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 tightly contested series went to a 5th game at a sold-out Joe Louis Arena in downtown Detroit.
[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.
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.
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.