2015 NBA Tournament of Champions: Group Play Day 20

It's kind of hard to believe that I've been at this for 20 days now. But we're entering the home stretch, and after today, just four games remain for each team to jockey for position.

Today we're concluding Round 10 of group play in the Tournament of Champions, where just one team has a chance to punch their ticket to the elimination round, and we also have one game that is a guaranteed elimination for whoever loses.

In finishing out this round, Groups E and G are playing after a day off, while Groups C and F return from a two day break.

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 get to it.

Group C

@ 1993 Chicago Bulls 124, 1972 Los Angeles Lakers 101

The '93 Bulls refuse to go quietly into the night, getting revenge for an earlier loss to Wilt's Lakers and moving into a tie for that fourth and final spot in the Elimination Round. The Bulls used a 39-22 third quarter edge to turn a three point lead into a 20 point gap. The Bulls also won the rebounding battle 65-51 to take control of the game. Michael Jordan absolutely went off for 43 points, 14 rebounds and six assists, Scottie Pippen had a triple-double of 15 points, 14 rebounds and 10 assists, and Horace Grant added 12 points and 12 rebounds. Gail Goodrich led the Lakers with 27 points, Wilt Chamberlain added 16 points, 18 rebounds, five assists and five blocks, and Jerry West had 15 points.

@ 1992 Chicago Bulls 114, 1954 Minneapolis Lakers 104
The Lakers had probably their best game of the tournament with their tournament lives on the line, shooting 48.8 percent from the floor as all five of their starters scored in double figures. They couldn't overcome a fast start from the Bulls, however, as Chicago jumped out to a 31-21 lead and built the gap to 16 by halftime. The Lakers scored 65 points in the second half, but ended up doing a lot of the damage to narrow the gap to 10 against the Bulls' reserves, meaning they are eliminated from contention. Michael Jordan of course led the Bulls with 38 points, including 13 in that first quarter where the Bulls opened up the advantage, plus six assists and five rebounds. Scottie Pippen added 25, six and four, and John Paxson had 14 points. George Mikan led the Lakers with 23 points and eight rebounds, James Pollard added 20 and seven, and Slater Martin had 10 points to go with nine assists.

@ 1983 Philadelphia 76ers 108, 1977 Portland Trailblazers 102
Portland opened the contest leading 30-22 after one quarter, but saw a 10 point lead that they held early in the fourth quarter disappear, and Julius Erving hit the go-ahead shot with 1:30 to play to give the Sixers the lead for good. It was Moses Malone who led the way for the Sixers with 33 points, 21 rebounds and four blocks, while Erving finished with 25 points and 11 rebounds and Maurice Cheeks adding eight points and 10 assists. Maurice Lucas led the Blazers with 24 points and 17 rebounds while Bill Walton had 25 points and 12 rebounds. Lionel Hollins had a good floor game of 14 points, four rebounds, four assists and four steals.

@ 1958 St. Louis Hawks 104, 1995 Houston Rockets 96
The Hawks pulled off a huge upset after winning the rebounding battle 62-44 and forcing Houston into 18 turnovers. The Rockets shot 46.5 percent for the game and a decent 8-25 from three, but despite making it a one possession game on multiple occasions in the fourth quarter couldn't get the key stops they needed to retake their early leads. Bob Pettit led the Hawks with 19 points and 18 rebounds while Cliff Hagan had 25 and eight, Chuck Share had 10 and 12, and Jack Coleman had 14 and 10. Hakeem Olajuwon led the Rockets with 29 points, nine rebounds and six blocks, Kenny Smith added 22 points, and Clyde Drexler had 16 points, seven rebounds and five assists.

Group E

@ 1997 Chicago Bulls 105, 1990 Detroit Pistons 104
The Bulls overcame a five point halftime deficit, and hung on late thanks to a key Brian Williams three point play, and after Michael Jordan missed a shot that would have put the Bulls up three with 19 seconds to go, Jordan picked off Isiah Thomas and missed a layup as time expired, though it didn't matter as the Bulls escaped with a big win. Jordan led the way with 27 points, eight rebounds and five assists, '97 Dennis Rodman had 12 points, 17 rebounds and six assists, and Luc Longley had 17 points for the Bulls. Joe Dumars paced the Pistons with 22 points and eight assists, Isiah Thomas had 17 and seven, and Bill Laimbeer finished with 13 points and 15 rebounds.

