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1998–99 Detroit Pistons season

NBA team season

NBA team season

(lost to Hawks 2–3) (George Blaha, Kelly Tripucka) Fox Sports Detroit (Fred McLeod, Greg Kelser) (George Blaha)

The 1998–99 Detroit Pistons season was the 51st season for the Detroit Pistons in the National Basketball Association, and their 42nd season in Detroit, Michigan. Due to a lockout, the regular season began on February 5, 1999, and was cut from 82 games to 50.

The Pistons received the eleventh overall pick in the 1998 NBA draft, and selected shooting guard Bonzi Wells out of Ball State University, but later on traded him to the Portland Trail Blazers. During the off-season, the team acquired Christian Laettner from the Atlanta Hawks, and signed free agents Loy Vaught, and Jud Buechler. Laettner would reunite with former Duke University teammate Grant Hill, but only played just 16 games due to an Achilles injury and a broken rib. After a solid year the previous season, Brian Williams changed his named to Bison Dele to honor his Cherokee heritage.

The Pistons won their first three games of the regular season, but then lost five straight. However, they would play above .500 in winning percentage for the remainder of the season, and bounce back from their disappointing season, finishing in third place in the Central Division with a 29–21 record, earning the fifth seed in the Eastern Conference, and returning to the NBA playoffs after a one-year absence.

Hill averaged 21.1 points, 7.1 rebounds, 6.0 assists and 1.6 steals per game, was named to the All-NBA Second Team, and finished in eighth place in Most Valuable Player voting, while sixth man Jerry Stackhouse continued to provide scoring off the bench averaging 14.5 points per game. In addition, Lindsey Hunter provided the team with 11.9 points and 1.8 steals per game, while Joe Dumars contributed 11.3 points per game and led the Pistons with 89 three-point field goals, and Dele averaged 10.5 points and 5.6 rebounds per game. Off the bench, Laettner averaged 7.6 points and 3.4 rebounds per game, while Jerome Williams provided the team with 7.0 points and 7.1 rebounds per game, Buechler contributed 5.5 points per game, and starting power forward Don Reid averaged 5.1 points and 3.6 rebounds per game.

In the Eastern Conference First Round of the 1999 NBA playoffs, the Pistons faced off against the 4th–seeded Atlanta Hawks, a team that featured All-Star center Dikembe Mutombo, All-Star guard Steve Smith, and Mookie Blaylock. The Pistons lost the first two games to the Hawks on the road at the Georgia Dome, but then won the next two games at home, winning Game 4 over the Hawks at The Palace of Auburn Hills, 103–82 to even the series. However, the Pistons lost Game 5 to the Hawks at the Alexander Memorial Coliseum, 87–75, thus losing in a full five-game series.

The Pistons finished eighth in the NBA in home-game attendance, with an attendance of 444,585 at The Palace of Auburn Hills during the regular season. This season also marked an end of an era, as Dumars retired after a solid fourteen-year NBA career in the NBA with the Pistons, and would become the team's vice president next season. This was also Dele's final season of his NBA career, as he retired before the following season, turning down a $36 million contract.

Draft picks

Main article: 1998 NBA draft

RoundPickPlayerPositionNationalityCollege
111Bonzi WellsSGBall State
240Korleone YoungSF

Roster

  • Alvin Gentry
  • John Hammond
  • Gar Heard
  • Bob Ociepka
  • Mike Abdenour (trainer) | access-date = April 3, 1999

Regular season

Season standings

:c - clinched homecourt advantage :y - clinched division title :x - clinched playoff spot

Game log

Playoffs

|- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 1 | May 8 | @ Atlanta | L 70–90 | Grant Hill (26) | Bison Dele (9) | Grant Hill (8) | Georgia Dome 20,884 | 0–1 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 2 | May 10 | @ Atlanta | L 69–89 | Grant Hill (15) | Grant Hill (10) | Joe Dumars (5) | Georgia Dome 16,377 | 0–2 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 3 | May 12 | Atlanta | W 79–63 | Christian Laettner (15) | Jerome Williams (10) | Grant Hill (5) | The Palace of Auburn Hills 14,812 | 1–2 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 4 | May 14 | Atlanta | W 103–82 | Grant Hill (23) | Jerome Williams (8) | Grant Hill (9) | The Palace of Auburn Hills 16,216 | 2–2 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 5 | May 16 | @ Atlanta | L 75–87 | Grant Hill (21) | Dele, Hill (7) | Grant Hill (11) | Alexander Memorial Coliseum 8,460

