| 1998–99 Detroit Pistons season | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Head coach | Alvin Gentry | ||
| General manager | Rick Sund | ||
| Owner | Bill Davidson | ||
| Arena | The Palace of Auburn Hills | ||
| Results | |||
| Record | 29–21 (.580) | ||
| Place | Division: 3rd (Central) Conference: 5th (Eastern) | ||
| Playoff finish | First round (lost toHawks 2–3) | ||
Stats atBasketball Reference | |||
| Local media | |||
| Television | WKBD-TV (George Blaha,Kelly Tripucka) Fox Sports Detroit (Fred McLeod,Greg Kelser) | ||
| Radio | WDFN (George Blaha) | ||
| |||
The1998–99 Detroit Pistons season was the 51st season for theDetroit Pistons in theNational Basketball Association, and their 42nd season inDetroit, Michigan.[1] Due to alockout, the regular season began on February 5, 1999, and was cut from 82 games to 50.[2]
The Pistons received the eleventh overall pick in the1998 NBA draft, and selected shooting guardBonzi Wells out ofBall State University,[3][4][5] but later on traded him to thePortland Trail Blazers.[6][7][8] During the off-season, the team acquiredChristian Laettner from theAtlanta Hawks,[9][10][11] and signed free agentsLoy Vaught,[12][13] andJud Buechler.[14][15] Laettner would reunite with formerDuke University teammateGrant Hill, but only played just 16 games due to an Achilles injury and a broken rib.[16][17][18] After a solid year the previous season,Brian Williams changed his named toBison Dele to honor his Cherokee heritage.[19][20]
The Pistons won their first three games of the regular season, but then lost five straight. However, they would play above .500 inwinning percentage for the remainder of the season, and bounce back from their disappointing season, finishing in third place in theCentral Division with a 29–21 record, earning the fifth seed in theEastern Conference, and returning to theNBA playoffs after a one-year absence.[21]
Hill averaged 21.1 points, 7.1 rebounds, 6.0 assists and 1.6 steals per game, was named to theAll-NBA Second Team, and finished in eighth place inMost Valuable Player voting,[22] while sixth manJerry 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, whileJoe 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, whileJerome Williams provided the team with 7.0 points and 7.1 rebounds per game, Buechler contributed 5.5 points per game, and starting power forwardDon Reid averaged 5.1 points and 3.6 rebounds per game.[23]
In the Eastern Conference First Round of the1999 NBA playoffs, the Pistons faced off against the 4th–seededAtlanta Hawks, a team that featured All-Star centerDikembe Mutombo, All-Star guardSteve Smith, andMookie Blaylock. The Pistons lost the first two games to the Hawks on the road at theGeorgia Dome, but then won the next two games at home, winning Game 4 over the Hawks atThe Palace of Auburn Hills, 103–82 to even the series. However, the Pistons lost Game 5 to the Hawks at theAlexander Memorial Coliseum, 87–75, thus losing in a full five-game series.[24][25][26]
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.[23][27] 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.[28][29][30] This was also Dele's final season of his NBA career, as he retired before the following season, turning down a $36 million contract.[31][32][20]
| Round | Pick | Player | Position | Nationality | College |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 11 | Bonzi Wells | SG |  United States | Ball State |
| 2 | 40 | Korleone Young | SF | United States |
| Players | Coaches | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Head coach Assistant(s)
Legend
Roster |
| Central Division | W | L | PCT | GB | Home | Road | Div | GP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| y-Indiana Pacers | 33 | 17 | .660 | – | 18–7 | 15–10 | 15–7 | 50 |
| x-Atlanta Hawks | 31 | 19 | .620 | 2.0 | 16–9 | 15–10 | 15–8 | 50 |
| x-Detroit Pistons | 29 | 21 | .580 | 4.0 | 17–8 | 12–13 | 13–8 | 50 |
| x-Milwaukee Bucks | 28 | 22 | .560 | 5.0 | 17–8 | 11–14 | 13–11 | 50 |
| Charlotte Hornets | 26 | 24 | .520 | 7.0 | 16–9 | 10–15 | 12–10 | 50 |
| Toronto Raptors | 23 | 27 | .460 | 10.0 | 14–11 | 9–16 | 9–14 | 50 |
| Cleveland Cavaliers | 22 | 28 | .440 | 11.0 | 15–10 | 7–18 | 9–13 | 50 |
| Chicago Bulls | 13 | 37 | .260 | 20.0 | 8–17 | 5–20 | 4–19 | 50 |
| Eastern Conference | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| # | Team | W | L | PCT | GB | GP |
| 1 | c-Miami Heat * | 33 | 17 | .660 | – | 50 |
| 2 | y-Indiana Pacers * | 33 | 17 | .660 | – | 50 |
| 3 | x-Orlando Magic | 33 | 17 | .660 | – | 50 |
