2003–04 NBA season
The NBA Season 2003/ 04 was the 58th season of the National Basketball Association. NBA champion were the Detroit Pistons, who beat the heavily favored Los Angeles Lakers 4-1 in the NBA Finals.
Season notes
- The Houston Rockets, Denver Nuggets and Cleveland Cavaliers led a new team jerseys.
- Before the start of the regular season Karl Malone and Gary Payton joined the Los Angeles Lakers at. They adapted to large loss of pay to win with Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal the NBA title. The title hunt failed when the Lakers 4-1 in the NBA Finals against the Detroit Pistons subject.
- The stars of the 2003 draft class played their first season: LeBron James ( 1.Pick ), Carmelo Anthony ( 3.Pick ), Chris Bosh ( 4.Pick ) and Dwyane Wade ( 5.Pick ) gave their debut. Anthony and Wade led their teams in the play-offs, in which Wade in the second round was eliminated against the Indiana Pacers.
- The Houston Rockets played their first game at the Toyota Center.
- The NBA All- Star Game was held in Los Angeles at Staples Center. The West won 136-132. Lakers center Shaquille O'Neal was named to the All- Star Game MVP.
- The Minnesota Timberwolves made with their " Big Three " Kevin Garnett, Latrell Sprewell and Sam Cassell the best winning percentage in the Western Conference. The Timberwolves, who had up to this time had never won a playoff series, won two and ultimately failed only in the Western Conference Finals against the Lakers.
End figures
W = Wins, L = Losses, PCT = percentage share of victory, P = behind Division leaders
In parentheses are the rankings in the seedings of the respective Conference playoffs are listed.
Leading the Player Statistics
Honors
- Most Valuable Player: Kevin Garnett, Minnesota Timberwolves
- Rookie of the Year: LeBron James, Cleveland Cavaliers
- Defensive Player of the Year: Ron Artest, Indiana Pacers
- Sixth Man of the Year: Antawn Jamison, Dallas Mavericks
- Most Improved Player: Zach Randolph, Portland Trail Blazers
- Coach of the Year: Hubie Brown, Memphis Grizzlies
- All- NBA First Team: F - Kevin Garnett, Minnesota Timberwolves
- F - Tim Duncan, San Antonio Spurs
- C - Shaquille O'Neal, Los Angeles Lakers
- G - Kobe Bryant, Los Angeles Lakers
- G - Jason Kidd, New Jersey Nets
- F - Jermaine O'Neal, Indiana Pacers
- F - Predrag Stojaković, Sacramento Kings
- C - Ben Wallace, Detroit Pistons
- G - Sam Cassell, Minnesota Timberwolves
- G - Tracy McGrady, Orlando Magic
- F - Ron Artest, Indiana Pacers
- F - Dirk Nowitzki, Dallas Mavericks
- C - Yao Ming, Houston Rockets
- G - Baron Davis, New Orleans Hornets
- G - Michael Redd, Milwaukee Bucks
- F - Ron Artest, Indiana Pacers
- F - Kevin Garnett, Minnesota Timberwolves
- C - Ben Wallace, Detroit Pistons
- G - Bruce Bowen, San Antonio Spurs
- G - Kobe Bryant, Los Angeles Lakers
- F - Andrei Kirilenko, Utah Jazz
- F - Tim Duncan, San Antonio Spurs
- C - Theo Ratliff, Portland Trail Blazers
- G - Doug Christie, Sacramento Kings
- G - Jason Kidd, New Jersey Nets
- LeBron James, Cleveland Cavaliers
- Carmelo Anthony, Denver Nuggets
- Dwyane Wade, Miami Heat
- Chris Bosh, Toronto Raptors
- Kirk Hinrich, Chicago Bulls
Play-offs
All play-off rounds were played in best- of-seven - mode.
NBA Finals 2004
Chauncey Billups of the Pistons was elected to the NBA Finals MVP in 2004. In the five games against the Lakers, he scored an average of 21.0 points, 3.2 rebounds and 5.2 assists. Overall, he hit 39 of 42 free throws ( 92.9 percent). From the field of the point guard had a hit rate of 51.0 percent.