1983–84 Detroit Pistons season

The 1983–84 NBA season was the Detroit Pistons' 36th season in the NBA and 27th season in the city of Detroit.[1] The team played at the Pontiac Silverdome in surburban Pontiac, Michigan.

1983–84 Detroit Pistons season
Head coachChuck Daly
General managerJack McCloskey
OwnersWilliam Davidson
ArenaPontiac Silverdome
Results
Record49–33 (.598)
PlaceDivision: 2nd (Central)
Conference: 4th (Eastern)
Playoff finishFirst round
(lost to Knicks 2–3)
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com

During the 1984 playoffs against the New York Knicks, the Silverdome had a venue conflict that forced the team to play their last playoff game in Detroit proper at the Detroit Red Wings' home, Joe Louis Arena, in the fifth and deciding game of the round. The team would play a number of home games, both regular season and post-season, at the venue over the next few seasons (due to the roof collapsing) before eventually getting an arena of their own four years later.

New coach Chuck Daly made an immediate impact on the team, leading the Pistons to their first winning season and post-season berth since the 1976-77 season. Detroit finished with a 49-33 (.598) record, 2nd in the Central Division. In the first round series, the Pistons faced off with the New York Knicks and star Bernard King. The tightly contested series went to a 5th game at a sold-out Joe Louis Arena in downtown Detroit. The Pistons trailed by eight points with 1:34 remaining in the fourth quarter, when Thomas caught fire, scoring 16 points in the remaining 94 seconds to force overtime, but it wasn't enough to overcome King's 44 points as the Pistons fell 127-123 in a playoff classic.[2][3]

Part of the 5th game in the series was the atmosphere as the Pistons returned to the city proper after moving to the Silverdome in 1978. Thomas said, "I must say that it was a wild scene. Coleman Young called me up and said, ‘Welcome to the city.’ Everybody in the hood was like, ‘Zeke, you’re coming to put on a show tonight.’ And being a city guy, it was almost like you were going home. When I got into Joe Louis, the atmosphere was so electric, it was awesome. You can’t describe it—it made you want to get off. I just felt like I could do anything. The fans were screaming and every move you made, people were oohing and aahing—it was sweet. I’m not a Baptist; I was raised Catholic. But sometimes I’d go to a Baptist church and you’ll see what they call the Holy Ghost, where the spirit will take over their body and it moves them. During that game I got the Holy Ghost — I just got the spirit into my body and I was doing stuff and making moves — I felt I was above the court looking at everybody and I could just do anything. It was great!"[4]

Detroit was led on the season by guard Thomas (21.3 ppg, 11.1 apg, NBA All-Star), center Bill Laimbeer (17.3 ppg, 12.2 rpg, NBA All-Star) and forward Kelly Tripucka (21.3 ppg, NBA All-Star).

On Dec 13, 1983, the Pistons finished 3OT with the Nuggets. The pistons beat Nuggets 186-184. This is the highest scoring game in NBA history. Thomas scored 47. Kiki Vandeweghe scored 51 and Alex English also scored 47 points.

Draft picks
Main article: 1983 NBA draft
Round Pick Player Position Nationality College
18Antoine CarrPF/C United StatesWichita State
5101Ken AustinPF United StatesRice

Roster
No. Name Pos. Height Weight DOB (YYYY-MM-DD) From
34 Ken Austin SF 6-9 205 1961-07-15 Rice
54 Kent Benson C 6-10 235 1954-12-27 Indiana
23 Earl Cureton C 6-9 210 1957-09-03 Detroit Mercy
9 Lionel Hollins PG 6-3 185 1953-10-19 Arizona State
15 Vinnie Johnson SG 6-2 200 1956-09-01 Baylor
40 Bill Laimbeer C 6-11 245 1957-05-19 Notre Dame
53 Cliff Levingston PF 6-8 210 1961-01-04 Wichita State
25 John Long SG 6-5 195 1956-08-28 Detroit Mercy
33 Walker Russell PG 6-5 195 1960-10-21 Western Michigan
22 David Thirdkill SF 6-7 195 1960-04-12 Bradley
11 Isiah Thomas PG 6-1 180 1961-04-30 Indiana
24 Ray Tolbert 6-9 225 1958-09-10 Indiana
7 Kelly Tripucka SF 6-6 220 1959-02-16 Notre Dame
41 Terry Tyler SF 6-7 215 1956-10-30 Detroit Mercy

