Battles at Palace helped prep Heat for title run

Arena has hosted many memories over 29-year span

AUBURN HILLS, Mich. — To put into perspective how long the Heat have been coming to the Palace Auburn Hills, consider that the building is as old as the 29-year-old Heat.

That made Tuesday night’s final visit of the season the end of an era, with the Pistons next season moving from the northern suburbs to the new, downtown Little Caesars Arena, which they will share with the NHL Red Wings.

“It just shows you that nothing stops change,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “It starts to make you feel a little bit old, things that happen. Change, you don’t expect it, but it’s inevitable.”

The Heat’s first appearance at the venue came on Dec. 20, 1988, less than two months into the infancy of the franchise. The Heat fell to 1-20 that night with a 116-100 loss. Point guard Rory Sparrow led the Heat with 23 points under coach Ron Rothstein, who was back Tuesday as the Heat’s radio analyst.

But it was the bigger stage that defined the Heat’s Palace memories, falling to the Pistons in the 2005 Eastern Conference finals under current Pistons coach Stan Van Gundy and then winning the 2006 East finals under Pat Riley on the way to the franchise’s first championship.

“Those Eastern Conference playoff battles, there’s nothing like that,” said Spoelstra, an assistant on those staffs. “There’s some buildings that are just different. Detroit, back in the heyday, it was a great rivalry. That crowd was ready — they were loud, they were nasty. Those were fun battles.”

The only remaining Heat player from those epic series is power forward Udonis Haslem, who took time before Tuesday’s game to reflect.

“I always remember those games,” he said. “Those are, in my mind, some of the most competitive games that I’ve ever been a part of. Also, I was young. You’re naïve to think that your career is just going to be like that. I cherished the opportunity to have such great competition. So I’m always going to remember that, always going to have those memories.”

Haslem said he is convinced that without the 2005 injury-plagued heartbreak against Richard Hamilton, Chauncey Billups, Ben Wallace, Rasheed Wallace and Tayshaun Prince that there would not have been the crowning glory of 2006.

“We found out a lot about ourselves,” he said. “We found out a lot about who we are. We found out a lot about what the Pistons are. We found out a lot about what it took to be champions.

“They definitely helped us take a hug step, being a part of that series and having to come here and get some games here and play against that championship, legendary team.”

Hassan

stitches they come out probably about two weeks, like with these probably two weeks after you injured them,” he said.

“It’s a little less pain, but it’s still pain, like if I shoot a lot of jump shots or if I do a lot, because it just bends back your hand. So that’s what it is now.”

The hand remains wrapped, padded and protected.

“Just re-tape it every game,” he said. “You know, they clean it, they re-tape it every game and just put padding on it.”

Goran Dragic

BRIAN BAHR/GETTY IMAGES Power forward Udonis Haslem is only the remaining Miami player from the epic battles between the Heat and Pistons during the 2005 and 2006 Eastern Conference Finals.