Coming off their upset victory over the Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA Finals, the Pistons began the season playing around .500.
However, things would get out of control at the end of a November 19 game against the Indiana Pacers, when a huge brawl occurred between Pacers players and Pistons fans after Ben Wallace and Ron Artest got into a shoving match.
Ben Wallace was named Defensive Player of the Year for the third time, and was selected for the 2005 NBA All-Star Game.
The Pistons would then defeat the top-seeded Miami Heat in a full seven game series after trailing 3–2 to advance to the Finals for the second straight year.
[3] After the Finals defeat, Larry Brown and the Pistons parted ways after spending two seasons as head coach.