Regular season

Season standings
Central Division
 W L PCT GB Home Road Div
y-Milwaukee Bucks 5032.610–30–1120–2119–10
x-Detroit Pistons 4933.598130–1119–2221–8
x-Atlanta Hawks 4042.4881031–109–3216–14
Cleveland Cavaliers 2854.3412223–185–3611–19
Chicago Bulls 2755.3292318–239–3210–20
Indiana Pacers 2656.3172420–216–3512–18
#
Eastern Conference
Team W L PCT GB
1 z-Boston Celtics6220.756–
2 y-Milwaukee Bucks5032.61012
3 x-Philadelphia 76ers5230.63410
4 x-Detroit Pistons4933.59813
5 x-New York Knicks4735.57315
6 x-New Jersey Nets4537.54917
7 x-Atlanta Hawks4042.48822
8 x-Washington Bullets3547.42727
9 Cleveland Cavaliers2854.34134
10 Chicago Bulls2755.32935
11 Indiana Pacers2656.31736
z - clinched division title
y - clinched division title
x - clinched playoff spot

Record vs. opponents
1983-84 NBA Records
Team ATL BOS CHI CLE DAL DEN DET GSW HOU IND KCK LAL MIL NJN NYK PHI PHO POR SAS SDC SEA UTA WAS
Atlanta —0–54–23–31–10–22–41–11–14–20–20–23–33–34–15–11–10–21–11–11–11–14–2
Boston 5–0—5–06–02–02–04–22–01–15–12–00–25–14–23–32–42–02–02–01–12–01–14–2
Chicago 2–40–5—2–41–10–21–52–00–23–31–10–22–42–42–42–31–12–00–21–10–21–12–4
Cleveland 3–30–64–2—1–10–21–51–11–12–40–20–21–52–31–52–41–11–11–11–11–10–24–1
Dallas 1–10–21–11–1—4–20–24–14–22–03–33–20–21–10–21–13–22–34–24–11–44–20–2
Denver 2–00–22–02–02–4—1–12–34–20–24–21–41–11–11–11–12–31–43–33–22–33–30–2
Detroit 4–22–45–15–12–01–1—1–11–14–21–11–13–21–44–23–32–01–11–12–01–11–13–3
Golden State 1–10–20–21–11–43–21–1—2–32–04–13–30–21–11–11–11–52–43–23–34–21–42–0
Houston 1–11–12–01–12–42–41–13–2—1–12–41–41–10–20–20–22–31–42–42–33–21–50–2
Indiana 2–41–53–34–20–22–02–40–21–1—0–21–11–51–52–40–51–11–10–21–11–11–11–4
Kansas City 2–00–21–12–03–32–41–11–44–22–0—0–50–22–00–20–22–32–35–13–21–43–32–0
Los Angeles 2–02–02–02–02–34–11–13–34–11–15–0—2–01–10–21–13–35–12–34–23–34–11–1
Milwaukee 3–31–54–25–12–01–12–32–01–15–12–00–2—4–24–12–42–01–11–11–11–11–15–1
New Jersey 3–32–44–23–21–11–14–11–12–05–10–21–12–4—3–33–32–00–20–22–01–11–14–2
New York 1–43–34–15–12–01–12–41–12–04–22–02–01–43–3—2–41–10–22–02–01–12–04–2
Philadelphia 1–54–23–24–21–11–13–31–12–05–02–01–14–23–34–2—1–11–12–02–01–12–04–2
Phoenix 1–10–21–11–12–33–20–25–13–21–13–23–30–20–21–11–1—2–45–04–22–41–42–0
Portland 2–00–20–21–13–24–11–14–24–11–13–21–51–12–02–01–14–2—4–14–24–21–41–1
San Antonio 1–10–22–01–12–43–31–12–34–22–01–53–21–12–00–20–20–51–4—4–12–34–21–1
San Diego 1–11–11–11–11–42–30–23–33–21–12–32–41–10–20–20–22–42–41–4—3–32–31–1
Seattle 1–10–22–01–14–13–21–12–42–31–14–13–31–11–11–11–14–22–43–23–3—1–41–1
Utah 1–11–11–12–02–43–31–14–15–11–13–31–41–11–10–20–24–14–12–43–24–1—1–1
Washington 2–42–44–21–42–02–03–30–22–04–10–21–11–52–42–42–40–21–11–11–11–11–1—

