2015 NBA Tournament of Champions: Group Play Day 19

Happy Sunday! We're back to start yet another round of group play in the NBA Tournament of Champions, and in so doing, surpass the 300-game mark for the tournament.

This is the tenth round of a double round robin. So far, of the 32 openings in the elimination round, none have been claimed, though a few teams are close, and two teams have already been eliminated. In this round, a handful of teams can lock up a spot. So who gets first crack?

Today, Groups A and B will finish off a back to back, while Groups D and H return from a day off.

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. Time to play.

Group A

@ 1982 Los Angeles Lakers 119, 1989 Detroit Pistons 116

The Lakers' 10 point lead after one quarter disappeared after a 13-2 Pistons run closed out the half and gave Detroit a four point halftime lead. They built it up to 13 by the end of the third, but the Lakers roared back behind repeated three point plays, and after Kareem Abdul-Jabbar hit a couple free throws with five seconds left, Dennis Rodman (?!) missed a game-tying three at the buzzer, allowing the Lakers to pull out a major home victory. Kareem finished with 19 points, 14 rebounds and six assists, Norm Nixon led the Lakers with 23 points, and Magic Johnson had 22 points, eight rebounds, 11 assist and five steals. Joe Dumars led the Pistons with 20 points, Isiah Thomas had 13 points and 12 assists, and Bill Laimbeer had 13 points and 10 rebounds. Adrian Dantley added 19 points for Detroit.

@ 2010 Los Angeles Lakers 107, 1970 New York Knicks 90
The Lakers won a critical game between these two teams after holding the Knicks to 39.5 percent shooting and forcing 16 New York turnovers. Los Angeles jumped out to a 35-21 lead after one quarter thanks to a tiebreaking 11-0 run and kept up the pace from there. Andrew Bynum had a great game with 22 points and 11 rebounds against the legendary Willis Reed, while Pau Gasol added 17 points and 15 rebounds, Lamar Odom had 19 and 11, and Kobe Bryant finished with 16 points. Reed finished with 23 points and 15 rebounds to pace the Knicks while Dave DeBusschere added 16 and 11, and Walt Frazier had 10 points, seven rebounds and five assists.

@ 2002 Los Angeles Lakers 98, 2012 Miami Heat 97
The Lakers led 32-25 after one quarter, built the lead to 10 at halftime, and were able to mostly maintain their lead other than for a couple brief moments late in the third and early in the fourth. The Heat also broke out the Hack-a-Shaq strategy late, fouling Shaq after Kobe missed a jumper that would have put the Lakers up three with about 15 seconds to go. Shaq bricked his free throws, but with nine seconds left, the Heat couldn't even get a shot off, with Chris Bosh's pass attempt with time running out (?!) was picked off by Derek Fisher to end the game. Despite the missed freebies, Shaq finished with 25 points and 16 rebounds, Kobe Bryant added 22 points, and Rick Fox had 12 for the Lakers. LeBron James had a great game in defeat for the Heat with 27 points, 17 rebounds and seven assists, Chris Bosh had 20 points and 12 rebounds, and Dwyane Wade, Mario Chalmers and Joel Anthony each added 10 points.

2015 Golden State Warriors 110, @ 1979 Seattle Supersonics 92
The Warriors have now all but clinched their spot in elimination play while knocking the Sonics back down a peg and into a tie with the 2010 Lakers for the fourth and final advancing spot. They did so behind forcing 16 turnovers and hitting nine of their 22 threes. Klay Thompson keeps making his argument for Group A MVP loud and clear with 33 points, while Steph Curry finished with 17 points and 15 assists. Gus Williams and Dennis Johnson led the Sonics with 16 points apiece while Lonnie Shelton and Freddie Brown each had 13. Jack Sikma had a game-high 14 rebounds for Seattle.

