2015 NBA Tournament of Champions: Group Play Day 1

We've had a few days to get ready. And today... we begin.

Following the conclusion of the 2015 NBA Finals, I introduced the second running of the NBA Tournament of Champions. The last 64 NBA champions will all compete to find out who the best team of all time is. Will the 1996 Chicago Bulls repeat? Or will someone else find their way to the top of the mountain?

Because of the sheer volume of games, I'm spreading out each round of the double round robin over two days. That means we'll have 16 games for each of the next 28 days. In an effort to keep things fresh daily, I'm using a random number generator to pick out the teams that will be playing the first day of each round, with the remaining groups going the second day. Sometimes, this will mean playing back-to-backs, but with the tradeoff of at least one day off, perhaps two following it. After playing around with the settings, we will be following the round schedules set up by tournamentscheduler.net, since the order of games has been fully randomized.

So without further ado, let's get the tournament started. To kick things off, Groups B, C, F and H will all play. Each group header below will link to the group's page so you can view scores and standings.
The team on the right on the group page will be considered the home team for all games. All game simulations are provided by WhatIfSports.com. To view player and team stats for the tournament, click here.

Group B

1971 Milwaukee Bucks 124, @ 1985 Los Angeles Lakers 113

Milwaukee jumped out to a big early lead, and was ahead 31-17 after one quarter. The Lakers never really recovered, as they had no answer inside. '71 Kareem had a monster outing, scoring 46 points while adding 12 rebounds, Oscar Robertson supported with 15 points and 10 assists, and Greg Smith chipped in 20 points and nine rebounds. '85 Kareem led the Lakers with 25 points and 7 rebounds, and Magic Johnson scored 22 to go with six rebounds and eight assists.

1996 Chicago Bulls 111, @ 1965 Boston Celtics 101
The Bulls roared to a huge early lead, and were up 60-45 at the half before Red Auerbach came up with some halftime adjustments. The Celtics came back to within four at the end of the third quarter, but Michael Jordan proved to be too much, scoring 17 of his game-high 35 points in the final frame. Scottie Pippen flirted with a triple-double, chipping in 16 points, eight rebounds and nine assists. Dennis Rodman added a double-double with 10 points and 22 rebounds, tying Bill Russell for the game high. Russell added 14 points, while Sam Jones paced Boston by scoring 25.

@ 1980 Los Angeles Lakers 108, 1968 Boston Celtics 104
The Celtics started strong, with a narrow lead after one quarter but broke out in the second to lead 57-41 at the half. The Lakers would not go away, however, outscoring Boston 36-18 to take the lead after three and held on in a seesaw fourth. Kareem led the way again, pacing all scorers with 30 points and adding 18 rebounds. Magic Johnson came off the bench and added 20 points, eight rebounds and seven assists. The Celtics shot just 40.2 percent for the game, with John Havlicek making only eight of his 22 shots for 23 points, and Sam Jones added 21 on nine of 16. Boston also missed 11 of its 27 free throws.

@ 1975 Golden State Warriors 111, 1966 Boston Celtics 106
In a tight contest, Boston took early control and led after one quarter, but Golden State worked their way back into the game with volume free throws and after some back and forth, took the lead for good with 1:34 left on a Charles Johnson and-1. Rick Barry had an excellent all around game though, leading the team with 25 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists. All of Boston's starters scored in double figures, led by Sam Jones' 18, while Bill Russell scored 17 and pulled down 26 rebounds.

Group C

@ 1977 Portland Trailblazers 118, 1972 Los Angeles Lakers 106

The Lakers jumped out to an early lead, but their 30-22 first quarter edge quickly evaporated as the Blazers took control and ran away with the game. Maurice Lucas led the way offensively for the Blazers, leading all scorers with 27, but Bill Walton had an arguably better game; he only scored 12 points, but pulled down 12 rebounds, dished out seven assists and blocked seven shots. All told, seven Blazers scored in double figures. Meanwhile, Wilt Chamberlain had a decent game, scoring 20 points and pulling down 17 rebounds and notching eight assists. Jerry West led the team with nine dimes while chipping in 15 points.

1995 Houston Rockets 111, @ 1954 Minneapolis Lakers 101
This game was closer than I'd expected, largely thanks to the balanced scoring of the Lakers. They led 25-20 after one quarter before Houston exploded. The Rockets used 17 players in the game (something I'll look at closer if they make the Elimination Round), and surged in the second quarter, outscoring Minny 38-25 to open up a 58-50 halftime edge that they would not relinquish. Hakeem Olajuwon led the way for the Rockets with 26 points and 14 rebounds, both game highs, while Clyde Drexler added 24. Five Lakers scored in double figures, led by George Mikan's 18, but he shot 5-17 for the game.

@ 1993 Chicago Bulls 109, 1958 St. Louis Hawks 99
The Bulls struggled for stretches of this game, even trailing at halftime 50-47. They fought back and led by four after three quarters, and St. Louis' spurt in the fourth couldn't overcome it. The Hawks stayed in the game largely thanks to 24 offensive rebounds, including nine by Cliff Hagan, who also led St. Louis in scoring with 24. Michael Jordan wouldn't let the Bulls lose though, getting to the line and leading all scorers with 29 points while also chipping in 11 rebounds and nine assists. Scottie Pippen scored 24 points and pulled down nine rebounds while also picking up six steals.

