2015 NBA Tournament of Champions: Group Play Day 18

Happy Saturday! We're onto another day of basketball games, and the conclusion of another round of round robin play.

Today we're concluding the ninth round of action as we've pretty clearly established the cream of the crop, but all 32 elimination round spots remain up for grabs.

Yesterday's randomizer guaranteed a day off for everyone: Groups A, B, E and G are all back after they each played on Thursday.

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 head to the hardwood.

Group A

2012 Miami Heat 105, @ 1989 Detroit Pistons 104
LeBron James concluded a back and forth game by hitting a floater with 11 seconds left to give Miami the lead, and Mark Aguirre missed a two foot shot off the rim to cost his team a game they arguably should have won. The Pistons forced 21 turnovers, but were outrebounded 51-39 in a game that really could have gone either way. James had 18 points, including the game-winner, 11 rebounds and six assists for the Heat, Chris Bosh had 19 points and 10 rebounds, and Dwyane Wade finished with 20 points, eight rebounds, four assists and four blocks. Bill Laimbeer led the Pistons with 21 points and 10 rebounds, Joe Dumars had 16 points, and Isiah Thomas had 10 points and 11 assists.

@ 2015 Golden State Warriors 117, 1970 New York Knicks 114
The Knicks led by nine late in the first quarter and by 12 late in the second quarter, but the Warriors refused to go away, narrowing the gap to four by halftime and taking the lead in the third quarter. The Knicks would make Golden State earn it, however, as an 11 point Warrior lead early in the fourth wouldn't hold up. New York actually took a brief lead of 104-102, but the Warriors answered right back, and a Bill Bradley attempt at a game-tying three with the clock almost gone hit the front of the rim and the Warriors escaped. Steph Curry had a monster game of 31 points, eight rebounds and 11 assists, while Klay Thompson attacked the basket and got to the line a ton to the tune of a game-high 34 points. Walt Frazier led the Knicks with 31 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists, Dick Barnett had 23 points, Bill Bradley had 21, and Willis Reed finished with 10 points and 14 rebounds.

@ 1979 Seattle Supersonics 114, 1982 Los Angeles Lakers 105

Seattle finally snaps its long losing streak and remains in the hunt for an advancing spot, largely thanks to a 39-26 first quarter edge that saw them shoot 56 percent and get 12 second chance points early. The Sonics built that lead into a 23 point advantage after three quarters, but the Lakers would respond with a 16-4 run in the first five minutes of the fourth to make it look competitive, but would get no closer than within eight. Gus Williams led the Sonics with 25 points, John Johnson added 20, and Jack Sikma had 15 points and 15 rebounds. Norm Nixon led the Lakers with 27 points, Mitch Kupchak had 14 points and 13 rebounds, and Magic Johnson finished with 15 points, seven rebounds and seven assists.

@ 2002 Los Angeles Lakers 95, 2010 Los Angeles Lakers 76
The '10 Lakers turned the ball over 21 times in a game they trailed 32-21 after one quarter, though they stayed close by hitting their first four three point attempts, but that rate was unsustainable. After tying the game at 14, the '02 Lakers went on a 14-0 run to pull away. The '10 Lakers would not threaten at all the rest of the way. Shaquille O'Neal was a big reason why as he went off for 38 points and nine rebounds while Samaki Walker came off the bench to add 11 points and 12 rebounds for the '02 team. Derek Fisher led the '10 Lakers with 13 points, Pau Gasol had 11 points and 10 rebounds, and Kobe Bryant finished with a modest 12 points.

Group B

@ 1971 Milwaukee Bucks 132, 1965 Boston Celtics 112

Milwaukee controlled the interior for the entire game, winning the rebounding battle 60-58 and keeping Boston's bigs mostly in check. It also helped that Bill Russell couldn't stop Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who went off for 41 points and 22 rebounds to lead the Bucks, while Oscar Robertson added 23 points and eight rebounds and Bob Dandridge had 18 points, eight rebounds and seven assists. Russell did do okay in his own right, finishing with 11 points and a game-high 25 rebounds while Tommy Heinsohn and John Havlicek each contributed 22 points.

