NBA Tournament of Champions: Bob Cousy Bracket First Round

I started Confessions of a Sportscaster back in 2011, primarily as a portfolio builder, but also because I wanted to do something with my love of sports, so I started writing about them. Any topic was up for grabs. Even starting to run simulations became a source of entertainment for me. And it's as part of one of these grand simulations (the biggest I've done) that I find myself on post number 200. Seems only fitting that it be in the middle of an exciting round of basketball.

This is a Celtics-heavy bracket with 4 entries from that franchise, including their most recent title, yet there's no time paradox here yet since there's no Celtic/Celtic matchup. At least, not yet. In order to find out if we do, we're doing best of seven series (2-2-1-1-1 format), with home court being decided by the best overall record (regular season plus playoffs). All simulations are provided by WhatIfSports.com.

'80 Los Angeles Lakers (72-26) vs '08 Boston Celtics (82-26)
Game 1: '80 Lakers 111, @ '08 Celtics 87 (LAL leads 1-0)
Game 2: '80 Lakers 94, @ '08 Celtics 85 (LAL leads 2-0)
Game 3: '08 Celtics 96, @ '80 Lakers 93 (LAL leads 2-1)
Game 4: '08 Celtics 106, @ '80 Lakers 92 (Series tied 2-2)
Game 5: @ '08 Celtics 94, '80 Lakers 85 (BOS leads 3-2)
Game 6: '08 Celtics 104, @ '80 Lakers 92 (BOS wins 4-2)
Full disclosure: Magic wasn't set to start any games (and he didn't; I only really upped his minutes to fix a glitch in the depth chart). He played very significant minutes still. And through two games, I thought this one was over. Ray Allen was invisible, and Kevin Garnett was a non-factor offensively. Finally in LA, Paul Pierce decided he had enough and helped will the Celtics to a tie series after 4. In Game 5 Garnett finally asserted himself to set the stage for Game 6, when Ray Allen fully arrived and, combined with Garnett and Pierce, put the Lakers away.

'77 Portland Trailblazers (63-38) vs '76 Boston Celtics (66-34)
Game 1: '77 Trailblazers 120, @ '76 Celtics 107 (POR leads 1-0)
Game 2: @ '76 Celtics 117, '77 Trailblazers 103 (Series tied 1-1)
Game 3: '76 Celtics 108, @ '77 Trailblazers 104 (BOS leads 2-1)
Game 4: '76 Celtics 122, @ '77 Trailblazers 110 (BOS leads 3-1)
Game 5: '77 Trailblazers 130, @ '76 Celtics 113 (BOS leads 3-2)
Game 6: @ '77 Trailblazers 103, '76 Celtics 88 (Series tied 3-3)
Game 7: '77 Trailblazers 111, @ '76 Celtics 91 (POR wins 4-3)
What a series. Maurice Lucas and Bill Walton did most of the heavy lifting for the Blazers, only to see Dave Cowens and Jo Jo White push them to the brink in Portland, but they never gave up. Walton refused to let them die in Game 5 and the team rallied around him. We avoid a time travel series next round.

'96 Chicago Bulls (87-13) vs '62 Boston Celtics (68-26)
Game 1: @ '96 Bulls 113, '62 Celtics 95 (CHI leads 1-0)
Game 2: @ '96 Bulls 114, '62 Celtics 99 (CHI leads 2-0)
Game 3: '96 Bulls 118, @ '62 Celtics 101 (CHI leads 3-0)
Game 4: '96 Bulls 107, @ '62 Celtics 101 (CHI wins 4-0)
When envisioning this series, I wondered one thing: Who's stopping Michael Jordan? Obviously, no one. He averaged 30.5 points over the 4 game sweep, with more coming at home than in Boston. Game 4 was amazing though. The Bulls started the 4th down 12 points and hadn't made any headway with 3:25 left. Then Pippen hit a three and after trading stops, Harper scored and was fouled, missed the free throw, but had Scottie there to rebound it, who was fouled on a three and hit two of three. A Longley steal led to a Harper three, when Heinsohn scored to put the Celtics up 4. MJ then pulled the Bulls back within 2 with a minute to go and Scottie nailed a corner three seconds later to put the Bulls in front for good.

'63 Boston Celtics (66-27) vs '54 Minneapolis Lakers (55-30)
Game 1: @ '63 Celtics 115, '54 Lakers 99 (BOS leads 1-0)
Game 2: @ '63 Celtics 107, '54 Lakers 94 (BOS leads 2-0)
Game 3: '63 Celtics 109, @ '54 Lakers 90 (BOS leads 3-0)
Game 4: '63 Celtics 112, @ '54 Lakers 92 (BOS wins 4-0)
Sadly, this one doesn't surprise me much either. George Mikan once again did all he could to keep his Lakers team afloat, but he struggled early in the series and his efforts in Game 4 weren't enough to overcome a 14-26 from Bill Russell.

To see the updated bracket, click here.

7 Brackets so far, one more left to do to finish this round. Amazingly, I still don't think we've had a matchup between different iterations of a franchise, much less a battle between older and younger versions of players (other than guys who have switched teams). The one bracket left is the one I've most looked forward to though. One more version each of a Bird and Magic title team, another Bad Boy Pistons squad, and the matchup of the first round so far. I can't wait.