2005–06 Detroit Pistons season

The 2005–06 Detroit Pistons season was the 65th season of the franchise, the 58th in the National Basketball Association (NBA), and the 49th in the Detroit area. The team entered the season as the two-time defending Eastern Conference champions. The Pistons began the season hoping to improve upon their 54–28 output from the previous season and have another chance of going to the NBA Finals after losing to the San Antonio Spurs in last season's NBA Finals in seven games. They bested it by ten games, finishing 64–18—their best record in franchise history—and qualifying for the playoff for the fifth straight season. The Pistons defeated the Milwaukee Bucks in five games in the first round, and the Cleveland Cavaliers in a tough, hard-fought seven-game series to reach the Eastern Conference finals for the fourth consecutive year before losing to the eventual NBA champions Miami Heat, whom they had beaten in a seven-game playoff series the year before. Detroit's offseason was soon marked by the departure of star defensive player Ben Wallace, who signed a free-agent deal with the Chicago Bulls.

For the season, the Pistons had a new logo, and, though they kept the uniforms, the horse logo was replaced by the letter 'P' on the left side of the shorts, they added new red road alternate uniforms with blue side panels to their jerseys and shorts, their alternate uniforms remained in used until 2009, while the logo and uniforms lasted until 2017.

Ben Wallace won his fourth and final Defensive Player of the Year Award and he along with Rasheed Wallace, Richard Hamilton, and Chauncey Billups were selected as reserves for the 2006 NBA All-Star Game.

Draft picks

Main article: 2005 NBA draft

Round	Pick	Player	Position	Nationality	College
1	26	Jason Maxiell	PF	United States	Cincinnati
2	56	Amir Johnson	PF	United States
2	60	Alex Acker	SG	United States	Pepperdine

Roster

2005–06 Detroit Pistons roster

Players

Coaches

Pos.	No.	Name	Height	Weight	DOB	From
SG	6	Acker, Alex (DL)	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	1983-01-21	Pepperdine
PG	1	Billups, Chauncey	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	202 lb (92 kg)	1976-09-25	Colorado
C	13	Cato, Kelvin	6 ft 11 in (2.11 m)	255 lb (116 kg)	1974-08-26	Iowa State
C	34	Davis, Dale	6 ft 11 in (2.11 m)	252 lb (114 kg)	1969-03-25	Clemson
SG	20	Delfino, Carlos	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	230 lb (104 kg)	1982-08-29	Argentina
PG	00	Delk, Tony	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	189 lb (86 kg)	1974-01-28	Kentucky
SG	5	Evans, Maurice	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	220 lb (100 kg)	1978-11-08	Texas
SG	32	Hamilton, Richard	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	193 lb (88 kg)	1978-02-14	Connecticut
PG	10	Hunter, Lindsey	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	1970-12-03	Jackson State
SF	25	Johnson, Amir (DL)	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	240 lb (109 kg)	1987-05-01	Westchester HS (CA)
PF	54	Maxiell, Jason	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	260 lb (118 kg)	1983-02-18	Cincinnati
PF	24	McDyess, Antonio	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	245 lb (111 kg)	1974-09-07	Alabama
SF	22	Prince, Tayshaun	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	215 lb (98 kg)	1980-02-28	Kentucky
C	3	Wallace, Ben	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	245 lb (111 kg)	1974-09-10	Virginia Union
PF	36	Wallace, Rasheed	6 ft 11 in (2.11 m)	230 lb (104 kg)	1974-09-17	North Carolina

Head coach

Flip Saunders

Assistant coach(es)

Igor Kokoškov
Sidney Lowe
Don Zierden
Mike Abdenour (trainer)

Legend

(DP) Unsigned draft pick
(FA) Free agent
(S) Suspended
(DL) On assignment to D-League affiliate
Injured

