2005–06 Detroit Pistons season

The 2005–06 Detroit Pistons season was the 65th season of the franchise, the 58th in the National Basketball Association (NBA), and the 49th in the Detroit area. The team entered the season as the two-time defending Eastern Conference champions. The Pistons began the season hoping to improve upon their 54–28 output from the previous season and have another chance of going to the NBA Finals after losing to the San Antonio Spurs in last season's NBA Finals in seven games. They bested it by ten games, finishing 64–18—their best record in franchise history—and qualifying for the playoff for the fifth straight season. The Pistons defeated the Milwaukee Bucks in five games in the first round, and the Cleveland Cavaliers in a tough, hard-fought seven-game series to reach the Eastern Conference finals for the fourth consecutive year before losing to the eventual NBA champions Miami Heat, whom they had beaten in a seven-game playoff series the year before. Detroit's offseason was soon marked by the departure of star defensive player Ben Wallace, who signed a free-agent deal with the Chicago Bulls.

For the season, the Pistons had a new logo, and, though they kept the uniforms, the horse logo was replaced by the letter 'P' on the left side of the shorts, they added new red road alternate uniforms with blue side panels to their jerseys and shorts, their alternate uniforms remained in used until 2009, while the logo and uniforms lasted until 2017.

Ben Wallace won his fourth and final Defensive Player of the Year Award and he along with Rasheed Wallace, Richard Hamilton, and Chauncey Billups were selected as reserves for the 2006 NBA All-Star Game.

Playoffs

 * - align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc"
 * 1
 * April 23
 * Milwaukee
 * W 92–74
 * Rasheed Wallace (22)
 * Ben Wallace (17)
 * Chauncey Billups (7)
 * The Palace of Auburn Hills 22,076
 * 1–0
 * - align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc"
 * 2
 * April 26
 * Milwaukee
 * W 109–98
 * Tayshaun Prince (22)
 * Ben Wallace (11)
 * Richard Hamilton (8)
 * The Palace of Auburn Hills 22,076
 * 2–0
 * - align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc"
 * 3
 * April 29
 * @ Milwaukee
 * L 104–124
 * Chauncey Billups (26)
 * Antonio McDyess (8)
 * Chauncey Billups (6)
 * Bradley Center 18,717
 * 2–1
 * - align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc"
 * 4
 * May 1
 * @ Milwaukee
 * W 109–99
 * Chauncey Billups (34)
 * Antonio McDyess (11)
 * Tayshaun Prince (7)
 * Bradley Center 16,296
 * 3–1
 * - align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc"
 * 5
 * May 3
 * Milwaukee
 * W 122–93
 * Richard Hamilton (40)
 * Ben Wallace (14)
 * Chauncey Billups (8)
 * The Palace of Auburn Hills 22,076
 * 4–1


 * - align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc"
 * 1
 * May 7
 * Cleveland
 * W 113–86
 * Tayshaun Prince (24)
 * Ben Wallace (11)
 * Chauncey Billups (10)
 * The Palace of Auburn Hills 22,076
 * 1–0
 * - align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc"
 * 2
 * May 9
 * Cleveland
 * W 97–91
 * Rasheed Wallace (29)
 * Ben Wallace (15)
 * Chauncey Billups (7)
 * The Palace of Auburn Hills 22,076
 * 2–0
 * - align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc"
 * 3
 * May 13
 * @ Cleveland
 * L 77–86
 * Richard Hamilton (22)
 * Ben Wallace (13)
 * Billups, Hamilton (5)
 * Gund Arena 20,562
 * 2–1
 * - align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc"
 * 4
 * May 15
 * @ Cleveland
 * L 72–74
 * Richard Hamilton (30)
 * Ben Wallace (10)
 * Chauncey Billups (7)
 * Gund Arena 20,562
 * 2–2
 * - align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc"
 * 5
 * May 17
 * Cleveland
 * L 84–86
 * Tayshaun Prince (21)
 * Ben Wallace (13)
 * Chauncey Billups (5)
 * The Palace of Auburn Hills 22,076
 * 2–3
 * - align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc"
 * 6
 * May 19
 * @ Cleveland
 * W 84–82
 * Rasheed Wallace (24)
 * Ben Wallace (10)
 * Billups, Wallace (4)
 * Gund Arena 20,562
 * 3–3
 * - align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc"
 * 7
 * May 21
 * Cleveland
 * W 79–61
 * Tayshaun Prince (20)
 * Ben Wallace (9)
 * Billups, Prince (3)
 * The Palace of Auburn Hills 22,076
 * 4–3


 * - align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc"
 * 1
 * May 23
 * Miami
 * L 86–91
 * Richard Hamilton (22)
 * Ben Wallace (14)
 * Chauncey Billups (7)
 * The Palace of Auburn Hills 22,076
 * 0–1
 * - align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc"
 * 2
 * May 25
 * Miami
 * W 92–88
 * Tayshaun Prince (24)
 * Ben Wallace (12)
 * Chauncey Billups (8)
 * The Palace of Auburn Hills 22,076
 * 1–1
 * - align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc"
 * 3
 * May 27
 * @ Miami
 * L 83–98
 * Chauncey Billups (31)
 * Rasheed Wallace (10)
 * Tayshaun Prince (4)
 * American Airlines Arena 20,245
 * 1–2
 * - align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc"
 * 4
 * May 29
 * @ Miami
 * L 78–89
 * Tayshaun Prince (15)
 * Ben Wallace (11)
 * Chauncey Billups (7)
 * American Airlines Arena 20,248
 * 1–3
 * - align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc"
 * 5
 * May 31
 * Miami
 * W 91–78
 * Tayshaun Prince (29)
 * Richard Hamilton (10)
 * Chauncey Billups (10)
 * The Palace of Auburn Hills 22,076
 * 2–3
 * - align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc"
 * 6
 * June 2
 * @ Miami
 * L 78–95
 * Richard Hamilton (33)
 * Rasheed Wallace (8)
 * Chauncey Billups (8)
 * American Airlines Arena 20,258
 * 2–4

Awards and records

 * Ben Wallace, NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award
 * Ben Wallace, All-NBA Second Team
 * Chauncey Billups, All-NBA Second Team
 * Ben Wallace, NBA All-Defensive First Team
 * Chauncey Billups, NBA All-Defensive Second Team
 * Tayshaun Prince, NBA All-Defensive Second Team
 * Ben Wallace, Allstar reserve
 * Chauncey Billups, Allstar reserve
 * Richard Hamilton, Allstar reserve
 * Rasheed Wallace, Allstar reserve