At Least He’s on List Now

A reporter asked Detroit Piston Coach Larry Brown before Tuesday night’s game if he could name the only active coaches who had won NBA championships.

“Lenny Wilkens,” he said. “Phil [Jackson]. Is that it?”

“Pop,” the reporter said.

“Oh, yeah, Pop,” Brown said, grinning, embarrassed.

Gregg Popovich, one of his closest friends, won championships with the San Antonio Spurs in 1999 and again last season.

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Ticket brokers reported that seats for Game 5 were going for $535. And that was for the worst seats in the Palace: upper deck, behind the baskets.

Face value: $75.

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The Lakers, who were trying to become the first team to overcome a 3-1 deficit in the Finals, have never overcome a 2-1 deficit in the Finals. Before Tuesday, they were 0-7 in championship series after losing two of the first three games.

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Only 5,432 fans showed up at Staples Center to watch Game 5 on the video screens, the smallest of the three crowds watching the games at Auburn Hills, Mich.

Sunday’s crowd of 10,315 was the largest; Thursday’s total was 6,132.

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After several days of false sightings by star-struck fans and Michigan reporters, Laker superfan Jack Nicholson attended Game 5. The 67-year-old actor rarely attends road games now.

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Police braced for a long night.

The last time the Pistons won the championship, 14 years ago, fans partied into the early-morning hours, wreaking havoc. In Detroit, eight people died. Six were killed by cars, one was shot and one fell off a roof.

Thirty-five people were arrested or detained for disorderly conduct. Detroit police also reported 31 incidents of malicious destruction of property. Local hospitals reported treating at least 124 people, among them 26 who had been shot, two who had been stabbed and many who had been assaulted.

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Bob Lanier surveyed the scene before tipoff at the Palace of Auburn Hills. He crossed his arms in his neatly pressed olive-colored suit and smiled.

Lanier, who attended nearby Pershing High and the University of Detroit before ultimately playing with the Pistons, said the city of Detroit needed this type of excitement.

“When you’re in an area like Michigan, where we’ve been hit economically because of manufacturing and mining [losses], we need something like this to give us a little bit of an impact,” he said.

“It’s hard for people in Los Angeles to understand. In L.A., everybody’s got a Bentley. Here, everybody’s got GMCs.”

Lanier, one of seven Piston players whose jersey numbers have been retired, credited team President Joe Dumars and Coach Larry Brown for the Pistons’ turnaround this season.

“Joe Dumars started this whole era as a player from the Bad Boys days and now he’s spinning it into what it is by getting youth and veteran players,” Lanier said. “It’s a perfect blend of players on the floor and there’s no mistake about that.

“Larry Brown finally got this team to figure out his system. As he always says, they’ve learned to ‘play the right way.’ ”

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Times staff writers Mike Bresnahan, Jerry Crowe and Kelsie Smith and Times wire services contributed to this report.