Roster
Last transaction: April 17, 2006

Regular season

Season standings

Central Division v t e	W	L	PCT	GB	Home	Road	Div
y-Detroit Pistons	64	18	.780	-	37–4	27–14	13–3
x-Cleveland Cavaliers	50	32	.610	14	31–10	19–22	11–5
x-Indiana Pacers	41	41	.500	23	27–14	14–27	6–10
x-Chicago Bulls	41	41	.500	23	21–20	20–21	4–12
x-Milwaukee Bucks	40	42	.488	24	25–16	15–26	6–10

Eastern Conference v t e
#	Team	W	L	PCT	GB
1	z-Detroit Pistons	64	18	.780	-
2	y-Miami Heat	52	30	.634	12
3	y-New Jersey Nets	49	33	.598	15
4	x-Cleveland Cavaliers	50	32	.610	14
5	x-Washington Wizards	42	40	.512	22
6	x-Indiana Pacers	41	41	.500	23
7	x-Chicago Bulls	41	41	.500	23
8	x-Milwaukee Bucks	40	42	.488	24

9	Philadelphia 76ers	38	44	.463	26
10	Orlando Magic	36	46	.439	28
11	Boston Celtics	33	49	.402	31
12	Toronto Raptors	27	55	.329	37
13	Charlotte Bobcats	26	56	.317	38
14	Atlanta Hawks	26	56	.317	38
15	New York Knicks	23	59	.280	41

