers.
The rivalry would somewhat die down over the summer, as the champion Pistons would gear up for another run at the title in the upcoming season, and the Pacers would bring back most of its’ talent. Eventually though, the rivalry would reach its’ climax on a seemingly irrelevant November night…
With 45.9 seconds left in the 4th quarter of a seemingly meaningless regular season game, Detroit Pistons all star center, Ben Wallace, went up for a layup. Pacers forward Ron Artest stepped in to contest the shot, but fouled Wallace. Furious about being fouled in a game that basically decided, Wallace pushed Artest. Artest threw a punch sparking a huge between players and spectators that would result in multiple suspensions and arrests, hospitalizations, and a plethora of people being doused in beer. Later this incident would be known as the “Malice in the Palace.” This moment would define the rough and tough style of basketball played in the early 2000’s, and place this short, but explosive, rivalry into the NBA history books.
The Pacers, coming into the game, were heating up. Starting the season 6-2 and were a favorite to win the East. The Pistons weren’t so hot, starting the season off with an underwhelming record of 4-3.
Once Wallace pushed Artest, both teams’ benches cleared (All but Tayshaun Prince). Both teams attempted to pull Wallace and Artest so that they wouldn’t tear each-other to shreds. After a series of shoving matches and shouting between multiple Pistons’ and Pacers’ players, it seemed like both teams had gotten control of their players. Artest had been pulled back onto the scorer’s table, and Wallace was being escorted out of the arena, when a fan, John Green, threw a plastic cup of beer on to Artest, splashing all over him and Pacers’ forward Stephen Jackson, who was standing next to the scorer’s table. Artest and Jackson immediately raced into the stands and began fighting another fan – named Michael Ryan – whom they mistook as the culprit. Jackson also punched spectator, William Paulson, in retaliation for another beer thrown on the pair. Multiple players, fans, coaches, and even a radio analyst scrambled into the stands and managed to pull Artest out of the crowd. While walking off of the court, two other fans attempted to confront Artest, causing Artest to punch one and push the other onto the ground. Another Pacer, Jermaine O’ Neal, ran up and punched one of the two fans forcing the fan to the ground and more beer to be spilled.
Finally, after a combined effort from arena security and Detroit police officers, the brawl was broken up. Ten players faced legal consequences, nine of which got fines and suspensions (Artest leading the group with a 73 game suspension and 5 million dollars in lost salary). Seven fans also had legal troubles, ranging from felonies to fines.
The next meeting between the two teams was somewhat anticlimactic on the court since the three best Pacers players were suspended, but off it was quite the opposite. Before the game, a series of bomb threats aimed at the Pacers’ locker room were discovered – delaying the game by almost 90 minutes.
The two teams would meet in the playoffs that year, with Detroit entering as the second seed and Indiana as the 6th. After the Pistons beat their first round matchup, the 76ers, in five games, and the Pacer’s upset the Celtics in six, the two teams would meet in the second round. The Pacers would take a commanding 2-1 series lead, but the Pistons rallied to take the next three games and take the series in six games. The Pistons would eventually head to the Finals again, but would lose to the Spurs.
This would be the last meeting of the two teams in the playoffs, and key players on both sides would either demand trades or leave the team in free agency, making both teams irrelevant once again. Ron Artest came back to the Pacers for the 2005-2006 season and would play the first 16 games, but demanded a trade afterwards. He would be traded to the Sacramento Kings; ending the Pacers’ chances at contending and effectively ended the short, but extremely volatile rivalry between the Detroit Pistons and the Indiana Pacers.