The 2005–06 Detroit Pistons season was the 65th season of the franchise, the 58th in the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

(NBA), and the 49th in the

Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

area. The team entered the season as the two-time defending Eastern Conference champions. The Pistons began the season hoping to improve upon their 54–28 output from the previous season and have another chance of going to the NBA Finals after losing to the San Antonio Spurs in last season's

NBA Finals The NBA Finals is the annual championship series of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The Eastern Conference (NBA), Eastern and Western Conference (NBA), Western Conference champions play a best-of-seven series to determine the league ...

in seven games. They bested it by ten games, finishing 64–18—their best record in franchise history—and qualifying for the playoff for the fifth straight season.2005-06 Detroit Pistons
/ref> The Pistons defeated the Milwaukee Bucks in five games in the first round, and the

Cleveland Cavaliers The Cleveland Cavaliers, often referred to as the Cavs, are an American professional basketball team based in Cleveland. The Cavaliers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division (NBA), Central Divis ...

in a tough, hard-fought seven-game series to reach the Eastern Conference finals for the fourth consecutive year before losing to the eventual NBA champions

Miami Heat The Miami Heat are an American professional basketball team based in Miami. The Heat compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southeast Division (NBA), Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), Eastern C ...

, whom they had beaten in a seven-game playoff series the year before. Detroit's offseason was soon marked by the departure of star defensive player Ben Wallace, who signed a free-agent deal with the Chicago Bulls. For the season, the Pistons had a new logo, and, though they kept the uniforms, the horse logo was replaced by the letter 'P' on the left side of the shorts, they added new red road alternate uniforms with blue side panels to their jerseys and shorts, their alternate uniforms remained in used until 2009, while the logo and uniforms lasted until 2017. Ben Wallace won his fourth and final Defensive Player of the Year Award and he along with Rasheed Wallace, Richard Hamilton, and Chauncey Billups were selected as reserves for the 2006 NBA All-Star Game.

Draft picks

Roster

Regular season

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Game log

Playoffs

, - align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" , 1 , April 23 ,

Milwaukee Milwaukee is the List of cities in Wisconsin, most populous city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, it is the List of United States cities by population, 31st-most populous city in the United States ...

W 92–74
, Rasheed Wallace (22) , Ben Wallace (17) , Chauncey Billups (7) , The Palace of Auburn Hills
22,076 , 1–0 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" , 2 , April 26 ,

W 109–98
, Tayshaun Prince (22) , Ben Wallace (11) , Richard Hamilton (8) , The Palace of Auburn Hills
22,076 , 2–0 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" , 3 , April 29 , @

L 104–124
, Chauncey Billups (26) , Antonio McDyess (8) , Chauncey Billups (6) , Bradley Center
18,717 , 2–1 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" , 4 , May 1 , @

W 109–99
, Chauncey Billups (34) , Antonio McDyess (11) , Tayshaun Prince (7) , Bradley Center
16,296 , 3–1 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" , 5 , May 3 ,

W 122–93
, Richard Hamilton (40) , Ben Wallace (14) , Chauncey Billups (8) , The Palace of Auburn Hills
22,076 , 4–1 , - , - align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" , 1 , May 7 ,

Cleveland Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–U.S. maritime border and approximately west of the Ohio-Pennsylvania st ...

W 113–86
, Tayshaun Prince (24) , Ben Wallace (11) , Chauncey Billups (10) , The Palace of Auburn Hills
22,076 , 1–0 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" , 2 , May 9 ,

W 97–91
, Rasheed Wallace (29) , Ben Wallace (15) , Chauncey Billups (7) , The Palace of Auburn Hills
22,076 , 2–0 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" , 3 , May 13 , @

L 77–86
, Richard Hamilton (22) , Ben Wallace (13) , Billups, Hamilton (5) , Gund Arena
20,562 , 2–1 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" , 4 , May 15 , @

L 72–74
, Richard Hamilton (30) , Ben Wallace (10) , Chauncey Billups (7) , Gund Arena
20,562 , 2–2 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" , 5 , May 17 ,

L 84–86
, Tayshaun Prince (21) , Ben Wallace (13) , Chauncey Billups (5) , The Palace of Auburn Hills
22,076 , 2–3 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" , 6 , May 19 , @

W 84–82
, Rasheed Wallace (24) , Ben Wallace (10) , Billups, Wallace (4) , Gund Arena
20,562 , 3–3 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" , 7 , May 21 ,

W 79–61
, Tayshaun Prince (20) , Ben Wallace (9) , Billups,

Prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. The ...

(3) , The Palace of Auburn Hills
22,076 , 4–3 , - , - align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" , 1 , May 23 ,

Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

L 86–91
, Richard Hamilton (22) , Ben Wallace (14) , Chauncey Billups (7) , The Palace of Auburn Hills
22,076 , 0–1 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" , 2 , May 25 ,

W 92–88
, Tayshaun Prince (24) , Ben Wallace (12) , Chauncey Billups (8) , The Palace of Auburn Hills
22,076 , 1–1 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" , 3 , May 27 , @

L 83–98
, Chauncey Billups (31) , Rasheed Wallace (10) , Tayshaun Prince (4) , American Airlines Arena
20,245 , 1–2 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" , 4 , May 29 , @

L 78–89
, Tayshaun Prince (15) , Ben Wallace (11) , Chauncey Billups (7) , American Airlines Arena
20,248 , 1–3 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" , 5 , May 31 ,

W 91–78
, Tayshaun Prince (29) , Richard Hamilton (10) , Chauncey Billups (10) , The Palace of Auburn Hills
22,076 , 2–3 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" , 6 , June 2 , @

L 78–95
, Richard Hamilton (33) , Rasheed Wallace (8) , Chauncey Billups (8) , American Airlines Arena
20,258 , 2–4 , -

Player statistics

Regular season

Playoffs

Awards and records

* Ben Wallace, NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award * Ben Wallace, All-NBA Second Team * Chauncey Billups, All-NBA Second Team * Ben Wallace, NBA All-Defensive First Team * Chauncey Billups,

NBA All-Defensive Second Team The NBA All-Defensive Team is an annual National Basketball Association (NBA) honor given since the 1968–69 NBA season to the best defensive players during the regular season. The All-Defensive Team is generally composed of ten players in two ...

* Tayshaun Prince,

* Ben Wallace, Allstar reserve * Chauncey Billups, Allstar reserve * Richard Hamilton, Allstar reserve * Rasheed Wallace, Allstar reserve

Transactions

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:2005-06 Detroit Pistons season Detroit Pistons seasons