Game log

Regular season
1983–84 game log
Total: 49–33 (home: 30–11; road: 19–22)
October: 1–1 (home: 1–0; road: 0–1)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation
Attendance		Record
1 October 28, 1983 Boston W 127–121 Pontiac Silverdome 1–0
November: 7–8 (home: 6–2; road: 1–6)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation
Attendance		Record
3 November 1, 1983 Milwaukee W 106–93 Pontiac Silverdome 2–1
7 November 11, 1983 @ Boston L 118–126 Boston Garden 3–4
16 November 27, 1983 @ Boston L 99–114 Boston Garden 7–9
December: 8–5 (home: 5–2; road: 3–3)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation
Attendance		Record
24 December 17, 1983 Boston L 115–129 Pontiac Silverdome 11–13
January: 7–6 (home: 4–2; road: 3–4)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation
Attendance		Record
32 January 4, 1984 Phoenix W 128–114 Pontiac Silverdome 17–15
34 January 8, 1984 @ Milwaukee W 111–100 MECCA Arena 19–15
February: 11–4 (home: 6–1; road: 5–3)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation
Attendance		Record
46 February 5, 1984 @ Boston L 134–137 (OT) Boston Garden 25–21
March: 10–7 (home: 5–4; road: 5–3)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation
Attendance		Record
60 March 4, 1984 Los Angeles L 114–118 Pontiac Silverdome 34–26
65 March 13, 1984 @ Milwaukee L 95–116 MECCA Arena 38–27
70 March 23, 1984 @ Los Angeles W 121–118 The Forum 40–30
71 March 24, 1984 @ Phoenix W 120–109 Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum 41–30
75 March 31, 1984 Milwaukee W 107–105 Pontiac Silverdome 44–31
April: 5–2 (home: 3–0; road: 2–2)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation
Attendance		Record
78 April 7, 1984 @ Milwaukee L 92–110 MECCA Arena 46–32
81 April 13, 1984 Boston W 128–120 (OT) Pontiac Silverdome 49–32
1983–84 schedule

Playoffs
1984 playoff game log
First Round: 2–3 (home: 1–2; road: 1–1)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation
Attendance		Series
1 April 17 New York L 93–94 Kelly Tripucka (26) Kent Benson (14) Isiah Thomas (9) Pontiac Silverdome
14,127		 0–1
2 April 19 New York W 113–105 Bill Laimbeer (31) Bill Laimbeer (15) Isiah Thomas (13) Pontiac Silverdome
14,275		 1–1
3 April 22 @ New York L 113–120 Kelly Tripucka (40) Bill Laimbeer (10) Isiah Thomas (5) Madison Square Garden
16,354		 1–2
4 April 25 @ New York W 119–112 Isiah Thomas (22) Bill Laimbeer (10) Isiah Thomas (16) Madison Square Garden
18,205		 2–2
5 April 27 New York L 123–127 (OT) Isiah Thomas (35) Bill Laimbeer (17) Isiah Thomas (12) Joe Louis Arena
21,208		 2–3
1984 schedule

Awards and records

References
  1. 1983-84 Detroit Pistons
  2. Goldaper, Sam (April 28, 1984). "Knicks Win in Overtime and Eliminate the Pistons". The New York Times.
  3. "Detroit Pistons' Isiah Thomas remembers all the crying from his first vintage NBA moment".
  4. "Chevette to Corvette No. 18: The 1983-84 Detroit Pistons". November 29, 2011.

See also
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