NBA Tournament of Champions: George Mikan Bracket Second Round

Maybe our viewpoint of today is right that contemporary athletes are bigger, faster, stronger, and all around better than the athletes of yesteryear (to paraphrase my dad); maybe they really aren't. If they aren't, the George Mikan Bracket certainly doesn't help that argument. Though the man inspired a drill all big men should take part in on a regular basis and forced rule changes in the old NBA (like the widening of the lane), his teams couldn't hang with the more modern champions, even if their ace did all he could (and really, he did). Still standing in Mikan's bracket are some teams that came around only a generation after his heyday, and a couple teams that came about during the golden era. Only two of these can advance.

As a reminder, all series in the Tournament of Champions are best of seven (2-2-1-1-1) with home court going to the team with the better overall record (regular season plus playoffs). All simulations are provided by WhatIfSports.com. If you want to see how we got here, here's the first round results. Let's play.
'64 Boston Celtics (67-23) vs '91 Chicago Bulls (76-23)
Game 1: @ '91 Bulls 117, '64 Celtics 74 (CHI leads 1-0)
Game 2: @ '91 Bulls 123, '64 Celtics 117 (CHI leads 2-0)
Game 3: @ '64 Celtics 112, '91 Bulls 105 (CHI leads 2-1)
Game 4: @ '64 Celtics 115, '91 Bulls 106 (Series tied 2-2)
Game 5: @ '91 Bulls 108, '64 Celtics 86 (CHI leads 3-2)
Game 6: '91 Bulls 120, @ '64 Celtics 108 (CHI wins 4-2)
In 1991, this Bulls team was a juggernaut, but the Celtics made them earn it with their experience and guile (remember, this '91 Bulls team was the first in franchise history to win a title). Bill Russell wasn't the dominant offensive presence, but he didn't need to be. Sam Jones, Tommy Heinsohn, Willie Naulls... all those guys averaged double figures. Michael wasn't as dominant a scorer in this series as he was in others, other than 33 points in Game 6. Ultimately he needed Scottie and Horace Grant to help him out here. By the way, Game 6 was a classic. The Bulls fell behind 42-27 after 12 minutes but worked their way back.

'73 New York Knicks (69-30) vs '89 Detroit Pistons (78-21)
Game 1: @ '89 Pistons 115, '73 Knicks 105 (DET leads 1-0)
Game 2: @ '89 Pistons 119, '73 Knicks 105 (DET leads 2-0)
Game 3: '89 Pistons 128, @ '73 Knicks 126 (OT) (DET leads 3-0)
Game 4: @ '73 Knicks 104, '89 Pistons 99 (DET leads 3-1)
Game 5: @ '89 Pistons 105, '73 Knicks 91 (DET wins 4-1)
Game 3 joined the growing list of "Instant Classics", as this one was neck and neck all the way through, even once it went to overtime. Once again Isiah Thomas was the hero, knocking down a jumper this time as the clock ran out to put the Knicks on the brink of elimination. They were able to stave it off for a game, but the Pistons won Game 5 in a very Piston-like manner (nobody outstanding, but everyone putting up solid minutes and numbers). It was a change from the first 3 games where Isiah Thomas all but stole the show.

To see the updated bracket, click here.

Interestingly enough, the recency factor wins out again, though it seemed closer this time, especially in the first series this round. Boston freaked me out a little bit. We do get a great final matchup in this bracket though, and any Bulls fans who were around in the late 80's and early 90's ought to love this. That's one that should go at least 6 games, if not the distance with how close this rivalry was back in the day. And hey, maybe virtual Isiah will be less of a little [female dog] than real Isiah was in '91!

We'll find that out for sure in a couple weeks. Tomorrow we go back to more of the golden era with a perfect storm from the 70's, a great center winning his first title in the 90's, and a pair of 80's juggernauts.