| 4 | x-Atlanta Hawks | 31 | 19 | .620 | 2.0 | 50 |
| 5 | x-Detroit Pistons | 29 | 21 | .580 | 4.0 | 50 |
| 6 | x-Philadelphia 76ers | 28 | 22 | .560 | 5.0 | 50 |
| 7 | x-Milwaukee Bucks | 28 | 22 | .560 | 5.0 | 50 |
| 8 | x-New York Knicks | 27 | 23 | .540 | 6.0 | 50 |
| 9 | Charlotte Hornets | 26 | 24 | .520 | 7.0 | 50 |
| 10 | Toronto Raptors | 23 | 27 | .460 | 10.0 | 50 |
| 11 | Cleveland Cavaliers | 22 | 28 | .440 | 11.0 | 50 |
| 12 | Boston Celtics | 19 | 31 | .380 | 14.0 | 50 |
| 13 | Washington Wizards | 18 | 32 | .360 | 15.0 | 50 |
| 14 | New Jersey Nets | 16 | 34 | .320 | 17.0 | 50 |
| 15 | Chicago Bulls | 13 | 37 | .260 | 20.0 | 50 |
![[icon]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=https%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aWiki_letter_w_cropped.svg) | This section is empty. You can help byadding to it.(January 2011) |
| 1999 playoff game log | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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First Round: 2–3 (home: 2–0; road: 0–3)
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| 1999 schedule | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| GP | Games played | GS | Games started | MPG | Minutes per game |
| FG% | Field-goal percentage | 3P% | 3-point field-goal percentage | FT% | Free-throw percentage |
| RPG | Rebounds per game | APG | Assists per game | SPG | Steals per game |
| BPG | Blocks per game | PPG | Points per game |
| Player | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grant Hill | 50 | 50 | 37.0 | .479 | .000 | .752 | 7.1 | 6.0 | 1.6 | 0.5 | 21.1 |
| Jerry Stackhouse | 42 | 9 | 28.3 | .371 | .278 | .850 | 2.5 | 2.8 | 0.8 | 0.5 | 14.5 |
| Lindsey Hunter | 49 | 49 | 35.8 | .435 | .386 | .753 | 3.4 | 3.9 | 1.8 | 0.2 | 11.9 |
| Joe Dumars | 38 | 38 | 29.4 | .411 | .403 | .836 | 1.8 | 3.5 | 0.6 | 0.1 | 11.3 |
| Bison Dele | 49 | 48 | 24.0 | .501 | .000 | .686 | 5.6 | 1.4 | 0.8 | 0.8 | 10.5 |
| Christian Laettner | 16 | 0 | 21.1 | .358 | .333 | .772 | 3.4 | 1.5 | 0.9 | 0.8 | 7.6 |
| Jerome Williams | 50 | 10 | 23.1 | .500 | .673 | 7.0 | 0.5 | 1.3 | 0.1 | 7.1 | |
| Jud Buechler | 50 | 0 | 21.1 | .417 | .412 | .722 | 2.7 | 1.1 | 0.7 | 0.3 | 5.5 |
| Don Reid | 47 | 30 | 19.9 | .557 | .608 | 3.6 | 0.7 | 0.6 | 0.9 | 5.1 | |
| Korleone Young | 3 | 0 | 5.0 | .500 | .250 | 1.000 | 1.3 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 4.3 |
| Loy Vaught | 37 | 10 | 13.0 | .381 | .000 | .643 | 3.9 | 0.3 | 0.4 | 0.2 | 3.4 |
| Charles O'Bannon | 18 | 1 | 9.2 | .429 | .000 | 1.000 | 1.9 | 0.7 | 0.1 | 0.2 | 3.1 |
| Khalid Reeves | 11 | 0 | 10.2 | .381 | .333 | .571 | 0.6 | 1.0 | 0.4 | 0.0 | 2.3 |
| Eric Montross | 46 | 2 | 12.5 | .525 | .000 | .344 | 3.0 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.6 | 2.1 |
| Mikki Moore | 2 | 0 | 3.0 | 1.000 | 1.000 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 2.0 | |
| Mark Macon | 7 | 3 | 9.9 | .200 | .333 | 0.7 | 0.6 | 0.7 | 0.1 | 1.3 | |
| Corey Beck | 8 | 0 | 3.8 | .500 | 1.000 | 0.6 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 1.3 | |
| Steve Henson | 4 | 0 | 6.3 | .500 | 1.000 | 0.0 | 0.8 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 1.0 |
| Player | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grant Hill | 5 | 5 | 35.2 | .457 | .000 | .813 | 7.2 | 7.4 | 2.0 | 0.4 | 19.4 |
| Bison Dele | 5 | 5 | 24.4 | .600 | .556 | 6.4 | 0.2 | 0.6 | 0.4 | 10.6 | |
| Joe Dumars | 5 | 5 | 30.6 | .487 | .526 | 1.000 | 1.4 | 2.6 | 0.4 | 0.0 | 10.2 |
| Christian Laettner | 5 | 0 | 24.6 | .426 | .786 | 2.8 | 2.2 | 0.8 | 0.2 | 10.2 | |
| Jerry Stackhouse | 5 | 0 | 24.8 | .391 | .250 | .857 | 1.6 | 1.2 | 0.4 | 0.2 | 10.0 |
| Lindsey Hunter | 5 | 5 | 36.0 | .264 | .273 | 1.000 | 3.0 | 2.4 | 1.4 | 0.0 | 7.2 |
| Jerome Williams | 5 | 5 | 24.6 | .444 | .778 | 6.4 | 0.8 | 0.8 | 0.0 | 6.2 | |
| Loy Vaught | 2 | 0 | 7.5 | .500 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 2.0 | ||
| Jud Buechler | 5 | 0 | 16.8 | .200 | .250 | 2.6 | 0.6 | 0.6 | 0.2 | 1.6 | |
| Eric Montross | 5 | 0 | 14.0 | .500 | .500 | 2.6 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.4 | 1.4 | |
| Don Reid | 4 | 0 | 5.3 | .667 | 1.0 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.0 | ||
| Charles O'Bannon | 4 | 0 | 2.3 | .667 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.0 |
Player statistics citation:[23]
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| Franchise | |
| Arenas | |
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| G League affiliate | |
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