NBA Tournament of Champions: Quarterfinals

After a lengthy amount of time off, I figure it's about time to get back into the process of rounding out this tournament. Sixty four teams entered, and now only 8 remain. If you were to give me the 8 best teams of all time, I'm sure a lot of these squads would make it, but probably not all of them. But each of these teams has survived a virtual onslaught from other NBA champions (granted, some slates tougher than others) to get to this point, and to be the Champion of Champions, you have to get through three more titans. It's no small feat.

So for today, we move on to the quarterfinals. I'm doing all the series here, but not announcing best players or anything until we get to the end. At that point I'll name an All-Tournament Team or two (or maybe even three, we'll see). For now, it's just simulations. As in the first three rounds, these 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. You can click on the tag below for "Tournament of Champions" to see every other post about the tournament to date. For now, let's move on to the quarters.

'88 Los Angeles Lakers (77-29) vs '12 Miami Heat (62-27)

Game 1: '12 Heat 121, @ '88 Lakers 111 (MIA leads 1-0)
Game 2: @ '88 Lakers 92, '12 Heat 80 (Series tied 1-1)
Game 3: @ '12 Heat 112, '88 Lakers 103 (MIA leads 2-1)
Game 4: @ '12 Heat 99, '88 Lakers 86 (MIA leads 3-1)
Game 5: @ '88 Lakers 118, '12 Heat 115 (MIA leads 3-2)
Game 6: @ '12 Heat 102, '88 Lakers 91 (MIA wins 4-2)
Ultimately I don't think this Lakers team had the tools to defend Miami's trio of stars. Chris Bosh was excellent (averaging a 19-8 for the series), and LeBron was his usual self (24-7-10, including 42 in the Game 5 loss). But it really was Dwyane Wade who carried this Heat squad (26-6-5, with 3 games of at least 30 points). Magic Johnson couldn't manage any triple doubles, but put up some great numbers. It just wasn't enough.

'72 Los Angeles Lakers (81-16) vs '96 Chicago Bulls (87-13)

Game 1: @ '96 Bulls 101, '72 Lakers 99 (CHI leads 1-0)
Game 2: '72 Lakers 109, @ '96 Bulls 104 (Series tied 1-1)
Game 3: '96 Bulls 122, @ '72 Lakers 108 (CHI leads 2-1)
Game 4: '96 Bulls 107, @ '72 Lakers 85 (CHI leads 3-1)
Game 5: @ '96 Bulls 123, '71 Lakers 104 (CHI wins 4-1)
We had a great game right from the start as a back and forth battle ended the way a lot of other games the 90's Bulls played ended: MJ hitting a shot as the buzzer went off. He and Pippen struggled in Game 2, especially from deep (a combined 2-14). Jerry West played extremely well in the first two games, but struggled once the series shifted to LA. Luc Longley and Toni Kukoc both added some key efforts in big games to push this titan onward to face Miami.

'05 San Antonio Spurs (75-30) vs '97 Chicago Bulls (84-17)

Game 1: '05 Spurs 93, @ '97 Bulls 76 (SA leads 1-0)
Game 2: @ '97 Bulls 117, '05 Spurs 112 (OT) (Series tied 1-1)
Game 3: '97 Bulls 84, @ '05 Spurs 69 (CHI leads 2-1)
Game 4: @ '05 Spurs 98, '97 Bulls 82 (Series tied 2-2)
Game 5: '05 Spurs 88, @ '97 Bulls 69 (SA leads 3-2)
Game 6: '97 Bulls 100, @ '05 Spurs 96 (Series tied 3-3)
Game 7: '05 Spurs 89, @ '97 Bulls 87 (SA wins 4-3)
Wow. The Spurs played terrific defense pretty much all series on Pippen and Jordan. It showed in Games 1 and 5 as the Bulls struggled from the floor overall. Game 2 was a classic, as Ron Harper drilled a 3 as the buzzer sounded to send the game to overtime, and then MJ did his thing. Tim Duncan elevated his game from Game 4 onward, and Game 7 looked bound for overtime when somehow, off an inbounds play with 1 second left, Duncan threw down a dunk before the buzzer sounded to give the Spurs the win.

'91 Chicago Bulls (76-23) vs '13 Miami Heat (82-23)

Game 1: @ '13 Heat 87, '91 Bulls 86 (MIA leads 1-0)
Game 2: '91 Bulls 107, @ '13 Heat 90 (Series tied 1-1)
Game 3: '13 Heat 113, @ '91 Bulls 96 (MIA leads 2-1)
Game 4: @ '91 Bulls 108, '13 Heat 98 (Series tied 2-2)
Game 5: @ '13 Heat 96, '91 Bulls 87 (MIA leads 3-2)
Game 6: @ '91 Bulls 101, '13 Heat 98 (Series tied 3-3)
Game 7: @ '13 Heat 111, '91 Bulls 94 (MIA wins 4-3)
I expected this going into Game 7, but it still wasn't any less heartbreaking. Chris Bosh went OFF in Game 1, something I don't think anyone expected to happen. MJ was really good in the first 4 games but struggled as the series progressed. Scottie didn't do much offensively, and Horace Grant did his damage but wasn't as dominant as one would expect.

To see the updated bracket, click here.

I'd like to maintain that this is just a simulation, nothing more. It's the best we can do since time travel doesn't exist, but I'd like to maintain my dad's theory about recency bias. I could see the 2013 Heat getting by maybe one of the teams from the Bulls' first three-peat, but all 3? With a tough 80's Celtics team sandwiched in there? I doubt it (though that could be my anti-Miami bias talking). Alas, I'm going on with the simulations as is. Next time, I'll have the '96 Bulls taking on the '12 Heat for revenge as the '05 Spurs get a crack at the most recent champs.