NBA Tournament of Champions: Magic Johnson Bracket Second Round

When thinking of namesakes for each bracket, this one was the hardest. I already had half the bracket named for Celtics and wanted to even it out some, so Magic got his name on one. He showed why he deserved it a couple weeks ago as his team was one of four in the bracket to advance, but new challenges await this week. A battle of 80's titans awaits, as does Seattle's lone title team coming back from the dead to face a juggernaut. Uh oh.

As usual, all series are best of seven (2-2-1-1-1 format), with home court going to the team with the better overall record (regular season plus playoffs). All simulations are provided by WhatIfSports.com. Here are the results from last round. If you're ready, I am too. Let's go.
 
'79 Seattle Supersonics (64-35) vs '97 Chicago Bulls (84-17)
Game 1: @ '97 Bulls 97, '79 Supersonics 91 (CHI leads 1-0)
Game 2: @ '97 Bulls 101, '79 Supersonics 87 (CHI leads 2-0)
Game 3: '97 Bulls 101, @ '79 Supersonics 85 (CHI leads 3-0)
Game 4: '97 Bulls 106, @ '79 Supersonics 97 (CHI wins 4-0)
As was the case most of the time in games involving Michael, he was the main reason the Bulls won, but he got a good amount out of teammates. Scottie struggled some throughout the series in terms of numbers but did enough damage that it didn't matter. Rodman was a monster on the boards as usual, and Luc Longley had a decent series as well. Steve Kerr was hitting shots enough that Toni Kukoc wasn't really needed (and again, I had to increase his minute load because the person who set up these Bulls teams with him on them must have forgotten that Kukoc was a vital part of that team).

'85 Los Angeles Lakers (77-24) vs '83 Philadelphia 76ers (77-18)
Game 1: '85 Lakers 111, @ '83 76ers 109 (LAL leads 1-0)
Game 2: @ '83 76ers 122, '85 Lakers 99 (Series tied 1-1)
Game 3: '83 76ers 116, @ '85 Lakers 100 (PHI leads 2-1)
Game 4: '83 76ers 120, @ '85 Lakers 119 (OT) (PHI leads 3-1)
Game 5: @ '83 76ers 113. '85 Lakers 99 (PHI wins 4-1)
The Lakers' magic faded promptly after Game 1. In that game, the Lakers overcame a balanced effort from the Sixers so Kurt Rambis could get his lone made shot of the game as the buzzer sounded to give LA an early series lead. Moses Malone provided good two-way play the whole series while Dr. J did a lot of damage offensively. Game 4 was what killed the Lakers though. They blew an 11 point lead going into the 4th as Moses tied the game with a layup with four seconds left in regulation allowing Bobby Jones to throw down a dunk as time expired to give the Sixers the win. Game 5 saw Moses' 25-18 with 5 blocks to overcome Magic's lone triple-double of the series.

To see the updated bracket, click here.

Bill Simmons said in his Book of Basketball that the dirty little secret of MJ's title teams was the lack of elite centers they had to face on their way to glory. They have to face one in the next round in Moses Malone. We'll find out in a week or two how that plays out. Tomorrow, a younger MJ gets a shot at revenge and the legendary Lakers-Celtics rivalry gets renewed again.