2004-05 NBA SEASON

'The 2004-05 NBA season' was the 59th season of the National Basketball Association (NBA). It began on November 2, 2004 and ended April 20, 2005. The season ended with the San Antonio Spurs defeating defending champion Detroit Pistons 4 games to 3 in the NBA Finals.

Contents

Notable occurrences

Final standings

2004-05 NBA Stats Leaders

NBA awards

See also

Notable occurrences

★ The NBA makes its return to Charlotte as the Charlotte Bobcats become the league's 30th franchise. They play their first season at the Charlotte Coliseum.

★ This season also makes 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.

★ The 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. Amare 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 Laker teammate Kobe Bryant. Fans sensed this, along with the Pistons championship, as a possible end of dominance by the Western Conference. They 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.

★ The Memphis Grizzlies play their first game at FedExForum.

★ An early regular season game between Detroit and Indiana at The Palace of Auburn Hills was disrupted with 45.9 seconds to go as a major riot 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.

★ The Bulls make their first appearance in the playoffs since their 1998 championship season (after which they lost Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, Dennis Rodman, Phil Jackson, Luc Longley, and Steve Kerr among others). The Bulls postseason berth also followed an 0-9 start to the season, and the Bulls fielded one of the youngest rosters in NBA history (Gordon, Deng, Duhon, and Nocioni were rookies, Hinrich was in his second season, Chandler and Curry were in their fourth seasons out of high school).

★ The Washington Wizards make their first appearance in the playoffs since they changed their name in 1998.

Final standings

===Eastern Conference===

'Atlantic Division' Team W L PCT. GB Boston Celtics-y 45 37 .549 - Philadelphia 76ers-x 43 39 .524 2 New Jersey Nets-x 42 40 .512 3 Toronto Raptors 33 49 .402 12 New York Knicks 33 49 .402 12

'Central Division' Team W L PCT. GB Detroit Pistons-y 54 28 .659 - Chicago Bulls-x 47 35 .573 7 Indiana Pacers-x 44 38 .537 10 Cleveland Cavaliers 42 40 .512 12 Milwaukee Bucks 30 52 .366 24

'Southeast Division' Team W L PCT. GB Miami Heat-z 59 23 .720 - Washington Wizards-x 45 37 .549 14 Orlando Magic 36 46 .439 23 Charlotte Bobcats 18 64 .220 41 Atlanta Hawks 13 69 .159 46

===Western Conference===

'Northwest Division' Team W L PCT. GB Seattle Supersonics-y 52 30 .634 - Denver Nuggets-x 49 33 .598 3 Minnesota Timberwolves 44 38 .537 8 Portland Trail Blazers 27 55 .329 25 Utah Jazz 26 56 .317 26

'Southwest Division' Team W L PCT. GB San Antonio Spurs-y 'C' 59 23 .720 - Dallas Mavericks-x 58 24 .707 1 Houston Rockets-x 51 31 .622 8 Memphis Grizzlies-x 45 37 .549 14 New Orleans Hornets 18 64 .220 41

'Pacific Division' Team W L PCT. GB Phoenix Suns-z 62 20 .756 - Sacramento Kings-x 50 32 .610 12 Los Angeles Clippers 37 45 .451 25 Golden State Warriors 34 48 .415 28 Los Angeles Lakers 34 48 .415 28

★ x - Clinched playoff spot.

★ y - Clinched division title.

★ z - Clinched top conference record.

★ (1) – (8) - Playoff seedings

★ 'C' - NBA Champions

2004-05 NBA Stats Leaders

Category	Player	Team	Stat
Points per game	Allen Iverson	Philadelphia 76ers	30.7
Rebounds per game	Kevin Garnett	Minnesota Timberwolves	13.5
Assists per game	Steve Nash	Phoenix Suns	11.5
Steals per game	Larry Hughes	Washington Wizards	2.9
Blocks per game	Andrei Kirilenko	Utah Jazz	3.3
FG%	Shaquille O'Neal	Miami Heat	60.0%
FT%	Reggie Miller	Indiana Pacers	93.3%
3FG%	Fred Hoiberg	Minnesota Timberwolves	48.3%

NBA awards

★ 'Most Valuable Player:' Steve Nash, Phoenix Suns

★ 'Rookie of the Year:' Emeka Okafor, Charlotte Bobcats

★ 'Defensive Player of the Year:' Ben Wallace, Detroit Pistons

★ 'Sixth Man of the Year:' Ben Gordon, Chicago Bulls

★ 'Most Improved Player:' Bobby Simmons, Los Angeles Clippers

★ 'Coach of the Year:' Mike D'Antoni, Phoenix Suns

★ 'All-NBA First Team:'

★
★ F - Tim Duncan, San Antonio Spurs

★
★ F - Dirk Nowitzki, Dallas Mavericks

★
★ C - Shaquille O'Neal, Miami Heat

★
★ G - Allen Iverson, Philadelphia 76ers

★
★ G - Steve Nash, Phoenix Suns

★ 'All-NBA Second Team:'

★
★ F - LeBron James, Cleveland Cavaliers

★
★ F - Kevin Garnett, Minnesota Timberwolves

★
★ C - Amare Stoudemire, Phoenix Suns

★
★ G - Dwyane Wade, Miami Heat

★
★ G - Ray Allen, Seattle Supersonics

★ 'All-NBA Third Team'

★
★ F - Tracy McGrady, Houston Rockets

★
★ F - Shawn Marion, Phoenix Suns

★
★ C - Ben Wallace, Detroit Pistons

★
★ G - Kobe Bryant, Los Angeles Lakers

★
★ G - Gilbert Arenas, Washington Wizards

★ 'NBA All-Defensive First Team'

★
★ F - Kevin Garnett, Minnesota Timberwolves

★
★ F - Tim Duncan, San Antonio Spurs

★
★ C - Ben Wallace, Detroit Pistons

★
★ G - Bruce Bowen, San Antonio Spurs

★
★ G - Larry Hughes, Washington Wizards

★ 'NBA All-Defensive Second Team'

★
★ F - Tayshaun Prince, Detroit Pistons

★
★ F - Andrei Kirilenko, Utah Jazz

★
★ C - Marcus Camby, Denver Nuggets

★
★ G - Jason Kidd, New Jersey Nets

★
★ G - Dwyane Wade, Miami Heat

★
★ G - Chauncey Billups, Detroit Pistons

★ 'All-NBA Rookie First Team'

★
★ Emeka Okafor, Charlotte Bobcats

★
★ Dwight Howard, Orlando Magic

★
★ Ben Gordon, Chicago Bulls

★
★ Andre Iguodala, Philadelphia 76ers

★
★ Luol Deng, Chicago Bulls

★ 'All-NBA Rookie Second Team'

★
★ Nenad Krstic, New Jersey Nets

★
★ Marvin Williams, Atlanta Hawks drafted a year later wrong information

★
★ Josh Childress, Atlanta Hawks

★
★ Jameer Nelson, Orlando Magic

★
★ Al Jefferson, Boston Celtics

See also

★ 2005 NBA Playoffs

★ 2005 NBA Finals

★ 2005 NBA Draft