2015 NBA Tournament of Champions: Group Play Day 16

Today, we top 250 games played as we conclude Round 8 of group play of the NBA Tournament of Champions.

We've seen a lot of great performances over the first 15 days of the tournament, and today, we're playing 16 more games as we get closer to the elimination rounds.

On today's schedule, Groups A and G will be returning after a two-day break, while Groups B and E are back at it after just one day off. Group E concludes a home-and-home series started on Tuesday.

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.

Group A

2010 Los Angeles Lakers 116, @ 1989 Detroit Pistons 109

The Pistons outshot and outrebounded the Lakers, but had no answer for a monster Kobe Bryant game. Detroit blew a 17 points lead held midway through the third quarter and a nine point lead with just under eight minutes to play. The Lakers went on an 21-4 run in the span of a little under six minutes to steal the game. Bryant finished with 34 points and 13 assists in the comeback effort, Andrew Bynum had 16 points, six rebounds and five blocks, and Lamar Odom had 12 points and 14 rebounds. Isiah Thomas led the Pistons with 24 points and 11 assists, Dennis Rodman and Joe Dumas each had 14 points, and Bill Laimbeer pulled down a game-high 19 rebounds.

2002 Los Angeles Lakers 124, @ 1982 Los Angeles Lakers 97
The '02 Lakers forced Showtime into 19 turnovers while shooting 52.7 percent to move into a second place tie. The '02 Lakers scored 34 points in each of the first two quarters to lead 68-47 at the break. Kobe Bryant led the way with 25 points, Shaquille O'Neal added 19 points and 10 rebounds, and Derek Fisher and Samaki Walker each chipped in 13 points. Jamaal Wilkes led the '82 Lakers with 21 points, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar had 15 points, 10 rebounds and eight blocks, and Mitch Kupchak had 16 points and 11 rebounds.

@ 1970 New York Knicks 126, 1979 Seattle Supersonics 116
Make it four losses in a row for Seattle and put the Knicks into a logjam for the final Group A spot in the elimination round. A 41 point third quarter highlighted a good offensive day for New York, which shot 50 percent from the floor. Dave DeBusschere continues his strong tournament with 27 points and 13 rebounds in the win while Walt Frazier added 24 points, seven rebounds and five assists and Willis Reed had 19 points and 17 rebounds. Jack Sikma led the Sonics with 22 points and 11 rebounds, Freddie Brown had 20 points off the bench, and Gus Williams added 15.

2015 Golden State Warriors 89, @ 2012 Miami Heat 87
The Heat were able to keep Golden State's long range attack in check for most of the game, with the Warriors hitting just seven of their 29 threes. However, Klay Thompson pulled up from the left wing with time running out and hit the game-winning jumper with two seconds left to give Golden State the win and a two game lead in Group A. Thompson was just 2-9 from beyond the arc, but finished with 30 points and four blocks, while Steph Curry overcame a 3-14 day from three to finish with 17 points, seven rebounds and eight assists. LeBron James had 21 points, 13 rebounds and five assists to lead the Heat, Dwyane Wade had 21 points and eight rebounds, and Chris Bosh finished with 16 and nine.

Group B

@ 1996 Chicago Bulls 104, 1971 Milwaukee Bucks 90

The Bulls regained sole possession of first place and sealed the head to head tiebreaker against the Bucks behind a great defensive performance. Milwaukee shot just 36.8 percent from the floor and committed 16 turnovers in just their second loss of the tournament. The Bucks also had no answer for a hell-bent Michael Jordan, who had 33 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Bulls, Scottie Pippen added 26 points and seven rebounds, and Dennis Rodman had 20 rebounds. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar led the Bucks with 22 points, 21 rebounds and five assists while Oscar Robertson had 17 points.

@ 1985 Los Angeles Lakers 127, 1968 Boston Celtics 111
The Lakers have won two in a row and hold firm in third place after jumping out to a 39-23 lead after one quarter against Boston. The Celtics missed 15 free throws and committed 24 turnovers to spoil a golden chance to knock off a tough team. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar had 26 points to lead the Lakers while Magic Johnson added 25 points, eight rebounds and 13 assists. John Havlicek paced the Celtics with 19 points and seven rebounds, Sam Jones added 18 and eight, and Bill Russell finished with 12 and 14.

1966 Boston Celtics 126, @ 1965 Boston Celtics 119
The '66 Celtics built off their big win against the '96 Bulls on Tuesday with a strong first half that they led 72-55 against their younger selves. The two teams were willing to attack each other offensively, with the teams putting up a combined 214 field goals, but we saw a lot of fouls too: 53 hacks led to 82 free throws, with the '65 Celtics committing 31 fouls and giving the '66 Celtics a whopping 53 tries at the line. '66 Bill Russell was phenomenal, putting up 20 points, 23 rebounds, seven assists and six blocks in the win, while '66 Sam Jones added 30 points and '66 John Havlicek added 21 points and nine rebounds. '65 Jones war arguably better, putting up a game-high 38 points to go with nine rebounds, while '65 Russell had 18 points, 27 rebounds, seven assists and seven blocks of his own.

@ 1980 Los Angeles Lakers 118, 1975 Golden State Warriors 94
The '80 Lakers kept pace with their '85 brethren after outscoring the Warriors in every quarter, shooting a crazy 55.8 percent from the floor. The Warriors hit just two of their 15 attempted threes in falling to 3-5, slimming their chances of advancing to the elimination round. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar led the Lakers with 28 points and nine rebounds, Magic Johnson added 20 points, eight rebounds and four assists, and Norm Nixon finished with 11 points and 11 assists. Rick Barry led the Warriors with 19 points and nine assists, Charles Johnson had 17 points and eight rebounds, and Clifford Ray had 12 points and 14 rebounds.