@ 2014 San Antonio Spurs 113, 1981 Boston Celtics 103
The Spurs snap Boston's four-game winning streak and clinch their spot in the Elimination Round despite the Celtics shooting 55.3 percent from the floor. Forcing 23 turnovers is a good way to overcome that, though. Tim Duncan played a few extra minutes and had a good day with 19 points and nine rebounds, but it was when he was on the bench that the Spurs went on their run in the second quarter to lead 55-44 at the break. The Celtics got back within one point with 5:46 left, but Manu Ginobili scored five straight points to reopen the lead and Danny Green added some insurance to keep the Spurs atop the standings. Green finished with 18 points, and Ginobili added 16 to help the Spurs win. Larry Bird led the Celtics with 28 points, 12 rebounds and six assists, Cedric Maxwell added 16 points, and Kevin McHale came off the bench for 10 points and nine rebounds.

1974 Boston Celtics 111, @ 1973 New York Knicks 94
The Knicks shot 14 of 24 in the first quarter and got Madison Square Garden rocking early to lead 35-21 after one. The Celtics quickly quieted that crowd though, holding the Knicks to just 15 second quarter points and narrowing the gap to one point at halftime. The Celtics came back to take the lead by the end of the third quarter, and pressed the advantage. The Knicks got close a couple times, but couldn't complete the comeback, falling back to .500. Paul Silas had 22 points and 15 rebounds to lead Boston, Jo Jo White added 21 points, and Dave Cowens had 18 points, 20 rebounds and five assists. Earl Monroe paced the Knicks' offense with 20 points, Willis Reed had 12 points and 15 rebounds, and Bill Bradley added 16 points.

@ 1978 Washington Bullets 99, 2008 Boston Celtics 97

Phil Chenier spoiled Ray Allen's right wing three that tied the game with a scoop shot at the buzzer to win the game for the Bullets, who trailed by 14 points early in the final quarter. A 14-0 Washington run wiped it out to tie the game with 8:54 left, and it was a see-saw battle from there until Chenier bested Allen. Chenier had 14 points, including the game winner, Wes Unseld had 13 points, 12 rebounds and six assists, and Tom Henderson led the team with 19 points. The buzzer beater also spoiled a great game by Kevin Garnett, who had 23 points, nine rebounds and seven assists, while Ray Allen finished with 22 points, including that clutch three, five rebounds and five assists. Paul Pierce added 12 points, seven rebounds and six steals for the Celtics.

Group F

1998 Chicago Bulls 108, @ 1994 Houston Rockets 99
Chicago got to the line 31 times, making 27 of their free throws in a critical game where they outrebounded the Rockets 52-48 and overcame trailing by one at the half. Chicago took a nine point lead into the fourth quarter and would lead by no fewer than three points the rest of the way. Michael Jordan was largely responsible, scoring 25 of his game-high 40 points in the second half while adding 11 rebounds. Steve Kerr added 17 points off the bench, Toni Kukoc had 12 points and 12 rebounds, and Dennis Rodman had 12 and 11 to help lead the Bulls. Hakeem Olajuwon had 25 points and 18 rebounds to lead the Rockets, Otis Thorpe added 16 and 12, and Vernon Maxwell chipped in 18 points.

1956 Philadelphia Warriors 136, @ 1961 Boston Celtics 114

This game had intrigue going in: winner stays alive, loser goes home. The Warriors got the message, scoring the game's first 10 points in the opening 2:37 to match what would become Boston's overall scoring output for the frame. Philly finished the quarter with 25 points, and while they would give up over 30 points in each of the subsequent quarters, their early defense was what won them the game. Tom Gola had 12 points, nine rebounds and 10 assists for the Warriors, Neil Johnston had 18, 10 and eight, Joe Graboski had 15 points and 16 rebounds, Jack George scored 26 points and Paul Arizin finished with 24 points and eight rebounds. Bill Russell led the Celtics with 17 points and 19 rebounds while Bill Sharman scored a game-high 31 points.