@ 1992 Chicago Bulls 118, 1983 Philadelphia 76ers 97
The Bulls played phenomenal defense in this game; despite the Sixers shooting 50 percent from the field, they also committed 18 turnovers while the Bulls committed just five. The care of the ball allowed for several more opportunities for Chicago, who cashed in. Michael Jordan led the way with 31 points and eight rebounds, with Scottie Pippen adding 26 on 11 of 16 shooting and Bill Cartwright chipping in 20. Julius Erving led the Sixers with 25 points, while Moses Malone had 20 points and 15 rebounds.

Group F

1998 Chicago Bulls 112, @ 1961 Boston Celtics 89

This one was never in doubt for the Bulls, who were able to empty their bench at the end after leading by 15 at the half. Six Bulls scored in double figures, led by Scottie Pippen, who had 19 points to go with nine rebounds and nine assists. Dennis Rodman scored 13 and added 20 rebounds for Chicago. The Celtics shot just 34 percent for the game, with notable players like Bob Cousy (1-9) and Sam Jones (4-11) struggling from the floor. Tommy Heinsohn led the way with 21 points, while Bill Russell scored only nine points but had 16 rebounds to lead the team.

@ 2004 Detroit Pistons 83, 1994 Houston Rockets 76
This was not a good offensive game, thanks in part to the Pistons' defense. It was a back and forth battle, though the Pistons trailed by eight early in the fourth quarter before surging. A Ben Wallace finger roll with about six minutes left gave the Pistons the lead, and though the Rockets would make it close, Detroit would not lose the lead. Five Pistons scored in double figures, but it was the size of the Wallaces that led the way for Detroit: Ben had 12 points, 13 rebounds and eight blocks, while Rasheed had eight points, 13 rebounds and five blocks. Hakeem Olajuwon led the Rockets with 19 points and 22 rebounds.

@ 1986 Boston Celtics 119, 1956 Philadelphia Warriors 107
The Celtics jumped out to a big early lead of 34-23 after one quarter and never looked back. The Warriors were able to keep the margin around there for much of the game, but never threatened. Boston's Big Three all scored at least 20 points, led by Robert Parish's 27. Kevin McHale had 24 points and nine rebounds, while Larry Bird scored 23 and added 13 rebounds and seven assists. Five Warriors scored in double figures, led by Neil Johnston's 26.

1988 Los Angeles Lakers 120, @ 1960 Boston Celtics 110
This one looked to be a laugher early, as the Lakers held the Celtics to a mere 10 points in the opening frame. It was worse by halftime, as the Lakers led 55-31. Boston would come back a bit to make the game look close at the end, including a 41 point third quarter, but it wasn't enough. Magic Johnson posted a triple-double of 17 points, 11 rebounds and 12 assists while Byron Scott led the team in scoring with 21 points. The Celtics shot just 38.5 percent, with Tommy Heinsohn leading the way with 23 points.

Group H

@ 2006 Miami Heat 97, 1952 Minneapolis Lakers 82

The Lakers actually played pretty well for most of the game. After trailing 28-20 after one quarter, they fought their way back, and actually only trailed by four going into the final frame. The Lakers ran out of gas though, and the Heat pulled away for the victory. Miami was able to go to the deep bench, limiting the contributions of their stars, though Shaq still had a good outing with 20 points and 10 rebounds. Dwyane Wade added 14 points. George Mikan actually had a great game, leading all scorers with 27, though he only hit 10 of his 25 shots.

@ 1969 Boston Celtics 120, 1962 Boston Celtics 113
In our first team paradox game, the host Celtics led by narrow margins for most of the game, while the '62 Celtics bounced back to force a tie after three quarters. The '69 Celtics just had too much grit, however, and slowly pulled away in the fourth. Five '69 Celtics scored in double figures, with John Havlicek posting 25 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists, while Bailey Howell added 24 points and nine assists. '69 Russell only scored six points, but had 18 rebounds and eight assists. '62 Russell had more firepower, scoring 12 points and pulling down a game-high 22 rebounds, while '62 Sam Jones led all scorers with 27.

@ 1976 Boston Celtics 107, 1984 Boston Celtics 97
Man, the old Boston Garden was busy. This was another evenly matched game, with neither team holding a big lead through the first three quarters. In the fourth, the '84 Celtics bled by as many as seven on a few occasions, but a 9-2 run made it 93-all with 3:17 left. After a 97-all tie with under a minute to go, the '76 Celtics scored the final ten points, while the '84 Celtics missed their final four shots. Dave Cowens had a monster game, with 21 points, 24 rebounds and nine assists while Paul Silas had 14 points and 19 rebounds. Larry Bird played well in the loss, with 16 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists, while Robert Parish had 20 points and 12 rebounds.

@ 1991 Chicago Bulls 120, 1963 Boston Celtics 110
The C's gave the young Bulls all they could handle. Chicago led 32-23 after one quarter, but the Celtics stormed back and took a one point lead into the locker room. The Bulls wouldn't be denied, however, going up by two after three quarters and, other than a 92-all tie with 11 minutes left, wouldn't reliquish the lead. The Bulls had five players score in double figures and four with double digit rebounds, with three players doing both. Michael Jordan had a phenomenal game, scoring 33 points and pulling down 11 rebounds, with Horace Grant posting 18 points and 11 rebounds and Scottie Pippen adding 15 and 11, respectively. John Havlicek led the Celtics with 28 points, while Bill Russell had 12 points and a game-high 23 rebounds.