Unheralded Pistons return to final four

Detroit has made it to the Eastern Conference finals five straight years.

DETROIT (AP) — In more than two decades, just five NBA teams have advanced to five straight conference finals.

The Los Angeles Lakers and Boston Celtics each had a trio of players headed for the Hall of Fame when they accomplished the feat 20 years ago. Then the Detroit Pistons’ Bad Boys did it with a pair of players eventually enshrined.

Michael Jordan is certain to be in the Hall of Fame when eligible and Scottie Pippen will likely join him for helping to lead the Chicago Bulls to the conference finals from 1989-93.

The current Pistons are the fifth team to reach the NBA’s final four in five consecutive seasons. There might not be a single Hall of Fame candidate among them — not that that matters much to one of the enshrined Bad Boys, Joe Dumars.

“I’m really proud of our guys and what they’ve been able to do over the years,” Dumars, who is in his seventh season as Pistons president of basketball operations, told The Associated Press on Friday night. “It’s not easy to accomplish something like this, but the cool thing is that none of us are satisfied with simply getting back to the conference finals.”

Defense is the key

A team-first approach, relying on defense and balanced scoring, has served Detroit well as it has defied the league’s dependence on stars for success.

“We play good defense. We play together,” point guard Chauncey Billups said Thursday night after Detroit eliminated the Chicago Bulls in Game 6 of the conference semifinals. “We’re a great team.”

“When we’re playing a great player, five players are guarding him, not just one. Offensively, we share the ball and a lot of different people hurt you in a game. That’s why we have been so dominant.”

The Pistons will have homecourt advantage against second-seeded Cleveland. Detroit won the season series over the Cavaliers 3-1. Detroit will play host to Game 1 Monday night.

“We have a day or two to celebrate,” Billups said. “But our goal is to win it all, and getting to the Eastern finals is just on the way.”

Since 1984, only the Lakers have been more consistent in the playoffs with a run that ended with a sixth straight conference finals appearance in 1989.

“It’s probably something I will enjoy a little later — not right now,” Billups said. “It just shows dominance. We’ve had a headlock on this conference for a little while now and that validates that.”