Group B

@ 1971 Milwaukee Bucks 122, 1980 Los Angeles Lakers 104
The first three quarters of this game were tightly contested, as the teams were tied through 36 minutes. The Bucks went on a 7-0 run to start the fourth, however, and the Lakers were unable to respond. Milwaukee was outrebounded 63-48 but forced 18 Laker turnovers to win their eighth game, but they'll have to wait to clinch their elimination round spot. '71 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar led the way with 25 points, 16 rebounds and five assists, Oscar Robertson had 17 points and eight assists, and Bob Dandridge added 17 points. '80 Kareem led the way for the Lakers with 21 points and eight rebounds, Spencer Haywood had 13 points and 11 rebounds, Jamaal Wilkes had 18 points and eight rebounds, and Magic Johnson finished with 18 points, six rebounds and nine assists.

1975 Golden State Warriors 113, @ 1965 Boston Celtics 108

The Warriors overcame trailing by one going into the final quarter and would lead by as many as 12 points before the Celtics made it interesting. Rick Barry hit a key jumper from the left side with about 30 seconds left to put the game away, however, and the Warriors move within a game of the final spot in the elimination round. Barry led all scorers with 32 points, Jamaal Wilkes added 20 points and 12 rebounds off the bench, and Clifford Ray had 10 points and 19 rebounds in Golden State's win. Bill Russell had 11 points, 31 rebounds and six blocks to lead the Celtics, Sam Jones had 27 points, and Tommy Heinsohn had 25 points.

@ 1985 Los Angeles Lakers 129, 1966 Boston Celtics 103
The Lakers shot an astounding 56.3 percent and outrebounded the Celtics 64-55 to maintain third place in Group B. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar led the way for LA with 22 points, five rebounds, five assists and six blocks, Magic Johnson had 18 points, 13 rebounds and eight assists, and James Worthy added 17 points and seven rebounds. Bill Russell had 10 points and 20 rebounds to pace the Celtics while Sam Jones and Larry Siegfried each added 15 points.

@ 1996 Chicago Bulls 103, 1968 Boston Celtics 98
The '96 Bulls become the first team to punch their ticket to the Elimination Round, and were prepared to do anything to do it despite playing a back-to-back: only eight Bulls saw court time, but fatigue didn't appear to be an issue in a game where the Bulls shot 47.1 percent and forced 15 turnovers. Michael Jordan wanted to make sure the Bulls advanced, scoring 39 points. Scottie Pippen had a near triple-double of 17 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists, Dennis Rodman had five points and 18 rebounds, and Steve Kerr finished with 15 points off the bench.

Group D

2013 Miami Heat 109, @ 1959 Boston Celtics 100
The Heat are keeping pace with the top teams from other groups with just a single loss. Miami had to overcome a 21-19 deficit after just a single quarter and took control of the game in the second quarter. A brief third quarter lead for the Celtics was quickly overturned, and Miami is 9-1. Dwyane Wade led the Heat with 30 points, LeBron James had a triple-double of 19 points, 15 rebounds and 11 assists, and Chris Bosh had 19 points and 11 assists. Bill Russell had 16 points and 18 rebounds to lead the Celtics, Bill Sharman had 19 points, and Bob Cousy had 10 points, seven rebounds and eight assists.

@ 2009 Los Angeles Lakers 92, 1999 San Antonio Spurs 86
Neither team shot particularly well in a huge battle near the top of the Group D standings, but the Lakers prevailed behind building a 14 point lead after three quarters. The Spurs would come back to make it interesting, but would get no closer than four. Pau Gasol had 20 points and 16 rebounds to lead the Lakers to the win, Andrew Bynum added 18 and nine, and Kobe Bryant scored 12 points. David Robinson paced the Spurs with 16 points and 11 rebounds while Tim Duncan added 13 and 10.

2011 Dallas Mavericks 89, @ 2007 San Antonio Spurs 87

The Spurs overcame a 10 point deficit after three quarters, tying the game at 82 with 1:43 left to play. Jason Terry hit a three in the corner 35 seconds later though and the Mavs would hold on to improve to 6-4, moving into a tie for the fourth and final spot to advance from Group D. Terry finished with a game-high 26 points, Dirk Nowitzki added 17 points and 11 rebounds, and Tyson Chandler chipped in 10 points and 14 rebounds. Tony Parker led the Spurs with 24 points, five rebounds and five assists, Tim Duncan had 13 points and 10 rebounds, and Manu Ginobili added 19 points.

