The 2005 NBA Finals between the San Antonio Spurs and the Detroit Pistons was one of the strangest basketball series in league history.
In 2004, the Pistons shocked the world by beating the Kobe and Shaq Lakers to win their first NBA title since the Bad Boys Pistons in 1990.
The year before that, the Spurs were NBA champions.
As such, the 2005 NBA Finals represented the first meeting of consecutive champions since 1987 when the Lakers beat the Boston Celtics.
Both the 2005 Spurs and 2005 Pistons were defensive-minded teams, who found great success controlling the pace of games throughout the regular season.
The Spurs were led by Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili, and Tony Parker while the Pistons were led by Chauncey Billups, Rip Hamilton and Ben Wallace.
Right from the get-go, it was clear that the 2005 NBA Finals were going to be unusual.
In the first two games, things got ugly.
The Pistons were blown out in a major way; first 84-69, then 97-86.
But after returning home, the Pistons were able to channel the pain of consecutive blowout losses by beating the Spurs 96-79 in game three, then 102-71 in game four.
Game five was where the rubber met the road as both teams battled to the end of OT, with the Spurs coming out on top 96-95.
With the Larry O’Brien trophy just one win away, the Spurs fell apart, losing game 6 95-86.
Game 7 of the 2005 NBA Finals was a hard-fought battle but a great performance from Tim Duncan put the Spurs over the edge.
Duncan was awarded his second Finals MVP for his performance in 2005, averaging 21PPG, 14RPG and 2BPG.
Detroit hasn’t appeared in an NBA Finals since 2005, while San Antonio has appeared in three and won two.