@ 2004 Detroit Pistons 114, 1988 Los Angeles Lakers 89
Detroit continues its climb and is now tied for second place in Group F following a game where they held Showtime to a modest 43.6 percent day from the floor. The Pistons also shot 60 percent from three and outrebounded the Lakers 55-42. Chauncey Billups led the way with 31 points, Rasheed Wallace had 24 points and 12 rebounds, and Ben Wallace also added 12 rebounds in the Detroit win. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar had an awful game, shooting 2-8 to finish with six points and seven rebounds. Byron Scott led the team with 14 points, Magic Johnson had 12 points and eight assists, and A.C. Green finished with 11 points and 12 rebounds.

@ 1986 Boston Celtics 129, 1960 Boston Celtics 106
The '86 Celtics maintained first place after going up 36-20 after one quarter and shooting 56.4 percent for the game. The '60 Celtics never threatened; despite outscoring their '86 cousins by one point, they were outscored by 12 in the third quarter to end the threat. Larry Bird led the way with 29 points, eight rebounds and 10 assists, Robert Parish added 21 points, and Kevin McHale had 17 points and 17 rebounds. Bob Cousy led the '60 Celtics with 21 points and 10 assists, Tommy Heinsohn added 16 points and Bill Russell finished with 10 points and 11 assists.

Group G

1967 Philadelphia 76ers 121, @ 1955 Syracuse Nationals 108
Syracuse's one point halftime edge was swiftly erased in the third quarter and the already-eliminated Nationals couldn't steal their first win playing out the string. The Sixers shot 52.6 percent for the game and won the battle on the glass 58-44. Wilt Chamberlain paced Philadelphia with 28 points, 22 rebounds, six blocks and four assists, Hal Greer had 25 points, eight rebounds and eight assists, and Chet Walker added 20 points and nine rebounds. Dolph Schayes led the Nationals with 22 points, nine rebounds and six assists, Paul Seymour added 21 points, and Red Rocha finished with 19 points and nine rebounds.

2003 San Antonio Spurs 111, @ 1964 Boston Celtics 96
The Spurs won each of the first three quarters behind 50.5 percent shooting for the game and while the Celtics shot all right, they only hit 50 percent of their free throws, which didn't help their cause. Neither did Tim Duncan going off for 31 points and 15 rebounds, while Tony Parker added 17 points and Malik Rose came off the bench with 14 points and nine rebounds. Bill Russell paced the Celtics with nine points, 25 rebounds and five assists, Sam Jones had 16 points, and John Havlicek chipped in 15.

@ 2005 San Antonio Spurs 118, 1987 Los Angeles Lakers 116 (OT)

The Spurs led by 13 with 10:25 to play in regulation, but the Lakers would score 15 of the next 19 points to pull within two. It would go back and forth a bit from there, with Tim Duncan hitting a layup with one second left to give San Antonio a 104-102 lead, but Magic Johnson got the ball out of a timeout and hit a bank shot from the left side at the buzzer to force overtime. Duncan would get another chance in overtime, hitting a layup to put San Antonio up 117-116 with 26 seconds to go. Magic missed the ensuing shot, and the Spurs got free throws. Manu Ginobili made the first, missed the second, but Bruce Bowen came down with the rebound and with time officially out, missed the nonessential free throws to make it official. Duncan finished with a near quadruple-double of 23 points, 14 rebounds, seven assists and nine blocks while Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili and Radoslav Nesterovic each added 16 points for the Spurs. James Worthy led the Lakers in scoring with 23 points, Magic finished with 18 points, eight rebounds and nine assists, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar added 13 points and 11 rebounds.

@ 2001 Los Angeles Lakers 108, 1957 Boston Celtics 81
The Lakers make it a four-way tie atop the Group G standings after holding the Celtics to 35.6 percent shooting and forcing 23 turnovers in their seventh win of group play. LA jumped out to a 30-21 lead after one quarter and never looked back. Kobe Bryant had 21 points, seven rebounds and five assists, Shaquille O'Neal had 20 points and 17 rebounds, and Horace Grant added six points, 12 rebounds and four blocks for the Lakers. Bill Russell only had six points, but pulled down a game-high 20 rebounds to lead the Celtics, while Bob Cousy and Bill Loscutoff each scored 14 points.