Where do the 1989 Pistons rank among the best teams of all time?

[PWB15]

This team beat MJ, Bird, and Magic on the way to their first title and had the best record in the NBA that year.

Where do yo think they rank among the best teams of all time? Are they top 5?

[feyki]

Bird ?

[NBAGOAT]

not top 5 but good case for top 10. Depends also if you want to include other versions of the same core like 84 and 86 Celtics or 85 and 87 Lakers.

[PWB15]

not top 5 but good case for top 10. Depends also if you want to include other versions of the same core like 84 and 86 Celtics or 85 and 87 Lakers.


I'm curious to know what teams would you put ahead of them?

[Rake2204]

Bird ?Yeah, not to take anything away from my boys, but I think it'd be a touch disingenuous to say they barreled through Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, and Michael Jordan.

Bird played six games that year (none in the playoffs, in which the Celtics were then swept by Detroit). And Magic Johnson tore his quad midway through Game 2 of the Finals (with starting shooting guard Byron Scott missing all four games of the series as well). And even Jordan's Bulls were collectively a little wet behind the ears.

All that said, champions are champions. And even if the Pistons were a little fortunate on the injury front in '89, they went back-to-back just to make sure in 1990 and nearly three-peated after taking a lead into the final minute of Game 7 in 1988.

[JohnnySic]

3rd best team of the 80's after 86 Celtics and 83 Sixers. Yes, I take them over any of the 80's Lakers teams.

[PWB15]

3rd best team of the 80's after 86 Celtics and 83 Sixers. Yes, I take them over any of the 80's Lakers teams.


Especially the 1988 Lakers team who had no business winning the chip that year

[Rake2204]

3rd best team of the 80's after 86 Celtics and 83 Sixers. Yes, I take them over any of the 80's Lakers teams.I've been trying to beat the 1987 Lakers with the 1989 Pistons in NBA 2K12 over the past few days and I generally can't do anything with Magic Johnson. So based off that research, some of those Lakers teams may have been better.

[JohnnySic]

I've been trying to beat the 1987 Lakers with the 1989 Pistons in NBA 2K12 over the past few days and I generally can't do anything with Magic Johnson. So based off that research, some of those Lakers teams may have been better.
I think the '87 Pistons would have given the '87 Lakers all they could handle had they made the Finals, which really they should have if not for some bad luck and a miracle play by Bird.

If the aging, injury decimated Celtics took the Lakers to 6 games, surely the young, hungry, healthy Pistons take them to 7. And that Pistons team hadn't peaked yet.

[JohnnySic]

Especially the 1988 Lakers team who had no business winning the chip that year
Indeed.

[Rake2204]

On a serious note, I recently watched the entire 1989 NBA Finals a few weeks ago and among other things, one of the biggest surprises for me was the post and mid-range proficiency of virtually all of Detroit's frontcourt aside from Dennis Rodman.

I mean, I've always known Mark Aguirre's game, and I knew James Edwards could be a difference maker on that end too. But even defense-first guys like John Salley were knocking down fallaways out of the post with a feathery touch when given the opportunity. And Rick Mahorn was kind of knockdown from mid-range in his limited touches as well.

Granted, could have been a hot series for them but after watching the generally inept Andre Drummond all season, I think I lost touch with the notion that it used to almost be a requirement for NBA pivots to have the ability to score at least semi-effectively inside when called upon.

[Showtime80']

To me the best 5 champions of the 1980's in order are:

86 Celtics
87 Lakers
83 Sixers
89 Pistons
85 Lakers

In today's NBA were you constantly keep hearing about the bickering between star players and hero ball BS the Pistons truly represented the definition of a team with 5 all-star players sacrificing their stats for the collective good of the team playing a slow, grind it out defensive style that put WINNING OVER EVERYTHING!!! Had they started Mark Aguirre from the beginning of the season, they might've threatened to win between 67 to 70 games!

They had 5 players in double figures with 9 players averaging between 7 and 18 points per game (they were deeeeeeeep!!!), they could ALL OPERATE from 18 feet in and Aguirre, Laimbeer, Isiah and Dumars could knock down timely 3 pointers, suffocating physical defense that intimidated the crap out of everybody and got in the heads of the holy trinity of Michael, Bird and Magic! And don't be fooled they could score with the best of them when that pace got a little quicker and the scores got higher just as they did in the 1990 Finals against the Blazers!

Having said all that they were NOT AT THE LEVEL of the 87 Lakers or 86'Celtics

The 1987' Lakers still had Kareem capable of scoring between 23 to 25 points if need be with the best and most lethal 8 man rotation they had in the entire decade of Magic in his absolute prime, Worthy, Scott, Green, Cooper(DPOY), Rambis and Thompson. The Pistons in 1987 would've gotten swept or maybe won 1 game against that team. The only reasons Boston won two games in the 87' Finals were their pride, experience, the Boston Garden and Larry Bird was still at his peak. The Pistons in 1987 were not ready yet.

Fast forward to 1988 and the matchup against the Celtics and Lakers becomes more even as injury for the Celtics (McHale and Walton) and age for the Lakers (Kareem) begin to show the cracks in the armor. Kareem was basically DONE being a force in the 1988 Finals though he still demanded double and triple teams whenever he got the ball down low (watch the game tapes) which still opened up the game for the Lakers in the half court but again that dominant force that was the Lakers ace in the hole for most of the 80's in the half court WAS GONE!!! Now Worthy and even Magic had to roll up their sleeves and get their hands dirty in the post to replace the production Kareem had given them.

In my opinion the Pistons were NOT CLEARLY the better team in 1988 but would've probably won had game 6 and 7 being in the Silverdome instead of the Forum! Magic and Worthy were ABSOLULTE MONSTERS!!! In that series and should've shared the FInals MVP.

1989 still to this day remains the MISTERY FINALS that would've probably rivaled 1984 and 1988 as an all time classic! The Pistons were clearly the favorites going into that series but let me tell you something my friends, the Lakers were on an ABSOLUTE TEAR!!!! Playing their best basketball in about a year going into those Finals winning 15 straight games and sweeping a deepening western conference playoffs along the way with Byron Scott absolutely PLAYING OUT OF HIS MIND!!! When he went down before game 1 that was basically the series even if Magic had played the whole series! You just don't replace a 20+ scorer with solid defense specially against the 3 headed monster guard rotation of the 89' Pistons of Isiah, Dumars and Microwave!

If Scott and Magic had remained completely healthy the 1989 series goes 7 games without a doubt!

To me a 89' Pistons vs 87' Lakers matchup would be interesting but in my opinion the Lakers take it out in 6 to 7 games because like I said earlier that Lakers team could go 8-9 deep, they could still be lethal in the half court with Kareem, Worthy and Magic and also had THE DEADLIEST fast break in the NBA of that time period. An if all else fails, 1987 Magic Johnson was probably one of the top 5 versions of ANY PLAYER EVER!!!

[eliteballer]

Indeed.

Big surprise coming from a Celtics fan:oldlol: