NBA Tournament of Champions: Semifinals

It was great to get back into the spirit of regular season football, wasn't it? However, with three series left to play in the NBA Tournament of Champions, I need to take advantage of a day off from football posts to fill the gap.

So if you've forgotten where we left off, both of LeBron's Heat teams still stand, and they oppose one of MJ's title teams and one of Duncan's from the past decade. They now go to battle to see who will play for the Championship of Champions.

Both these series, like the 60 that preceded them, 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. Let's play.
'12 Miami Heat (62-27) vs '96 Chicago Bulls (87-13)

Game 1: @ '96 Bulls 85, '12 Heat 75 (CHI leads 1-0)
Game 2: @ '96 Bulls 103, '12 Heat 84 (CHI leads 2-0)
Game 3: '96 Bulls 101, @ '12 Heat 85 (CHI leads 3-0)
Game 4: @ '12 Heat 93, '96 Bulls 87 (CHI leads 3-1)
Game 5: @ 96 Bulls 94, '12 Heat 86 (CHI wins 4-1)
In a tight series, the Bulls played excellent defense to contain Miami's Big Three in Game 1. Then in Game 2, Luc Longley (!) of all people put up 26 points to give the Bulls a big lead as the series transitioned to Miami. MJ then went off in Game 3 (30-9-6), but the Bulls couldn't hold a 13 point lead in the 4th of Game 4. But in Game 5, MJ had 7 steals to go with his 26 points to put the winningest team in NBA history into the Finals.

'05 San Antonio Spurs (75-30) vs '13 Miami Heat (82-23)

Game 1: @ '13 Heat 84, '05 Spurs 73 (MIA leads 1-0)
Game 2: '05 Spurs 95, @ '13 Heat 93 (Series tied 1-1)
Game 3: @ '05 Spurs 90, '13 Heat 78 (SA leads 2-1)
Game 4: @ '05 Spurs 100, '13 Heat 83 (SA leads 3-1)
Game 5: @ '13 Heat 121, '05 Spurs 108 (SA leads 3-2)
Game 6: '13 Heat 91, @ '05 Spurs 90 (Series tied 3-3)
Game 7: '05 Spurs 114, @ '13 Heat 101 (SA wins 4-3)
LeBron went off in Game 1, as did Wade and Bosh to hold off San Antonio's stars. Game 2 saw LeBron take over, but Wade and Bosh to a lesser extent while Tim Duncan exploded for 27 points to even the series. The Spurs then played some great team defense, with good numbers from Duncan and Parker (and Manu in Game 3) to take command of the series in San Antonio. The entire Big Three stepped it up in Game 5 for Miami though, with a combined 75 points to send the series back to Texas despite Duncan's 27. Game 6 nearly ended it for the Spurs, but Dwyane Wade's three with 4 seconds left forced a Game 7 back in Miami. But a near triple double by LeBron in Game 7 wasn't enough as each of the Spurs' Big Three scored at least 20 to advance.

To see the updated bracket, click here.

I still didn't expect this to end up being the final. The '96 Bulls don't really surprise me, but to see one of Duncan's teams make it all the way here was not something I expected. Nonetheless, the stage is hereby set. Michael Jordan. Tim Duncan. Scottie Pippen. Tony Parker. Dennis Rodman. Manu Ginobili. Phil Jackson. Gregg Popovich. It's the NBA Championship of Champions! Next time, on COAS!