the list is on ESPN's pay site, readers can only access the introduction without paying a fee.)

The 1988-89 Pistons were No. 11 on the list. They swept the Celtics in three games and Milwaukee in four before beating the Chicago Bulls in a six-game Eastern Conference Finals series.

In the finals, they extracted some revenge for their 1988 Finals loss by sweeping the Los Angeles Lakers in four games. Hollinger said he moved the Pistons down a few notches because Magic Johnson pulled his hamstring in Game 1 and missed the rest of the series while Byron Scott did not play either.

"Considering the Pistons won the final three games by 2, 4 and 8 points without those two playing, I think it's fair to say Detroit would have faceda much longer series otherwise," Hollinger wrote. "Nonetheless, we shouldn't discount the fact they were (11-2) in the playoffs before Magic went out."

(That Lakers team, by the way, was listed at No. 30 despite losing. They were the highest-ranked team of the 11 on the list that failed to win the NBA crown. The Lakers swept Portland, Seattle and Phoenix before the Pistons ended their 3-peat bid.)

The Pistons won their second title in 1990 when they repeated by beating the Portland Trail Blazers in five games. That helped them check in at No. 18 on Hollinger's list.

Before beating the Blazers, Detroit swept Indiana in three games, knocked off the New York Knicks in five and then survived a seven-game series with Michael Jordan and the Bulls.

In the Finals,