2000 Los Angeles Lakers 95, @ 1953 Minneapolis Lakers 84
The '53 Lakers have already been eliminated, but even in playing out the string they still can't buy a win. Minneapolis shot just 34.5 percent for the game and couldn't take advantage of the '00 Lakers missing a ton of free throws. They also couldn't stop Shaquille O'Neal, who feasted on Minneapolis' interior with 33 points, 13 rebounds, and four blocks. Kobe Bryant added 21 points, 13 rebounds and six assists, and Glen Rice had 10 points and nine rebounds to help Los Angeles to victory. George Mikan paced Minny with 18 points and 17 rebounds, Vern Mikkelsen added 19 and 11, and James Pollard had 17 and nine.

Group H

@ 1962 Boston Celtics 121, 2006 Miami Heat 106
The Celtics used a 13-2 run over four and a half minutes in the third quarter to turn a three point deficit into an eight point advantage, and led by as many as 17 late in the fourth quarter as the Heat could not overcome the momentum or the home crowd. Bill Russell led his team to the upset with 18 points, 23 rebounds, six assists and five blocks, Sam Jones scored 21 points and Bob Cousy added 20. Dwyane Wade couldn't overcome the furious rally, though he did finish with 35 points. Shaquille O'Neal was the only other Miami player in double figures, finishing with 14 points, though James Posey had eight points and 12 rebounds while Udonis Haslem had eight and 10.

@ 1984 Boston Celtics 119, 1952 Minneapolis Lakers 84

Despite the above upset win by the '62 Celtics, '84 Boston's win all but eliminates them as well as the losers of this game in the '52 Lakers, who only managed 37 rebounds for the contest, partially thanks to the Celtics' 56 percent day from the floor. Larry Bird had the second triple-double of the day with 28 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists, Robert Parish had 28 points and 12 rebounds, and Danny Ainge added 14 points of the bench for the Celtics. George Mikan had 17 points, seven rebounds and five blocks to lead the Lakers, while James Pollard and Vern Mikkelsen each had 14 points and eight rebounds.

@ 1963 Boston Celtics 121, 1969 Boston Celtics 112
The '69 Celtics shot 121 times in this game, which I'm pretty sure is a tournament-high, and partially thanks to that built a 31-22 lead after one quarter. The '63 Celtics came back though, and '63 Bill Russell's runner with a second to go before halftime pulled his Celtics back within one at 54-53. The '69 Celtics opened the third quarter on a 12-2 run to build the lead back up, but '63 Sam Jones gave his Celtics the lead for good late in the third quarter. '63 Russell had a monstrous game of 26 points, 26 rebounds, five assists and six blocks. '63 Jones had 23 points, and '63 Tommy Heinsohn added 21 points and eight rebounds. '69 Russell had 12 points and 16 rebounds, while '69 John Havlicek had a near triple-double of 25 points, nine rebounds and eight assists, and '69 Bailey Howell had 20 points and 14 rebounds.

@ 1991 Chicago Bulls 114, 1976 Boston Celtics 96
The Bulls closed back to within one game of the Heat behind a near perfect day at the free throw line and holding the Celtics to 38.5 percent shooting from the floor. Chicago jumped out to a 29-22 lead after one quarter and just poured it on from there, outscoring Boston 36-20 in the second quarter to effectively put the game out of reach. Michael Jordan led the way with 26 points, six rebounds and eight assists, Scottie Pippen added 18 points and 14 rebounds, and Horace Grant and Dennis Hopson each added 15 points for the Bulls. Jo Jo White led the Celtics with 21 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists, John Havlicek added 18 points, and Paul Silas had 13 points and 12 rebounds.