Record vs. opponents

2005-06 NBA Records
Team	ATL	BOS	CHA	CHI	CLE	DAL	DEN	DET	GSW	HOU	IND	LAC	LAL	MEM	MIA	MIL	MIN	NJN	NOK	NYK	ORL	PHI	PHO	POR	SAC	SAS	SEA	TOR	UTA	WAS
Atlanta	—	2–1	1–3	0–3	1–2	0–2	1–1	1–3	1–1	1–1	4–0	0–2	1–1	0–2	1–3	1–3	1–1	1–3	1–1	2–2	2–2	1–2	0–2	0–2	0–2	1–1	0–2	1–3	0–2	1–3
Boston	1–2	—	2–1	0–4	0–4	0–2	1–1	0–3	1–1	1–1	3–1	1–1	1–1	1–1	1–3	0–3	1–1	1–3	2–0	3–1	1–3	3–1	0–2	2–0	1–1	0–2	0–2	3–1	2–0	1–3
Charlotte	3–1	1–2	—	2–2	0–3	0–2	0–2	0–4	1–1	1–1	2–2	0–2	1–1	0–2	0–4	0–3	1–1	1–3	0–2	3–0	1–3	3–1	0–2	1–1	1–1	0–2	1–1	1–3	1–1	1–3
Chicago	3–0	4–0	2–2	—	0–4	0–2	1–1	0–4	1–1	1–1	2–2	1–1	1–1	1–1	1–2	2–2	1–1	2–1	1–1	2–1	3–1	2–2	0–2	1–1	0–2	1–1	0–2	4–0	1–1	3–1
Cleveland	2–1	4–0	3–0	4–0	—	1–1	1–1	1–3	0–2	1–1	3–1	1–1	1–1	1–1	2–2	3–1	1–1	2–2	2–0	1–2	3–1	2–2	1–1	1–1	1–1	1–1	1–1	3–0	2–0	1–3
Dallas	2–0	2–0	2–0	2–0	1–1	—	3–1	1–1	1–3	4–0	2–0	3–1	1–2	3–1	2–0	1–1	2–1	1–1	4–0	1–1	1–1	1–1	2–2	4–0	2–1	2–2	3–0	2–0	3–1	2–0
Denver	1–1	1–1	2–0	1–1	1–1	1–3	—	1–1	2–1	2–2	2–0	1–3	1–2	2–1	2–0	1–1	3–1	0–2	2–1	2–0	1–1	1–1	1–3	4–0	1–3	2–2	2–2	2–0	1–3	1–1
Detroit	3–1	3–0	4–0	4–0	3–1	1–1	1–1	—	2–0	2–0	3–1	2–0	1–1	2–0	3–1	3–1	2–0	2–2	2–0	3–1	2–1	3–0	2–0	2–0	2–0	2–0	2–0	3–1	0–2	0–3
Golden State	1–1	1–1	1–1	1–1	2–0	3–1	1–2	0–2	—	1–3	0–2	1–3	0–4	0–3	1–1	1–1	2–2	1–1	1–2	2–0	1–1	1–1	1–3	4–0	2–2	0–4	2–1	2–0	1–3	0–2
Houston	1–1	1–1	1–1	1–1	1–1	0–4	2–2	0–2	3–1	—	1–1	2–2	1–2	0–4	0–2	2–0	2–2	1–1	1–3	2–0	1–1	1–1	0–3	2–1	2–2	0–4	3–1	0–2	1–2	2–0
Indiana	0–4	1–3	2–2	2–2	1–3	0–2	0–2	1–3	2–0	1–1	—	2–0	1–1	1–1	2–1	2–2	1–1	2–1	2–0	2–2	3–0	2–1	0–2	2–0	2–0	0–2	1–1	2–2	2–0	2–2
L.A. Clippers	2–0	1–1	2–0	1–1	1–1	1–3	3–1	0–2	3–1	2–2	0–2	—	2–2	1–3	1–1	2–0	3–1	1–1	1–2	2–0	2–0	1–1	2–2	3–0	0–4	1–2	3–1	2–0	2–1	2–0
L.A. Lakers	1–1	1–1	1–1	1–1	1–1	2–1	2–1	1–1	4–0	2–1	1–1	2–2	—	1–3	1–1	2–0	1–3	0–2	3–1	2–0	2–0	1–1	1–3	2–2	2–2	1–3	2–1	2–0	2–2	1–1
Memphis	2–0	1–1	2–0	1–1	1–1	1–3	1–2	0–2	3–0	4–0	1–1	3–1	3–1	—	0–2	1–1	3–1	1–1	1–3	2–0	2–0	0–2	2–1	2–1	2–2	0–4	3–1	2–0	3–1	2–0
