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RetroSeasons
RetroSeasons recaps past sports seasons through stories, photos, videos, and stats from every team, league, and stadium in history. Coverage includes the NBA, NFL, MLB and NHL, as well as vintage media from defunct teams and leagues.
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National Basketball Association logo

National Basketball Association (NBA)
2004-05 NBA Teams

  • Season Overview
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Leagues Basketball NBA 2005 Teams

Recap

The 2004–05 NBA season was the 59th season of the National Basketball Association (NBA). It began on November 2, 2004 and ended June 23, 2005. The season ended with the San Antonio Spurs defeating the defending-champion Detroit Pistons, 4–3, in the NBA Finals.

* The NBA made its return to Charlotte as the Charlotte Bobcats became the league's 30th franchise at the time. Ten years later, the Bobcats and the departed New Orleans Hornets would strike a deal with the New Orleans franchise renaming themselves the Pelicans, thereby restoring the Hornets' Charlotte history and name to the Charlotte franchise. The Bobcats played their first season at the Charlotte Coliseum.
* This season also was the first year of the NBA's new divisional alignments, separating the league into six divisions of five teams instead of the previous four divisions of varying numbers of teams. As part of this realignment, the New Orleans Hornets moved from the Eastern Conference to the Western Conference.
* The current schedule format also debuted this season:
* 16 games against teams in the same division (four against each team)
* 24 games against six of the remaining conference teams combined, three from each division (four against each team)
* 12 games against the remaining four conference teams, two from each division (three against each team)
* 30 games against teams in the other conference (two against each team)
* Over five seasons, each team will play each of the other conference teams outside its division a total of 18 times – 9 at home and 9 on the road.
* In February, Chris Webber was traded from the Sacramento Kings along with Michael Bradley to the Philadelphia 76ers for three forwards (Corliss Williamson, Kenny Thomas, and Brian Skinner). The Kings lost in the first round of the playoffs to the Seattle SuperSonics, 4–1, and failed to make the playoffs after 2006.
* The 2005 NBA All-Star Game was played on February 20, 2005, at the Pepsi Center in Denver, Colorado, with the East winning, 125–115. Philadelphia's Allen Iverson was named the MVP of the game.
* During All-Star Weekend, Quentin Richardson won the Three-point Shootout, Steve Nash won the Skills Challenge, and Diana Taurasi, Dan Majerle and Shawn Marion won the Shooting Stars Competition—all Phoenix Suns victories. Amar'e Stoudemire made it to the final round of the Slam Dunk Contest but failed to complete the sweep for the Suns.
* Prior to the start of this season, Shaquille O'Neal was traded to the Miami Heat after his reported fallout with former Lakers teammate Kobe Bryant. Some fans sensed this, along with the Pistons championship, as a possible end of dominance by the Western Conference. The Lakers also witnessed the loss of head coach Phil Jackson and replacement Rudy Tomjanovich as the Lakers missed out on the NBA playoffs for the fifth time in their history. However, the Western Conference has continued its domination in the regular season; since then, all playoff-bound teams in the West have either won 50 or more games, or were above .500 at the end of the season, in contrast to the Eastern Conference, where on average, three teams have had sub-.500 records.
* During the off-season, the Phoenix Suns signed unrestricted free agent Steve Nash. With the addition of coach Mike D'Antoni and his offensive-minded strategy combined with Nash's play-making skills, Phoenix won 33 games more than the year before. The Suns had the best overall record in the NBA, Nash won the MVP Award and D'Antoni won the Coach of the Year Award.
* The Memphis Grizzlies played their first game at FedExForum. The Grizzlies were also the first NBA team to install see-through shot clocks. As of the 2011–12 NBA season, all 30 teams have see-through shot clocks.
* A November 19th game between Detroit and Indiana at The Palace of Auburn Hills was disrupted with 45.9 seconds to go as a major altercation broke out between players and fans. This resulted in record-breaking suspensions, most notable of which was Ron Artest who received the longest suspension in NBA history (73 games plus the playoffs). The NBA also overhauled its league-wide security policy. This became known as "The Malice at the Palace".
* On December 9th, Tracy McGrady of the Houston Rockets scored 13 points in the final 35 seconds of a game against the San Antonio Spurs to lead his team to an 81-80 victory after they trailed 76-68 with 42 seconds remaining.
* The Bulls made their first appearance in the playoffs since their 1998 championship season. The Bulls postseason berth followed an 0–9 start to the season with the Bulls having one of the youngest rosters in NBA history.
* The Washington Wizards made their first appearance in the playoffs since the team name was changed for the 1997–98 season.
* The Suns started an unofficial league tradition of a mostly exposed hardwood floor, with a darker varnish on the outside of the three-point area. They also put their team's website name on the sideline, which other teams followed suit in the coming seasons. Through the 2010–11 NBA season, all of the teams, save the Oklahoma City Thunder, had placed their team websites on the sidelines.
* The Seattle SuperSonics made the playoffs for the last time as a team from Seattle.
* Ben Gordon won the Sixth Man Award, making him the first rookie to ever win the award.
* The NBA Finals reached seven games for the first time since 1994, when the Houston Rockets faced the New York Knicks.
* On December 18, the Toronto Raptors traded five-time all-star Vince Carter to the New Jersey Nets for Eric Williams, Aaron Williams, Alonzo Mourning and a pair of first-round draft picks. Mourning was bought out of his contract on February 11 and re-signed with the Miami Heat, being paid a second salary, the veteran's minimum.
* Orlando Magic rookie Dwight Howard became the first and only player straight out of high school to start all 82 games in his rookie season. He also became the youngest to average a double-double, the youngest to average 10 rebounds in a season, and the youngest to record at least 20 rebounds in a game. However, Charlotte Bobcats rookie Emeka Okafor won Rookie of the Year that season.
* This was the final season for Reggie Miller, who spent his entire NBA career with the Pacers.

