2015 NBA Tournament of Champions: Group Play Day 11

We are through five rounds of our double round robin in this year's edition of the NBA Tournament of Champions. So far, three teams still have unblemished records, which will go a long way for them in their quest of being crowned the best team of all time. We also have some tight races, as four groups are tied at the top, and seven of the eight have a team within one game of the leader.

It's been competitive to say the least so far, and today, we begin Round 6. Groups D and E will return to action after a day off, while Groups B and F will play the second game of a back-to-back.

Below, I will include links to each group's page in their respective headers so you can view scores and standings. On those pages, the team on the right 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. Let's play some basketball.

Group B

@ 1971 Milwaukee Bucks 113, 1985 Los Angeles Lakers 107
A tight first half saw some separation in the third quarter as the Bucks pulled away to lead by eight. The Buck lead would grow to as big as 14 in the final frame, and the Lakers couldn't close the gap. '71 Kareem did well again, logging 31 points, 21 rebounds and six blocks while Bob Dandridge added 23 points and nine rebounds for Milwaukee. Magic Johnson led the Lakers with 20 points, eight rebounds and 14 assists, James Worthy added 19 and '85 Kareem had 16 points and 12 rebounds.

@ 1996 Chicago Bulls 122, 1965 Boston Celtics 96
Of all the guys... James Edwards scored six straight points for the Bulls in the first quarter to help open up a 34-23 lead after the frame. The Bulls would go on to outscore Boston in every quarter to pick up their sixth straight win and maintain a one game lead on Milwaukee. Scottie Pippen led the Bulls with 31 points, five rebounds and nine assists. Michael Jordan only had 21 points, but chipped in eight rebounds and seven assists, while Dennis Rodman contributed 13 points and a game-high 23 rebounds. Sam Jones led the Celtics with 20 points, while Bill Russell added 18 points, 16 rebounds, five assists and four blocks.

1980 Los Angeles Lakes 126, @ 1968 Boston Celtics 116
The Lakers get back to .500 behind a strong start, going on an 11-2 run to start the game. Boston never really had an answer; they shot 46.2 percent for the game, but got outrebounded 61-43. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar led the Lakers with 29 points, 17 rebounds and six assists, Jamaal Wilkes had 20, 10 and six, Magic Johnson had 20 points, eight rebounds and seven assists, and Norm Nixon added 18 points and nine rebounds. Sam Jones paced the Celtics with 22 points, Bailey Howell had 21 and eight rebounds, and Bill Russell finished with 10 points, 15 rebounds, six assists and four blocks.

1975 Golden State Warriors 122, @ 1966 Boston Celtics 118

The Warriors attacked the basket, getting to the line 40 times to help propel them to the win, but it wasn't easy. An eight point lead at halftime would balloon to as high as 18 midway through the fourth quarter. Just five minutes later though, an 18-4 run made it a two-possession game. Rick Barry rose to the occasion however, scoring Golden State's final nine points to seal the road win. Barry finished with a ridiculous 46 points, nine rebounds and seven assists, Jamaal Wilkes had 19 points and nine rebounds, and Clifford Ray added 16 points and 14 rebounds. John Havlicek did all he could, finishing with 31 points. K.C. Jones had 13 points and 12 assists, Satch Sanders had 10 points and 12 rebounds, and Bill Russell had a game-high 16 rebounds.

Group D

@ 1959 Boston Celtics 114, 1953 Minneapolis Lakers 106
Minneapolis was in this game for a while, even leading 41-36 at one point in the second quarter. Boston responded with an 18-4 run and would take a 14 point lead into the half. The Lakers would narrow the gap, pulling within two fairly early in the fourth quarter before Boston put on the clamps. Bill Sharman led the Celtics with 23 points, Tommy Heinsohn had 22 points and eight rebounds, and Bob Cousy had 21 points and 11 assists. George Mikan did all he could, posting 28 points, 15 rebounds and six assists while Vern Mikkelsen added 24 points and nine rebounds.

