Inside LeBron James’ five greatest regular-season games against the Detroit Pistons

June 26, 2003, was a night expected to bring glory for two midwestern NBA franchises. Picking No. 1 overall, the Cleveland Cavaliers selected Akron teen LeBron James. Picking No. 2, the Detroit Pistons took Serbian teen Darko Milicic. Surely, draft experts said, the duo would lead their new franchises in battling for Central Division superiority for years, honing each other’s skills on the way to NBA history.

Well, they were half right.

With his 36th point Tuesday against the Oklahoma City Thunder, LeBron James finally delivered the milestone two decades in the making, passing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for No. 1 in NBA career scoring with 38,288 points. (Milicic, meanwhile, retired in 2013 — a 10-year NBA vet who finished with 2,813 points.)

LeBron James celebrates after breaking the record for all-time scoring in the NBA.

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Of James’ points, 1,471 — 3.8% — came in 61 regular-season games against the Detroit Pistons. James has more regular-season points against 12 other franchises (topped by his 1,751 against the Bucks) despite playing more games against just two franchises (the Atlanta Hawks, at 62, and the Indiana Pacers at 64).

That’s more a function of timing than anything else: His first seven seasons, spent in the Central Division with the Cavs, coincided with the Pistons’ arguably greatest era, and a renewed focus on defense. The Pistons’ ensuing decline into mediocrity — or worse — mostly overlapped with James’ times in Miami and Los Angeles, halving his opportunities to show up the franchise that was the gold standard when he entered the league in 2003.

And yet, James has still produced some epic games against the Pistons — including a 48-point playoff effort in May 2007 that heralded the end of the Pistons’ time as Eastern contenders. Though that one, in which he scored the Cavs’ final 25 points of regulation and overtime, doesn’t count toward the career scoring mark he set with 10.9 seconds left in the third quarter Tuesday. But what about the ones that do? Here’s a look back at James’ five highest-scoring regular-season performances against the Pistons:

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Detroit Pistons’ Tayshaun Prince, left, defends Cleveland Cavaliers’ LeBron James as he hits a jumper during the first half in Auburn Hills, Mich., Sunday, April 17, 2005. Detroit won, 90-87.

April 17, 2005: 37 points

Pistons 90, Cavaliers 87: How long ago was this? The Pistons entered the game at The Palace of Auburn Hills with the No. 2 seed in the East locked up, while the Cavs were jousting with the New Jersey Nets (40-40) and the Philadelphia 76ers (41-39) for the final two spots in the East field. (Also, LeBron James Jr. was just 194 days old; now better known as “Bronny,” he was named a McDonald’s All American last month.)

Accordingly, James stepped up to the moment in the first half, putting up 25 points on 8-for-15 shooting as the Cavs built a 52-40 lead through two quarters. (It helped that the Pistons were tussling more with the refs than the Cavs, racking up three technicals among their nine personal fouls.) But the third quarter was a different story, as Chauncey Billups ignited for 16 points on 6-for-6 shooting and the Pistons tied it at 65-all heading to the final quarter. In the fourth, the Pistons took the lead for good with 9:46 remaining, on a Tayshaun Prince layup. But the Cavs kept it close, and in a two-point game there was little doubt who was getting the ball, despite James’ 2-for-6 mark in the quarter (and 4-for-18 in the second half).

With 19.9 seconds left, James attempted to tie it for the first time, launching a 15-footer; it was blocked by Prince, who gathered the rebound and fed the ball to Billups. After Billups split his shots, the Cavs got the rebound trailing by three and set up a play for James at the top of the key with 9.9 seconds left. On him, again, was Prince, who wasn’t fooled by James’ head-fake ahead of a shot in the final second: “With the amount of time on the clock, I knew he wasn’t going to the basket, so that made it easier,” Prince said. “If we had been up by just two, that would have been a different story.”

Billups knew how this one was going to end: “Tayshaun’s length is a problem,” the guard said. “Once Tayshaun didn’t take the pump fake, I knew it was going to be a tough shot for him.” Prince stayed in front of the shot, which went short and into the waiting arms of Ben Wallace with one-tenth of a second left for his 15th rebound of the game.