Miami	3–1	3–1	4–0	2–1	2–2	0–2	0–2	1–3	1–1	2–0	1–2	1–1	1–1	2–0	—	3–1	1–1	1–3	1–1	3–0	2–2	3–0	0–2	2–0	2–0	0–2	2–0	3–1	2–0	4–0
Milwaukee	3–1	3–0	3–0	2–2	1–3	1–1	1–1	1–3	1–1	0–2	2–2	0–2	0–2	1–1	1–3	—	1–1	1–3	1–1	3–1	2–2	3–1	1–1	2–0	0–2	1–1	1–1	2–1	0–2	2–1
Minnesota	1–1	1–1	1–1	1–1	1–1	1–2	1–3	0–2	2–2	2–2	1–1	1–3	3–1	1–3	1–1	1–1	—	1–1	1–2	2–0	1–1	0–2	1–2	2–2	2–1	0–4	2–2	0–2	1–3	1–1
New Jersey	3–1	3–1	3–1	1–2	2–2	1–1	2–0	2–2	1–1	1–1	1–2	1–1	2–0	1–1	3–1	3–1	1–1	—	2–0	3–1	3–0	1–3	1–1	1–1	0–2	0–2	1–1	3–1	1–1	2–1
New Orleans/Oklahoma City	1–1	0–2	2–0	1–1	0–2	0–4	1–2	0–2	2–1	3–1	0–2	2–1	1–3	3–1	1–1	1–1	2–1	0–2	—	2–0	1–1	1–1	1–3	3–1	2–2	1–3	3–1	2–0	1–3	1–1
New York	2–2	1–3	0–3	1–2	2–1	1–1	0–2	1–3	0–2	0–2	2–2	0–2	0–2	0–2	0–3	1–3	0–2	1–3	0–2	—	1–3	1–3	1–1	1–1	1–1	0–2	2–0	1–3	2–0	1–3
Orlando	2–2	3–1	3–1	1–3	1–3	1–1	1–1	1–2	1–1	1–1	0–3	0–2	0–2	0–2	2–2	2–2	1–1	0–3	1–1	3–1	—	3–1	1–1	1–1	1–1	1–1	1–1	1–2	1–1	2–2
Philadelphia	2–1	1–3	1–3	2–2	2–2	1–1	1–1	0–3	1–1	1–1	1–2	1–1	1–1	2–0	0–3	1–3	2–0	3–1	1–1	3–1	1–3	—	0–2	1–1	2–0	1–1	1–1	3–1	0–2	2–2
Phoenix	2–0	2–0	2–0	2–0	1–1	2–2	3–1	0–2	3–1	3–0	2–0	2–2	3–1	1–2	2–0	1–1	2–1	1–1	3–1	1–1	1–1	2–0	—	3–1	2–2	1–3	2–2	2–0	2–1	1–1
Portland	2–0	0–2	1–1	1–1	1–1	0–4	0–4	0–2	0–4	1–2	0–2	0–3	2–2	1–2	0–2	0–2	2–2	1–1	1–3	1–1	1–1	1–1	1–3	—	1–2	0–4	1–3	1–1	0–4	1–1
Sacramento	2–0	1–1	1–1	2–0	1–1	1–2	3–1	0–2	2–2	2–2	0–2	4–0	2–2	2–2	0–2	2–0	1–2	2–0	2–2	1–1	1–1	0–2	2–2	2–1	—	1–2	3–1	1–1	3–1	0–2
San Antonio	1–1	2–0	2–0	1–1	1–1	2–2	2–2	0–2	4–0	4–0	2–0	2–1	3–1	4–0	2–0	1–1	4–0	2–0	3–1	2–0	1–1	1–1	3–1	4–0	2–1	—	2–1	2–0	3–0	1–1
Seattle	2–0	2–0	1–1	2–0	1–1	0–3	2–2	0–2	1–2	1–3	1–1	1–3	1–2	1–3	0–2	1–1	2–2	1–1	1–3	0–2	1–1	1–1	2–2	3–1	1–3	1–2	—	1–1	3–1	1–1
Toronto	3–1	1–3	3–1	0–4	0–3	0–2	0–2	1–3	0–2	2–0	2–2	0–2	0–2	0–2	1–3	1–2	2–0	1–3	0–2	3–1	2–1	1–3	0–2	1–1	1–1	0–2	1–1	—	0–2	1–2
Utah	2–0	0–2	1–1	1–1	0–2	1–3	3–1	2–0	3–1	2–1	0–2	1–2	2–2	1–3	0–2	2–0	3–1	1–1	3–1	0–2	1–1	2–0	1–2	4–0	1–3	0–3	1–3	2–0	—	1–1
Washington	3–1	3–1	3–1	1–3	3–1	0–2	1–1	3–0	2–0	0–2	2–2	0–2	1–1	0–2	0–4	1–2	1–1	1–2	1–1	3–1	2–2	2–2	1–1	1–1	2–0	1–1	1–1	2–1	1–1	—