@ 2000 Los Angeles Lakers 98, 2007 San Antonio Spurs 77
The Lakers held San Antonio to just 34.6 percent shooting, though the Spurs didn't do themselves many favors, hitting just five of their 29 threes. LA led 29-16 after one quarter, and the Spurs weren't really a threat from there on out. Kobe Bryant led the Lakers with 20 points and eight rebounds while Shaquille O'Neal added 19 and 17. Tim Duncan paced the Spurs with 16 points and seven rebounds, while Tony Parker chipped in 14 points.

2009 Los Angeles Lakers 102, @ 2011 Dallas Mavericks 96

This was a great back and forth game that pretty much went down to the wire. Trevor Ariza hit a go-ahead layup with 33 seconds left, and the Mavs couldn't come back. Kobe Bryant had a great game in the win, posting 34 points and eight rebounds, while Pau Gasol added 16 points and 10 rebounds and Lamar Odom came off the bench for 11 points and 11 rebounds. Caron Butler led the Mavericks with 22 points but missed a go-ahead shot of his own right after Ariza's, though he did add 10 rebounds. Jason Terry had 18 points, Dirk Nowitzki added 17 and nine rebounds, and Jason Kidd dished out 12 assists.

2013 Miami Heat 110, @ 1999 San Antonio Spurs 101
The Spurs dug themselves an early hole as Miami led 33-17 after one quarter. The Spurs would outscore the Heat in each of the remaining quarters, but because of the early struggles could get no closer than within nine points in the final frame. LeBron James led the Heat with 23 points, five rebounds and 10 assists, Mario Chalmers added 18 points, and Chris Bosh had 13 points. Tim Duncan led all scorers with 24 points while pulling down a game-high 14 rebounds. David Robinson added 17 for the Spurs.

Group E

@ 1981 Boston Celtics 108, 2008 Boston Celtics 101
Both Celtic teams shot well, with the '08 team taking and hitting more threes, but the '81 Celtics got to the line more and took advantage to get back to .500 and throw the top of the group into some chaos. Larry Bird led all scorers with 23 points and added 10 rebounds, while Robert Parish added 19 and 10. Nate Archibald, Kevin McHale and M.L. Carr each added 10 points, the latter two off the bench. Ray Allen led the '08 Celtics with 22 points, Paul Pierce and Rajon Rondo each added 16, and Kevin Garnett finished with 15 points, 10 rebounds and four blocks.

@ 1990 Detroit Pistons 115, 1978 Washington Bullets 103
What was a tight game in the first half opened up a little more in the third quarter as the Pistons shot 14-22 to outscore Washington 32-24, with 10 of their points coming on second chances (including one possession where the Pistons scored five points). Seven Pistons in total scored in double figures, led by Isiah Thomas who had 16 points and 15 assists. John Salley added 15 points and 11 rebounds, while Dennis Rodman had 11 and 13. Elvin Hayes led Washington with 24 points and 10 rebounds, while Wes Unseld had a game-high 17 rebounds and seven assists to go with his six points.

@ 2014 San Antonio Spurs 99, 1973 New York Knicks 84
The Spurs held New York to just 37 percent shooting and forced 17 turnovers en route to their fifth win of the tournament. The Spurs were able to empty their bench by the end of the game, and no one played more than 28 minutes. Kawhi Leonard led the team with 14 points, while Tim Duncan had 12 points, 13 rebounds and four blocks in 26 minutes. Walt Frazier had 22 points for the Knicks to lead all scorers and added 14 rebounds, while Bill Bradley was the only other Knick in double figures with 14 points.