2–3

Player statistics

Regular season

PlayerGPGSMPGFG%3P%FT%RPGAPGSPGBPGPPG
505037.0.479.000.7527.16.01.60.521.1
42928.3.371.278.8502.52.80.80.514.5
494935.8.435.386.7533.43.91.80.211.9
383829.4.411.403.8361.83.50.60.111.3
494824.0.501.000.6865.61.40.80.810.5
16021.1.358.333.7723.41.50.90.87.6
501023.1.500.6737.00.51.30.17.1
50021.1.417.412.7222.71.10.70.35.5
473019.9.557.6083.60.70.60.95.1
305.0.500.2501.0001.30.30.00.04.3
371013.0.381.000.6433.90.30.40.23.4
1819.2.429.0001.0001.90.70.10.23.1
11010.2.381.333.5710.61.00.40.02.3
46212.5.525.000.3443.00.30.30.62.1
203.01.0001.0000.50.00.00.02.0
739.9.200.3330.70.60.70.11.3
803.8.5001.0000.60.00.30.01.3
406.3.5001.0000.00.80.30.01.0

Playoffs

PlayerGPGSMPGFG%3P%FT%RPGAPGSPGBPGPPG
5535.2.457.000.8137.27.42.00.419.4
5524.4.600.5566.40.20.60.410.6
5530.6.487.5261.0001.42.60.40.010.2
5024.6.426.7862.82.20.80.210.2
5024.8.391.250.8571.61.20.40.210.0
5536.0.264.2731.0003.02.41.40.07.2
5524.6.444.7786.40.80.80.06.2
207.5.5000.50.00.50.02.0
5016.8.200.2502.60.60.60.21.6
5014.0.500.5002.60.00.00.41.4
405.3.6671.00.30.00.01.0
402.3.6670.30.30.00.01.0

Player statistics citation:

Awards and records

  • Grant Hill, All-NBA Second Team

Transactions

References

References

  1. [https://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/DET/1999.html 1998-99 Detroit Pistons]
  2. (January 6, 1999). "NBA: Let The Games Begin!". CBS News.
  3. (June 24, 1998). "Clippers Pick Olowokandi No. 1". CBS News.
  4. (June 25, 1998). "1998 NBA Draft Selections". Deseret News.
  5. "1998 NBA Draft". Basketball-Reference.
  6. Gardner, Kris. (January 21, 1999). "Knicks Acquiring Sprewell Highlights Six-Deal Day". The Houston Roundball Review.
  7. (January 22, 1999). "Bucks: Signed F Robert Traylor to Three-Year...". The Baltimore Sun.
  8. (January 15, 2001). "Pistons Haunted by Wells". Los Angeles Times.
  9. Pilcher, James. (January 22, 1999). "Hawks Trade Laettner to Pistons". Associated Press.
  10. (January 22, 1999). "Injured Laettner Goes to Detroit". CBS News.
  11. (January 23, 1999). "N.B.A.: ROUNDUP -- ATLANTA; Laettner Is Signed, Then Sent to Detroit". The New York Times.
  12. Wise, Mike. (January 21, 1999). "PRO BASKETBALL; The Business of Basketball Now Begins in Earnest". The New York Times.
  13. (January 21, 1999). "Vaught to Sign Five-Year Piston Deal". Los Angeles Times.
  14. (January 21, 1999). "League (and Rodman) Back Again". Los Angeles Times.
  15. Wise, Mike. (February 4, 1999). "PRO BASKETBALL; A Scrum for the Title". The New York Times.
  16. (March 17, 1999). "Pistons' Laettner Makes Debut". Associated Press.
  17. (April 23, 1999). "Report: Laettner, Stackhouse Fight". Associated Press.
  18. (April 27, 1999). "Pistons Activate Laettner from IL". United Press International.
  19. Florence, Mal. (March 16, 1999). "This Bison Surely Has Seen Greener Pastures". Los Angeles Times.
  20. Wise, Mike. (September 22, 2002). "PRO BASKETBALL; Dele and Dabord: The Twisting Trail of Two Brothers". The New York Times.
  21. "1998–99 Detroit Pistons Schedule and Results". Basketball-Reference.
  22. "1998–99 NBA Awards Voting". Basketball-Reference.
  23. "1998–99 Detroit Pistons Roster and Stats". Basketball-Reference.
  24. (May 17, 1999). "N.B.A. PLAYOFFS; Hawks' Long Haunts His Former Teammates". The New York Times.
  25. Newberry, Paul. (May 16, 1999). "The Other Grant Sends Pistons Out of Playoffs". The Washington Post.
  26. "1999 NBA Eastern Conference First Round: Pistons vs. Hawks". Basketball-Reference.
  27. "1998–99 NBA Season Summary". Basketball-Reference.
  28. Lawrence, Mitch. (May 12, 1999). "Dumars Quits on Top, Piston to Retire After Stellar Run". New York Daily News.
  29. (June 15, 1999). "Dumars Named Pistons VP". CBS News.
  30. (June 16, 1999). "PLUS: PRO BASKETBALL -- DETROIT; Dumars Joins Pistons' Front Office". The New York Times.
  31. (October 22, 1999). "Pistons' Dele Retires". CBS News.
  32. Wise, Mike. (October 31, 1999). "1999–2000 N.B.A. PREVIEW; The West Is Still the Best". The New York Times.
Info: Wikipedia Source

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