Game log

Playoffs

2006 playoff game log

First Round: 4–1 (home: 3–0; road: 1–1)

Game	Date	Team	Score	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Location Attendance	Series
1	April 23	Milwaukee	W 92–74	Rasheed Wallace (22)	Ben Wallace (17)	Chauncey Billups (7)	The Palace of Auburn Hills 22,076	1–0
2	April 26	Milwaukee	W 109–98	Tayshaun Prince (22)	Ben Wallace (11)	Richard Hamilton (8)	The Palace of Auburn Hills 22,076	2–0
3	April 29	@ Milwaukee	L 104–124	Chauncey Billups (26)	Antonio McDyess (8)	Chauncey Billups (6)	Bradley Center 18,717	2–1
4	May 1	@ Milwaukee	W 109–99	Chauncey Billups (34)	Antonio McDyess (11)	Tayshaun Prince (7)	Bradley Center 16,296	3–1
5	May 3	Milwaukee	W 122–93	Richard Hamilton (40)	Ben Wallace (14)	Chauncey Billups (8)	The Palace of Auburn Hills 22,076	4–1

Conference Semifinals: 4–3 (home: 3–1; road: 1–2)

Game	Date	Team	Score	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Location Attendance	Series
1	May 7	Cleveland	W 113–86	Tayshaun Prince (24)	Ben Wallace (11)	Chauncey Billups (10)	The Palace of Auburn Hills 22,076	1–0
2	May 9	Cleveland	W 97–91	Rasheed Wallace (29)	Ben Wallace (15)	Chauncey Billups (7)	The Palace of Auburn Hills 22,076	2–0
3	May 13	@ Cleveland	L 77–86	Richard Hamilton (22)	Ben Wallace (13)	Billups, Hamilton (5)	Gund Arena 20,562	2–1
4	May 15	@ Cleveland	L 72–74	Richard Hamilton (30)	Ben Wallace (10)	Chauncey Billups (7)	Gund Arena 20,562	2–2
5	May 17	Cleveland	L 84–86	Tayshaun Prince (21)	Ben Wallace (13)	Chauncey Billups (5)	The Palace of Auburn Hills 22,076	2–3
6	May 19	@ Cleveland	W 84–82	Rasheed Wallace (24)	Ben Wallace (10)	Billups, Wallace (4)	Gund Arena 20,562	3–3
7	May 21	Cleveland	W 79–61	Tayshaun Prince (20)	Ben Wallace (9)	Billups, Prince (3)	The Palace of Auburn Hills 22,076	4–3

Conference Finals: 2–4 (home: 2–1; road: 0–3)

Game	Date	Team	Score	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Location Attendance	Series
1	May 23	Miami	L 86–91	Richard Hamilton (22)	Ben Wallace (14)	Chauncey Billups (7)	The Palace of Auburn Hills 22,076	0–1
2	May 25	Miami	W 92–88	Tayshaun Prince (24)	Ben Wallace (12)	Chauncey Billups (8)	The Palace of Auburn Hills 22,076	1–1
3	May 27	@ Miami	L 83–98	Chauncey Billups (31)	Rasheed Wallace (10)	Tayshaun Prince (4)	American Airlines Arena 20,245	1–2
4	May 29	@ Miami	L 78–89	Tayshaun Prince (15)	Ben Wallace (11)	Chauncey Billups (7)	American Airlines Arena 20,248	1–3
5	May 31	Miami	W 91–78	Tayshaun Prince (29)	Richard Hamilton (10)	Chauncey Billups (10)	The Palace of Auburn Hills 22,076	2–3
6	June 2	@ Miami	L 78–95	Richard Hamilton (33)	Rasheed Wallace (8)	Chauncey Billups (8)	American Airlines Arena 20,258	2–4

2006 schedule

Player statistics

Legend
GP	Games played	GS	Games started	MPG	Minutes per game
FG%	Field-goal percentage	3P%	3-point field-goal percentage	FT%	Free-throw percentage
RPG	Rebounds per game	APG	Assists per game	SPG	Steals per game
BPG	Blocks per game	PPG	Points per game