“Everybody knows this was a costly loss,” James said afterward. Indeed it was, as the Cavs would win their final two games — but so would the 76ers and Nets, to lock up the 7- and 8-seeds, respectively. James’ playoff debut would wait until 2006: A second-round loss to the Pistons in seven games.

Jan. 28, 2011: 39 points

Heat 88, Pistons 87: Six years later, James was in the first season of taking his “talents to South Beach,” having teamed up with Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade in Miami — and still looking for his first title.

James opened at AmericanAirlines Arena, in the second night of a back-to-back, however, without Bosh (sprained ankle) and Wade (sprained wrist) for just the second time all season. No matter: James was on a roll, hitting five of six shots, plus three of four free throws, for 13 points in the first quarter. His shooting wasn’t as sharp in the second, however, going 5-for-10 en route to 10 points and a three-point Miami deficit. The third was even worse, as James hit just two of six shots, and two of three free throws, to get to 30 points entering the fourth quarter.

Miami Heat’s LeBron James (6) is fouled by Detroit Pistons’ Austin Daye (5) while shooting in the fourth quarter during an NBA basketball game in Miami, Friday, Jan. 28, 2011. The Heat defeated the Pistons 88-87.

That was when he took over as a scorer — 3-for-3, including a 3-pointer, and 2-for-3 at the line — and a playmaker, with five assists. His final helper, was the biggest, though: Coming out of a time out with 15.5 seconds left and the Heat trailing by one, James fired the ball to Eddie House, guarded tight by Ben Gordon, who fouled him. House sank both freebies with 6.5 seconds left for the winning margin (despite the Pistons’ protests of a foul on the final play, a missed dunk by Austin Daye). In all, James finished 15-for-25 from the floor and added nine assists, eight rebounds, two blocks and a steal.

“I knew I had to pick up the scoring load with two of our heavy hitters out, but also keep guys involved,” James told the Miami Herald. “We can easily make an excuse saying how late we got in last night, but no one feels sorry for us. It was great we had guys step up.”

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March 5, 2010: 40 points

Cavaliers 99, Pistons 92: A night at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland that alternated silly — when the full crowd donned wine-colored fleece blankets for five minutes to set a world record — and scary — when Pistons guard Rodney Stuckey collapsed during a timeout with 2:30 remaining in the third quarter — was eventually dominated by James.

Through it all, though, James piled up the points, scoring 12 points in each of the first, third and fourth quarters (and just four points on 2-for-3 shooting in the second).

Detroit Pistons forward Jason Maxiell (54) tries to get past Cleveland Cavaliers forward Anderson Varejao (17), from Brazil, in the second quarter Friday, March 5, 2010, in Cleveland. LeBron James watches.

When Stuckey exited, the Pistons had an eight-point lead. But they scored just three more points in the quarter and relinquished the lead early in the fourth. James scored 18 after Stuckey’s departure on 6-for-10 shooting and finished 16-for-27 wihth 13 rebounds, six assists, three steals and two blocks. But afterward, he was somber, reflecting on Stuckey and Hank Gathers, the Loyola Marymount senior who died after a sudden cardiac arrest on the court in 1990.

“Yesterday at practice, ESPN’s ‘30 for 30’ about Hank Gathers was on,” James told the Akron Beacon Journal. “That was the first thing that came to my mind. I was hoping that wasn’t the case.

“We are one family. When something happens to a player in our league, it affects all of us.”

(Stuckey missed six games, then finished the season with the Pistons and played four more in Detroit.)

March 7, 2007: 41 points

Cavaliers 101, Pistons 97 (OT): After being eliminated by the Pistons in the 2006 playoffs, then losing twice to them in the regular season, James and the Cavs had something to prove at The Palace — as well as something to gain, as they entered the night just three games back of the Pistons for the best record in the East.

“If we play well, nobody can beat us,” James said after his 17-for-31 performance. “We believe that.”

