There wasn’t much doubt the Pistons and Celtics would meet again in the 1988 postseason.
Detroit finished the regular season 54-28 to claim the second seed, while Boston ended 57-25 with the top spot in the conference.
The Pistons were ready for revenge in 1988, and they got off to a great start by taking Game 1 in Boston 104-96.
Game 2 was nearly a disaster for the Celtics until McHale fulfilled his promise to his teammates before the season began.
Boston trailed 109-106 with five seconds left in regulation as the Pistons prepared to pounce on a 2-0 series advantage.
That’s when McHale did the unthinkable by hitting a game-tying three-pointer. His basket sent the game into overtime, and the Celtics eventually pulled out a 119-115 double-OT victory. McHale hadn’t hit a three-pointer all year. It was his first attempt.
“I promised some guys that I’d hit a 3-pointer this year,” McHale said after the game, per United Press International. “But I thought it would be in some meaningless game at the end of the regular season.”
The play certainly wasn’t designed for the big man. Instead, McHale, standing at the top of the key, gathered a ball that deflected off Bird’s fingers.
He quickly turned and threw it up at the buzzer. That was the second three-pointer made in 17 tries for McHale in his NBA career.
“I didn’t even think,” said McHale. “That’s the key to my basketball success — never thinking.”
The loss rekindled a painful memory for the Pistons. Some players reflected on Bird’s steal from the previous year that shifted the momentum in the series.
“They’ve got to have a leprechaun,” Detroit’s John Salley said. “McHale’s shot was ridiculous. There’s something here. Something doesn’t want us to win, and I don’t know what it is.”
Pistons coach Chuck Daly felt the same, saying, “The leprechaun got ’em today.”
Things were even more painful for the Pistons when several players believed McHale’s foot was on the line when he took his shot.
“Adrian Dantley and someone else said they saw his foot on the line,” Daly said. “But the rules say the officials can’t use the television replays, though I’m told they show his foot was on it.
So they made the call, and we must live with it.”
McHale responded.
“I’m standing out there in no man’s land with the ball. I’m not looking down at my feet, wondering whether to back up a step,” he said. “I just turned around and flung it. I knew it was good when it left my hand.”
The Pistons rebounded from the tough loss and defeated the Celtics in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Finals to win the series, 4-2.
For the first time in team history, the Pistons weren’t just flirting with the NBA Finals –– they made it all the way.
Vinnie Johnson scored a team-high 24 points off the bench, with four rebounds and four assists.
Adrian Dantley scored 22, Isiah Thomas dished out nine assists, Bill Laimbeer had nine rebounds, and John Salley recorded five blocks.
Without double-digit scoring from either Thomas or Joe Dumars, a total team effort propelled the “Bad Boys” to their first NBA Finals, a matchup against the Los Angeles Lakers.
Beating the Celtics in the playoffs was a new taste of success for the Pistons after losing to them in Game 7 of the 1987 Eastern Conference Finals and Game 6 of the 1985 Conference Semifinals.
The Pistons entered the series with 21 straight losses at the Boston Garden.
However, despite past struggles, Detroit gutted out road wins in Games 1 and 5 before finishing off the Celtics at home.
Detroit also reached the Finals on June 3, 1990, for the third-straight season, by taking down Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls in seven games.
That game is known as the Scottie Pippen migraine game, as the Bulls’ second-best player was stricken with an intense headache that morning, limiting him to two points on 1-for-10 shooting.
Even though the Pistons lost to the Lakers in the 1988 Finals, they won back-to-back titles in the next two years.
Detroit topped Boston in the next two playoff meetings between the teams: the 1989 first round and 1991 conference semifinals.