Regular season

Player	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
Tayshaun Prince	82	82	35.3	.455	.350	.765	4.2	2.3	.8	.5	14.1
Ben Wallace	82	82	35.2	.510	.000	.416	11.3	1.9	1.8	2.2	7.3
Antonio McDyess	82	0	21.1	.509	.000	.557	5.3	1.1	.6	.6	7.8
Chauncey Billups	81	81	36.1	.418	.433	.894	3.1	8.6	.9	.1	18.5
Richard Hamilton	80	80	35.3	.491	.458	.845	3.2	3.4	.7	.2	20.1
Rasheed Wallace	80	80	34.8	.430	.357	.743	6.8	2.3	1.0	1.6	15.1
Maurice Evans	80	1	14.2	.452	.371	.800	2.0	.8	.5	.2	5.0
Carlos Delfino	68	1	10.7	.403	.333	.672	1.7	.6	.3	.2	3.6
Carlos Arroyo	50	0	12.0	.363	.333	.724	1.4	3.1	.4	.1	3.2
Lindsey Hunter	30	1	11.8	.370	.256	.500	1.3	2.1	.6	.0	2.9
Dale Davis	28	2	6.4	.375	.000	.533	1.9	.2	.0	.3	.9
Jason Maxiell	26	0	6.1	.426		.333	1.1	.1	.2	.2	2.3
Darko Miličić	25	0	5.6	.515	.000	.375	1.1	.4	.1	.6	1.5
Tony Delk	23	0	16.4	.444	.426	.720	2.2	1.4	.6	.0	7.8
Alex Acker	5	0	7.0	.250	.200		1.0	.8	.2	.0	1.8
Kelvin Cato	4	0	8.5	.417			1.8	.5	.0	.5	2.5
Amir Johnson	3	0	13.0	.700	.667	1.000	1.3	1.0	.0	.7	6.7

Playoffs

Player	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
Tayshaun Prince	18	18	41.4	.459	.457	.829	5.7	3.0	.7	.8	16.4
Chauncey Billups	18	18	39.2	.406	.340	.905	3.4	6.5	1.2	.1	17.9
Richard Hamilton	18	18	38.3	.413	.350	.851	2.9	2.7	.9	.3	20.4
Ben Wallace	18	18	35.7	.465	.000	.273	10.5	1.7	1.3	1.2	4.7
Rasheed Wallace	18	18	34.9	.430	.405	.527	6.3	1.8	.6	.8	14.1
Antonio McDyess	18	0	20.6	.559	.000	.548	6.1	.6	.4	.7	7.6
Lindsey Hunter	18	0	12.1	.333	.318	1.000	1.1	1.6	.8	.1	4.2
Tony Delk	16	0	8.6	.404	.200	.700	1.1	.5	.4	.0	3.0
Maurice Evans	16	0	6.3	.533	.636	.875	.9	.2	.1	.1	3.3
Dale Davis	8	0	4.5	.000		.500	1.1	.1	.0	.0	.3
Carlos Delfino	8	0	4.0	.167	.500	1.000	.5	.3	.1	.0	.6
Kelvin Cato	4	0	3.8	.600			1.8	.0	.0	.0	1.5

Denotes player spent time with another team in the season. Stats reflect time with the Pistons only.

Awards and records

Transactions

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References

2005-06 Detroit Pistons

2005–06 NBA season by team

Eastern

Atlantic	Boston New Jersey New York Philadelphia Toronto
Central	Chicago Cleveland Detroit Indiana Milwaukee
Southeast	Atlanta Charlotte Miami Orlando Washington

Western

Northwest	Denver Minnesota Portland Seattle Utah
Pacific	Golden State L.A. Clippers L.A. Lakers Phoenix Sacramento
Southwest	Dallas Houston Memphis New Orleans/Oklahoma City San Antonio

v t e Detroit Pistons
Founded in 1937 Formerly the Fort Wayne Zollner Pistons (1937–1948) and the Fort Wayne Pistons (1948–1957) Based in Detroit, Michigan
Franchise	All-time roster Draft history Head coaches Seasons Current season
Arenas	North Side High School Gym Allen County War Memorial Coliseum Detroit Olympia Memorial Building Cobo Arena Pontiac Silverdome The Palace of Auburn Hills Little Caesars Arena
Personnel	Owner(s) Tom Gores President Ed Stefanski General manager Vacant Head coach Monty Williams
G League affiliate	Motor City Cruise
Retired numbers	1 2 3 4 10 11 15 16 21 32 40
NBA championships	1989 1990 2004
Rivalries	Boston Celtics Chicago Bulls Los Angeles Lakers
Culture and lore	Broadcasters Hooper Jordan Rules 1990 Detroit riot John Mason Malice at the Palace