Close
2004-05 San Antonio Spurs Season
2004-05 San Antonio Spurs
59-23 (.720)
Won NBA Finals
2004-05 Detroit Pistons Season
2004-05 Detroit Pistons
54-28 (.659)
Lost NBA Finals
2004-05 Phoenix Suns Season
2004-05 Phoenix Suns
62-20 (.756)
Lost Conference Finals
2004-05 Miami Heat Season
2004-05 Miami Heat
59-23 (.720)
Lost Conference Finals
2004-05 Dallas Mavericks Season
2004-05 Dallas Mavericks
58-24 (.707)
Lost Conference Semifinals
2004-05 Seattle SuperSonics Season
2004-05 Seattle SuperSonics
52-30 (.634)
Lost Conference Semifinals
2004-05 Washington Wizards Season
2004-05 Washington Wizards
45-37 (.549)
Lost Conference Semifinals
2004-05 Indiana Pacers Season
2004-05 Indiana Pacers
44-38 (.537)
Lost Conference Semifinals
2004-05 Houston Rockets Season
2004-05 Houston Rockets
51-31 (.622)
Lost First Round
2004-05 Sacramento Kings Season
2004-05 Sacramento Kings
50-32 (.610)
Lost First Round
2004-05 Denver Nuggets Season
2004-05 Denver Nuggets
49-33 (.598)
Lost First Round
2004-05 Chicago Bulls Season
2004-05 Chicago Bulls
47-35 (.573)
Lost First Round
2004-05 Boston Celtics Season
2004-05 Boston Celtics
45-37 (.549)
Lost First Round
2004-05 Memphis Grizzlies Season
2004-05 Memphis Grizzlies
45-37 (.549)
Lost First Round
2004-05 Philadelphia 76ers Season
2004-05 Philadelphia 76ers
43-39 (.524)
Lost First Round
2004-05 New Jersey Nets Season
2004-05 New Jersey Nets
42-40 (.512)
Lost First Round
2004-05 Minnesota Timberwolves Season
2004-05 Minnesota Timberwolves
44-38 (.537)
Missed Playoffs
2004-05 Cleveland Cavaliers Season
2004-05 Cleveland Cavaliers
42-40 (.512)
Missed Playoffs
2004-05 Los Angeles Clippers Season
2004-05 Los Angeles Clippers
37-45 (.451)
Missed Playoffs
2004-05 Orlando Magic Season
2004-05 Orlando Magic
36-46 (.439)
Missed Playoffs
2004-05 Golden State Warriors Season
2004-05 Golden State Warriors
34-48 (.415)
Missed Playoffs
2004-05 Los Angeles Lakers Season
2004-05 Los Angeles Lakers
34-48 (.415)
Missed Playoffs
2004-05 New York Knicks Season
2004-05 New York Knicks
33-49 (.402)
Missed Playoffs
2004-05 Toronto Raptors Season
2004-05 Toronto Raptors
33-49 (.402)
Missed Playoffs
2004-05 Milwaukee Bucks Season
2004-05 Milwaukee Bucks
30-52 (.366)
Missed Playoffs
2004-05 Portland Trail Blazers Season
2004-05 Portland Trail Blazers
27-55 (.329)
Missed Playoffs
2004-05 Utah Jazz Season
2004-05 Utah Jazz
26-56 (.317)
Missed Playoffs
2004-05 Charlotte Bobcats Season
2004-05 Charlotte Bobcats
18-64 (.220)
Missed Playoffs
2004-05 New Orleans Hornets Season
2004-05 New Orleans Hornets
18-64 (.220)
Missed Playoffs
2004-05 Atlanta Hawks Season
2004-05 Atlanta Hawks
13-69 (.159)
Missed Playoffs

2005 NBA

  • Season Overview
  • Standings
  • Playoffs
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  • Team Stats
  • Season Leaders
  • Player Stats
  • Draft Picks
  • Audio & Video Clips
  • Stories & Photos
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