2005 NBA Finals
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| Dates | June 9–23 | ||||||||||||||
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| MVP |
Tim Duncan (San Antonio Spurs) |
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| Television | ABC (U.S.) | ||||||||||||||
| Announcers | Al Michaels and Hubie Brown | ||||||||||||||
| Radio network | ESPN | ||||||||||||||
| Announcers | Jim Durham and Jack Ramsay | ||||||||||||||
| Referees | |||||||||||||||
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| Hall of Famers |
Coaches: Larry Brown (2002) Officials: Dick Bavetta (2015) |
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| Eastern Finals | Pistons defeated Heat, 4–3 | ||||||||||||||
| Western Finals | Spurs defeated Suns, 4–1 | ||||||||||||||
| Game 1: | Mike Callahan, Ron Garretson, Steve Javie |
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| Game 2: | Dan Crawford, Bernie Fryer, Jack Nies |
| Game 3: | Joe Crawford, Bob Delaney, Bennett Salvatore |
| Game 4: | Dick Bavetta, Joe DeRosa, Eddie F. Rush |
| Game 5: | Mike Callahan, Ron Garretson, Steve Javie |
| Game 6: | Dan Crawford, Bernie Fryer, Bennett Salvatore |
| Game 7 | Dick Bavetta, Joe Crawford, Eddie F. Rush |
The 2005 NBA Finals was the championship round of the 2004–05 National Basketball Association season. The San Antonio Spurs of the Western Conference faced the Detroit Pistons of the Eastern Conference for the title, with the Spurs holding home court advantage and the Pistons as defending champions. The series was played under a best-of-seven format. (Unlike the previous three rounds, the team with home court advantage hosted games one, two, six, and seven if all were necessary). It also marked the Pistons first NBA Finals loss to a team other than the Lakers since 1988.
The Spurs won the series four games to three in the first NBA Finals to go to a Game 7 since 1994. The games were broadcast on ABC, with Al Michaels and Hubie Brown commentating. National radio coverage was provided by ESPN Radio through announcers Jim Durham and Dr. Jack Ramsay.
This series was not only the first matchup of the previous two NBA champions since the 1987 Finals (Lakers d. Celtics, 4-2), it was a match up of the two premier defensive teams of that era: from the 2002–03 season to the 2004–05 season, the Spurs and Pistons routinely finished in the top three in Points Allowed: in 2003, Detroit was #1 and San Antonio #3; in 2004, the teams finished in a tie for the #1 spot; in 2005, the Spurs were #1 and the Pistons were #2. The Spurs were considered more capable of playing at a faster pace, as evidenced by their convincing win against the high-scoring Phoenix Suns during the Western Conference Finals. However, both teams performed exceptionally well when scoring over 100 points (Detroit was 22-3, San Antonio was 28-2).
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