@ 1985 Los Angeles Lakers 115, 1980 Los Angeles Lakers 106
This was a key win for the '85 Lakers, who now own the tiebreaker against the '80 Lakers thanks to the sweep. The '80 Lakers led a couple times in the first five minutes, but the '85 team went on a 6-0 run to take the lead, and other than a 14-all tie, the '85 team was ahead the rest of the way largely thanks to an unbelievably clean game where they committed just seven fouls. '85 Magic Johnson had a quadruple-nickel of 23 points, five rebounds, 10 assists and five steals to lead his Lakers to victory. James Worthy added 23 points, and '85 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar finished with 20 points and nine rebounds. '80 Kareem was better, posting 26 points, nine rebounds and seven assists, but '80 Magic could only muster 22 points, two rebounds and five assists. Norm Nixon added 16 points, five rebounds and five assists for the '80 Lakers.

@ 1996 Chicago Bulls 95, 1975 Golden State Warriors 87
Golden State looked good early and led 30-20 after just one quarter. The Bulls didn't go quietly though, keeping it close in the second quarter before forcing a tie midway through the third quarter. The Warriors retook the lead and were up five after three quarters, but the Bulls hit numerous clutch shots in the fourth to come away with the win and remain in first place in Group B. Michael Jordan had 21 points and eight rebounds to pace the Bulls, Scottie Pippen added 20 points, eight rebounds and six assists, Toni Kukoc chipped in 17 points and seven rebounds off the bench, and Dennis Rodman had a game high 19 rebounds. Rick Barry led the Warriors with 19 points while Jamaal Wilkes added 12 points and 11 rebounds. Chicago now just needs one more win to lock up its berth in the elimination stage.

@ 1968 Boston Celtics 133, 1966 Boston Celtics 109
The '68 Celtics make it a home sweep for Group B today after outscoring the '66 Celtics 40-19 in the opening quarter. The '66 Celtics responded with a 40 point outburst of their own in the second quarter, including a 17-0 run to narrow the gap to nine points at halftime, but they were outscored 34-22 in the third to put the game away. The '68 Celtics shot 49.1 percent for the game and had seven players score in double figures. '68 Sam Jones led the way with 26 points and 11 rebounds, '68 John Havlicek had 22 points and eight assists, and '68 Bill Russell finished with six points, 16 rebounds and seven blocks. '66 Jones led his team with 18 points, '66 Hondo had 16 points and eight rebounds, and '66 Russell finished with seven points, 21 rebounds, six assists and four blocks.

Group E

@ 1997 Chicago Bulls 113, 1973 New York Knicks 97
The Bulls held the Knicks to just 13 points in the opening quarter and had a 19 point halftime lead behind a 51.8 percent day from the floor, including a 10-21 performance from three. The Knicks shot just 42.7 percent and were outrebounded 50-43, snapping their two game winning streak. Scottie Pippen stepped up his offensive game, hitting four threes en route to a game-high 28 points, Michael Jordan added 27, Ron Harper finished with 10 points and nine rebounds, and Luc Longley finished with 14 points and 12 rebounds. Walt Frazier paced the Knicks with 16 points, nine rebounds and seven assists, Dave DeBusschere added 16 points and eight assists, and Willis Reed had 12 points and nine rebounds.

2014 San Antonio Spurs 100, @ 1978 Washington Bullets 96
San Antonio hit five of their 12 threes to Washington's two of six in a game that finished fairly tight, but was one that the Spurs seemed to control most of. The Bullets did make things interesting, narrowing a ten point deficit midway through the third quarter to three points at the end of the frame, but the Spurs proved to be too much, forcing 15 turnovers in their eighth win to stay atop the Group E standings. Tim Dunca led the way with 19 points and 14 rebounds, Kawhi Leonard added 15 and seven, and Tiago Splitter finished with 13 and 10. Wes Unseld led the Bullets with 14 points, 15 rebounds, six assists and four blocks, while Elvin Hayes had 17 points and eight rebounds.