@ 1997 Chicago Bulls 116, 1974 Boston Celtics 115

Boston jumped out to a 29-19 lead after one quarter, but the Bulls rode a 45 percent day from beyond the arc to work back into the contest. Jud Buechler hit on a drive to put Chicago up 100-99, and they wouldn't lose the lead the rest of the way. Scottie Pippen had 22 points, seven rebounds and 10 assists, Michael Jordan added 21 points and 10 rebounds, and Steve Kerr and Toni Kukoc came off the bench to add 17 and 15 points, respectively for the Bulls. Six Celtics scored in double figures, paced by John Havlicek's 24, while Dave Cowens had 16 points, 20 rebounds and six assists.

Group F

@ 1986 Boston Celtics 120, 1998 Chicago Bulls 99
Chicago tried to mess around with matchups a little bit, but still couldn't hang with the Celtics, who shot 54.2 percent from the floor en route to their sixth straight win. The Bulls led 27-23 with about two and a half minutes left in the opening quarter, but then Boston went on a 15-2 run to turn the game around. The Bulls stayed close for a short time, but it turned into a 13 point game at halftime. Larry Bird rose to the occasion with 31 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists, Kevin McHale had 21 points and 10 rebounds, and Robert Parish added 19 points and 12 rebounds. Michael Jordan paced the Bulls with 20 points, Scottie Pippen added 18, and Dennis Rodman only managed 10 rebounds for Chicago.

2004 Detroit Pistons 134, @ 1960 Boston Celtics 127 (OT)

Each team shot 109 field goals, with the Pistons hitting six more to account for the point difference in our first overtime game in about a week. This was a tight game that actually saw Boston up five with about a minute to go, but the Pistons made several clutch plays. Rasheed Wallace hit a bucket while fouled, but missed the free throw, Bob Cousy hit a jumper to bring it back to five, Chauncey Billups dunked to make it three again, Tommy Heinsohn split a pair of free throws before Wallace hit a three to make it 118-117. Bob Cousy made both of his free throws with six seconds left to make it 120-117, but Rip Hamilton hit a three with one second left to tie the game, and after a timeout, Sam Jones missed the winner. Detroit then outscored Boston 11-2 in the first four minutes of the extra session to steal the win. Hamilton finished with 27 points, including that tying three, and seven assists, Tayshaun Prince had 23 points, Ben Wallace posted 20 points and 20 rebounds, and Rasheed Wallace had 24 points, 14 rebounds and seven blocks. Tommy Heinsohn led the Celtics with 32 points, but his one missed free throw arguably cost his team the game. Bob Cousy chipped in 20 points, seven rebounds and 12 assists, while Bill Russell had 17 points and 21 rebounds.

@ 1988 Los Angeles Lakers 141, 1961 Boston Celtics 116
The '88 Lakers are making a push for the scoring title and have probably all but locked it up just six games into the tournament with their second 140+ point outing in three tries. The Lakers shot 55 percent while assisting on 37 of their 55 field goals. Somehow, Boston did keep pace for most of the first half and actually led 60-57 at halftime, but LA put up 45 points in the third quarter to seal the win. Byron Scott led the Lakers with 26 points and nine assists, A.C. Green had 24 points and 16 rebounds, Magic Johnson added 17 points and 17 assists, and James Worthy put up 20 points and nine rebounds in a true team win. Bill Russell had arguably the best game out of anyone, putting up 26 points, 24 rebounds, six assists and a tournament-record nine blocks in the loss, Tommy Heinsohn had 18 points and eight rebounds, and Bob Cousy had 17 points and nine assists.

1994 Houston Rockets 116, @ 1956 Philadelphia Warriors 97
The Rockets shot 47.6 percent from the field while hoisting 43 free throws to keep control of the game. Philly had no answer for Hakeem Olajuwon, who had 33 points and 17 rebounds for Houston. Vernon Maxwell chipped in 19 points, and Otis Thorpe added 15 points and 11 rebounds. All five Warrior starters scored in double figures, led by Neil Johnston's 18 and 11 rebounds. Joe Graboski added 17 and nine.