Three of Bill Russell's title teams are here, as well as Wilt's second championship squad and Kareem's first. Some stacked squads here, so now we have to take these guys to the simulator and see what happens.
As in the other brackets, all series are best of seven (2-2-1-1-1) with home court determined by overall record (regular season plus playoffs). All simulations are provided by WhatIfSports.com. Let's go.
'71 Milwaukee Bucks (78-18) vs '65 Boston Celtics (70-22)
Game 1: @ '71 Bucks 127, '65 Celtics 74 (MIL leads 1-0)
Game 2: @ '71 Bucks 117, '65 Celtics 108 (MIL leads 2-0)
Game 3: @ '65 Celtics 122, '71 Bucks 120 (MIL leads 2-1)
Game 4: '71 Bucks 117, @ '65 Celtics 113 (MIL leads 3-1)
Game 5: @ '71 Bucks 138, '65 Celtics 102 (MIL wins 4-1)
If I were to pick an early favorite for tournament MVP, it's definitely Kareem. He was scoring at will all series long, including 49 in the Game 3 loss, and 41 in the clincher. Maybe more amazing: Oscar Robertson doesn't have a triple-double yet. We'll keep an eye on this.
'99 San Antonio Spurs (52-15) vs '60 Boston Celtics (67-21)
Game 1: '60 Celtics 128, @ '99 Spurs 124 (BOS leads 1-0)
Game 2: '60 Celtics 108, @ '99 Spurs 100 (BOS leads 2-0)
Game 3: '99 Spurs 124, @ '60 Celtics 111 (BOS leads 2-1)
Game 4: @ '60 Celtics 124, '99 Spurs 115 (BOS leads 3-1)
Game 5: @ '99 Spurs 113, '60 Celtics 100 (BOS leads 3-2)
Game 6: @ '60 Celtics 123, '99 Spurs 121 (OT) (BOS wins 4-2)
What a series this was. Sam Jones hit a floater with 2 seconds left in the extra session to win Game 6 and the series for the C's. Bill Russell was up to his usual antics. David Robinson had a monster game in Game 3, but wasn't as big a factor for much of the rest of the series.
'00 Los Angeles Lakers (82-23) vs '68 Boston Celtics (66-35)
Game 1: @ '00 Lakers 118, '68 Celtics 106 (LAL leads 1-0)
Game 2: @ '00 Lakers 114, '68 Celtics 90 (LAL leads 2-0)
Game 3: '00 Lakers 95, @ '68 Celtics 94 (LAL leads 3-0)
Game 4: '00 Lakers 106, @ '68 Celtics 105 (LAL wins 4-0)
I figured this Lakers team would win, but not like this. LA held serve at home, then was somehow able to escape win wins in Boston. Heck, Shaq converted a 3-point play with 7 seconds left in Game 3 where the free throw was the difference! Granted, he was 6-13 from the line that game, but still!
'58 St. Louis Hawks (49-34) vs '72 Los Angeles Lakers (81-16)
Game 1: @ '72 Lakers 117, '58 Hawks 97 (LAL leads 1-0)
Game 2: @ '72 Lakers 139, '58 Hawks 95 (LAL leads 2-0)
Game 3: '72 Lakers 136, @ '58 Hawks 114 (LAL leads 3-0)
Game 4: '72 Lakers 104, @ '58 Hawks 94 (LAL wins 4-0)
I totally saw this one coming. Wilt wasn't really the huge factor you expected him to be, which kind of throws me for a loop, but the rest of the team came through, including Jerry West in Game 1 especially. Fun fact: since pretty much every game included garbage time, we saw the end of benches, which included an Elgin Baylor cameo even though he retired partway into the 71-72 season!
To see the updated bracket, click here.
Part of me expected more of a fight in a lot of these series, but we're down to a lot of really, really good teams in this bracket. We also get the first same-franchise matchup of the tournament in the next round as two Lakers squads will face off. And can Kareem keep up the pace?
I'm taking a break for the rest of the weekend. On Monday, we go to a Laker-named bracket that's Celtic-heavy again. Can Boston push more of its title teams forward? Or will a Top-5 all time player defend his namesake against other superstars?
No comments:
Post a Comment