1990 Detroit Pistons 111, @ 2008 Boston Celtics 102

Detroit jumped out to a 30-21 lead after one quarter in a game where the Celtics hit just seven of their 22 three point attempts. Boston trailed by five going into the fourth quarter, but couldn't manage to close the gap at all in the final frame. Joe Dumars had a big game with 28 points, Isiah Thomas added 20 points, five rebounds and five assists, and Dennis Rodman had 19 points and 12 rebounds. Ray Allen paced the Celtics with 20 points, Paul Pierce had 13 points and eight assists, and P.J. Brown had 10 points and 12 rebounds off the bench.

1981 Boston Celtics 112, 1974 Boston Celtics 99
The '81 Celtics take sole possession of third place in a game where they shot 52.4 percent from the floor and won the rebounding battle 56-48. '81 Boston was in pretty firm control early, leading 58-45 at the half, but the '74 Celtics bounced back and even took a lead at 91-90 with 7:06 left. Kevin McHale put the '81 team up for good with 4:55 left to kick off a 14-0 run that ended on a Phil Hankinson field goal with 56 seconds left. Robert Parish controlled the inside for the '81 Celtics with 28 points and 19 rebounds while Larry Bird had 22 points and 15 rebounds and Nate Archibald finished with seven points and 12 assists. Paul Silas led the '74 Celtics with a game-high 32 points and 11 rebounds. John Havlicek added 17 points and seven rebounds.

Group G

@ 1967 Philadelphia 76ers 123, 2003 San Antonio Spurs 108
An 8-0 Sixers run bridging the third and fourth quarters turned a one point lead into a nine point gap, and Philadelphia carried the momentum from there to an easy win, their sixth of the tournament. Chet Walker had arguably his best game of the tournament with 30 points and 10 rebounds, Dave Gambee had 26 and seven off the bench, and Wilt Chamberlian chipped in 16 and 21. Tim Duncan led the Spurs with 25 points and nine rebounds, David Robinson had 18 and seven, and Tony Parker finished with 13 points and 10 assists.

@ 1987 Los Angeles Lakers 119, 1955 Syracuse Nationals 84

The Lakers shot 54.4 percent from the floor while holding Syracuse to 33.3 percent in handing the Nationals their ninth straight loss, and one that paired with a result below, results in Syracuse's elimination from contention in the NBA Tournament of Champions. The Nationals looked like they would stave off elimination for a while, going into the second quarter tied at 28. They would score 29 combined in the next two quarters while the Lakers put up 39 in the third quarter alone. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar led the Lakers with 21 points, 10 rebounds and five assists, James Worthy scored 22 points, and Magic Johnson had 14 points, five rebounds and seven assists. Red Rocha had 13 points and 14 rebounds to lead the Nationals, while Earl Lloyd also had 13 points and Paul Seymour scored 11.

@ 1957 Boston Celtics 116, 1964 Boston Celtics 111
Bill Sharman scored seven of the '57 Celtics' final eight points to put Bill Russell's first title team just one game back of an elimination round spot. That Sharman run capped a 36-27 fourth quarter edge by '57 Boston, who had trailed by four coming into the frame. '57 Bill Russell had an excellent game with 21 points, 22 rebounds and eight blocks. Sharman's run netted him 21 points for the game, while Bob Cousy had 16 points, five rebounds and seven assists. '64 Russell led his team with 12 points and 27 rebounds, while John Havlicek had 23 and nine and '64 Tommy Heinsohn had 19 points.

@ 2001 Los Angeles Lakers 118, 2005 San Antonio Spurs 102
The Spurs tried to keep things close, trailing by six points after one quarter, but the Lakers outscored them 27-15 in the second quarter to pull away and force a three-way tie for second place in Group G while eliminating the Syracuse Nationals. Kobe Bryant led the Lakers with 26 points, nine rebounds and five assists, Shaquille O'Neal had 25 points, 11 rebounds, five assists and four blocks, and Isaiah Rider finished with 19 points, including five threes off the bench. Manu Ginobili led the Spurs with 19 points, Tim Duncan had 16 points and 13 rebounds, and Tony Parker finished with 12 points and 11 assists.