Group E

1997 Chicago Bulls 106, @ 1978 Washington Bullets 93
The Bulls trailed by 10 early in the second quarter, but wouldn't go away, fighting back to make it a two point game after three. Chicago then scored the first six points of the fourth quarter to take the lead and control of the game, pulling away as the game wound down and calling off the dogs with three minutes to play. Michael Jordan led the way with 26 points, six rebounds and seven assists, Scottie Pippen had 18 points and 10 rebounds, Dennis Rodman pulled down 21 rebounds, and Brian Williams came off the bench with 14 points and 10 rebounds. Elvin Hayes had 27 points and 19 rebounds to lead the Bullets, while Mitch Kupchak added 12 off the bench, and Wes Unseld had 11 rebounds.

1973 New York Knicks 108, @ 2008 Boston Celtics 100 (OT)

The Knicks complete a huge sweep of Boston and move into third place in Group E with an overtime victory. The Celtics didn't make it easy though, making up a 10 point deficit and tying the game, though Paul Pierce missed an open look from three with a chance to win the game and we saw an extra five minutes of basketball. It was even through three and a half, but Kevin Garnett committed back to back turnovers leading to five Walt Frazier points that put it away for New York. Frazier had 21 points, including the final six of the game, to go with 10 rebounds and six assists to lead the Knicks, while Dave DeBusschere had 19 points and 16 rebounds and Willis Reed added 12 and 16. Rajon Rondo led the Celtics with 24 points, Paul Pierce had 12 points and 14 rebounds, and Garnett finished with 13 points, eight rebounds and six assists.

2014 San Antonio Spurs 102, @ 1974 Boston Celtics 99
The Spurs nearly blew a 16 point lead midway through the fourth quarter, with the Celtics narrowing the gap to three with 22 seconds remaining. Jo Jo White missed his last two attempts, and John Havlicek missed a game-tying three at the buzzer to allow San Antonio to escape with their group-leading seventh win. Tim Duncan had 21 points, 11 rebounds and six blocks to lead the Spurs, while Marco Belinelli added 12 off the bench and Matt Bonner had a perfect shooting day off the pine with 11 points. Jo Jo White did lead the Celtics with 22 points, John Havlicek had 19 points and 11 rebounds, and Dave Cowens finished with 16 points, nine rebounds and seven assists.

@ 1981 Boston Celtics 104, 1990 Detroit Pistons 96
Boston went on a 12-2 run early in the fourth quarter to build on a two point lead. While the Pistons closed within three a couple times, they couldn't get over the top and fell to 1-7 following the loss. Robert Parish finished with 30 points and 13 rebounds to lead the Celtics, Larry Bird added 20 and 13, and Rick Robey added 12 points off the bench. Isiah Thomas had 21 points, six rebounds and seven assists to pace the Pistons, while Joe Dumars added 18 points and Mark Aguirre chipped in 16.

Group G

@ 1987 Los Angeles Lakers 137, 1967 Philadelphia 76ers 120
The Lakers shot 58 percent from the field and hit 33 of their 39 free throws to stay at the top of the standings. The Sixers, meanwhile, missed 11 free throws, including eight after three quarters in a game where at that point, they were down by six. Magic Johnson exposed Philly's defense, however, to the tune of 31 points, five rebounds and 13 assists, Byron Scott added 21 points, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar added 18. Wilt Chamberlain led all scorers with 34 points while adding 19 rebounds and five assists for the Sixers while Hal Greer and Chet Walker each added 17 points.

1957 Boston Celtics 115, @ 2003 San Antonio Spurs 110
The Celtics pushed the pace and took advantage of 18 Spur turnovers to move back to .500. The Spurs did make it tough, outscoring the Celtics 23-12 in the third quarter to take a three point lead into the final frame, but they couldn't hold repeated leads, with Bob Cousy's free throws giving the Celtics the win. Cousy finished with 29 points and six assists, Bill Sharman added 26 points, and Bill Russell had 12 points and 14 rebounds. Tim Duncan had his best game of the tournament in the loss, posting 41 points and 12 rebounds, while Tony Parker added 17 points and seven assists.

2001 Los Angeles Lakers 104, @ 1955 Syracuse Nationals 88

The Lakers shot 51.1 percent from the floor and outrebounded Syracuse 56-42 en route to their fifth win in a game where they overcame a good first few minutes by the Nationals. Kobe Bryant had a triple-double of 33 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists to lead the way, while Shaquille O'Neal added 24 points, 17 rebounds and five blocks. Paul Seymour paced the Nationals with 19 points, while William Gabor hit five threes off the bench.

2005 San Antonio Spurs 115, @ 1964 Boston Celtics 100
The Spurs maintained their tie with the '87 Lakers atop the standings behind 55.4 percent shooting and holding the Celtics to 36.4 percent shooting, including a 3-16 day from beyond the arc. Tony Parker led the Spurs with 22 points while Manu Ginobili added 21 points and Tim Duncan had a great all-around game of 18 points, 13 rebounds, seven assists and five blocks. Bill Russell led the Celtics with 18 points, 22 rebounds and five blocks, while John Havlicek had 19 points and Sam Jones added 18.