He set about demonstrating it early, pacing the Cavs with 14 points in the first quarter as they built a 10-point lead. But James made just two of six shots from the field in the second, and four of eight in the third as the Pistons recovered to build a nine-point lead with just under nine minutes left in the game.

James took over from there, closing out regulation with 11 points while his fellow Cavs scored 10 and the Pistons combined for 12; he tied it on a thunderous dunk with 5.7 seconds left, though he wasn’t finished. As time expired, James connected on a 3-pointer from 30 feet out that would have given the Cavs the win … but a replay review showed the ball on the tip of his middle finger as the horn sounded, and the teams headed to overtime.

In the extra session, James hit three free throws to finish off the Pistons —and even elicit some admiration from them: “LeBron was great, he had it going,” Billups told reporters. “That’s what makes him a great player.”

For James, the game was proof the Cavs would eventually dethrone the Pistons in the East.

“We showed maturity today in a hostile environment,” he said. “It is very big to come on their court and get a win. … We could’ve easily tanked it and we’ve done that in the past. Tonight we executed and got stops.”

Less than three months later, the Cavs would take command of the Eastern Conference finals on the Palace floor, with James’ immortal 48-point, 25-straight performance in Game 5, en route to the first NBA Finals in franchise history.

Cleveland Cavaliers’ LeBron James (23) passes the ball while under pressure from Detroit Pistons’ Tayshaun Prince (22) during the first quarter Wednesday, Nov. 24, 2004, in Cleveland.

Nov. 24, 2004: 43 points

Cavaliers 92, Pistons 76: We’ll wrap up the trip through the Wayback Machine even further back — Bronny was just 50 days old, and “Malice at the Palace,” the game-ending brawl between the Pacers and Pistons in Auburn Hills, was just five days past — to James’ fifth career game against the Pistons.

Just 90 games into his NBA career, James was still establishing himself as a superstar, and coming off a tumultuous summer in which he and Team USA, playing under Pistons coach Larry Brown, had ended a 24-game Olympic winning streak and finished with a bronze metal. James had reportedly chafed at his inconsistent minutes from Brown in Athens.

Still, it seemed like the bad feelings were left behind in Greece; before the game, James sent a card over to Brown, explaining, “He gave me something when my son (Bronny) was born and I sent him a thank-you card over.”

The Olympic grudge? “(The Olympics) are over, I don’t need motivation from that,” James said. “I guess I was feeling it tonight.”

With consistent minutes at Gund Arena, James was, indeed, feeling it: he played the first 14:28 for the Cavs and scored 19 of their first 29 points as Cleveland got out to an early 10-point lead. After the half, it was more of the same: James shot 5-for-8 from the field in the third (en route to 12 more points) and assisted on both of the Cavs’ other baskets in the quarter.

The Pistons wouldn’t go away, getting back to within 10 points three minutes into the fourth quarter, but James had an answer: Back-to-back 25-foot 3-pointers that signaled it was the Cavs’ night. James finished with 15 makes on 22 tries from the floor and 11 of 12 at the line while adding six rebounds, five assists and three steals. He also held his nemesis on the Pistons, Prince, to just four points on 2-for-7 shooting.

Afterward, Brown was fully aware of what he’d seen, telling reporters: “He took one bad shot. A lot of guys would’ve tried to get 60 in that kind of game. I thought he played great. It was as good a performance as I’ve seen.”

James’s coach was similarly effusive: “He was great tonight, not good, great,” Paul Silas said. “The 3s, the dunks, the free throws; there’s not enough superlatives to give this guy.”

One of James’ teammates, Jeff McInnis, had the final superlative, though, after scoring 16 points (as the only other Cav to crack double figures): “I felt like his sidekick tonight,” McInnis told the Beacon Journal. “LeBron was the show.”

Milicic, meanwhile, played just 2:03 against the Cavs, finishing with no points, one rebound and one assist and reminding fans of Brown’s words on draft night 2003: “If (he) develops bad habits,” Brown said, “blame it on me, because he doesn’t have any right now.”

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: LeBron James’ five best regular-season games against Detroit Pistons