2015 NBA Tournament of Champions: Group Play Day 21

320 games are in the books. Another 128 remain to be played in this stage of the NBA Tournament of Champions.

We've been at this for three weeks now, and today we begin the 11th round of group play. 64 teams entered, and now four have been eliminated from contention for the Championship of Champions.

In the effort to narrow that field down to 32, we find a familiar schedule for this round: Groups D and H will return to action after a day off, while Groups C and F are playing 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. Time for tipoff.

Group C

@ 1972 Los Angeles Lakers 123, 1954 Minneapolis Lakers 82
Los Angeles shot 57.6 percent from the floor and built a 15 point halftime lead. Minneapolis couldn't narrow the gap after the break, and the fourth quarter was just a blowout. Wilt Chamberlain led the '72 Lakers with 16 points, 20 rebounds and seven blocks, Jerry West had 21 points and 12 assists, Gail Goodrich added 21 points, and Leroy Ellis had eight points and 14 rebounds off the bench. George Mikan paced the '54 Lakers with 18 points and 17 rebounds, James Pollard had 15 and seven, and Vern Mikkelsen finished with 10 and 14.

@ 1977 Portland Trailblazers 112, 1993 Chicago Bulls 103

An 8-0 run early in the first quarter got Portland going on their way to clinching a spot in the Elimination Round (thanks to the tiebreaker against the '93 Bulls and help from another Group C game) and the Bulls never really recovered. The Blazers got to the line 37 times and hit 28 of them, while the Bulls only got 19 free throws and missed eight of them in a nine-point loss. Chicago had no answer for Bill Walton, who went off for 29 points and 21 rebounds. Maurice Lucas had 15 points, 13 rebounds and five assists, and Lionel Hollins added 18 points, six rebounds and seven assists. Michael Jordan paced the Bulls with 29 points, and Scottie Pippen had a triple-double of 14 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists.

1992 Chicago Bulls 123, @ 1995 Houston Rockets 116 (OT)
The Bulls punched their ticket to the Elimination Round as well, but they had to earn it. Houston fought back from an 12 point deficit in the fourth quarter, tying the game a few times before Otis Thorpe knocked down a fadeaway jumper at the buzzer to send the game into the extra session. The Bulls went on a 7-0 run in 58 seconds to break a tie halfway through the extra session, and the Rockets would get no closer than within five. Michael Jordan paced the Bulls with 42 points and 11 rebounds, Scottie Pippen had 17 points, eight rebounds and 11 assists, and Horace Grant added 19 points and nine assists. Hakeem Olajuwon wasn't enough for the Rockets despite his 33 points, 17 rebounds and five blocks, Clyde Drexler added 20 points, seven rebounds, five assists and four steals, and Mario Elie chipped in 19 points and seven rebounds.

1983 Philadelphia 76ers 124, @ 1958 St. Louis Hawks 101
Philadelphia takes the third of Group C's four spots in the Elimination Round today after shooting 53.9 percent from the floor and holding the Hawks to 36.1 percent. The Sixers jumped out to a 34-19 lead after one quarter partially thanks to a 14-2 run later in the frame. St. Louis would pull back within nine by halftime, but the Sixers came out of the locker room strong and put it away, leading by 20 after three. Moses Malone led the way with 16 points and 18 rebounds, Andrew Toney had 22 points, and Julius Erving had 16 points, nine rebounds and five blocks. Bob Pettit led the Hawks with 16 points and 16 rebounds, while Cliff Hagan added 15 and eight.

Group D

2000 Los Angeles Lakers 116, @ 1959 Boston Celtics 103

The '59 Celtics become our fifth elimination despite outrebounding the Lakers 57-51 and beating them at the free throw line by about 10 percentage points. However, 21 turnovers were too much to overcome as the Celtics saw their nine point lead early in the fourth quarter disappear in the flurry of a 19-2 Laker run. Shaquille O'Neal was also a huge factor as he set a tournament record with 50 points, including 10 of the Lakers' 19 in that decisive run, while adding 14 rebounds and five blocks. Kobe Bryant added 18 points, seven rebounds and six assists, and Glen Rice chipped in 15 points for the Lakers. Bill Russell had 23 points, 17 rebounds and four blocks in the Celtics loss, while Bill Sharman added 18 points and Bob Cousy finished with 17 points, seven rebounds and five assists.

@ 2011 Dallas Mavericks 115, 1953 Minneapolis Lakers 98
The Mavericks hit 10 of their 22 three pointers and shot 54.2 percent from the field overall to hand the Lakers their 11th straight loss. With the win, Dallas keeps pace in fourth place in Group D to fight for a spot in the Elimination Round. Dirk Nowitzki led the Mavericks with 31 points and nine rebounds, Caron Butler added 15 points and nine rebounds, and Jason Terry had 14 points and seven assists. George Mikan paced the Lakers with 31 points, 15 rebounds and five blocks, while James Pollard had 13 points, seven rebounds and six assists.

2007 San Antonio Spurs 98, @ 1999 San Antonio Spurs 92
The '97 Spurs shot 53.5 percent for the game and never trailed in the fourth quarter after '99 Tim Duncan tied the game at the third quarter buzzer. '99 Duncan also hit a big shot late in the fourth to pull his team within one, but Tony Parker hit a key shot on the next trip down to put the '07 Spurs back up by three and effectively seal the game, keeping their Elimination Round hopes alive. Parker finished with 29 points and six assists to lead the '07 Spurs, while '07 Duncan had 20 points, nine rebounds, five assists and seven blocks. Manu Ginobili added 17 points, six rebounds and eight assists. '99 Duncan had a good game despite the loss with 19 points and five rebounds while David Robinson added 18 and seven.

2009 Los Angeles Lakers 105, @ 2013 Miami Heat 93
The Heat saw their clincher get ruined by a Laker team that outrebounded them 49-44 and forced 19 turnovers. After being tied through one quarter, the Lakers stepped up their game to take a six point lead into the locker room and built on it in the third, leading by about 10 points for much of the frame. Kobe Bryant had 23 points and eight rebounds to pace the Lakers, while Pau Gasol added 15 and 14 and Andrew Bynum chipped in 18 points. LeBron James had 19 points, 15 rebounds and seven assists to lead the Heat, while Dwyane Wade added 20 points and nine assists.

Group F

1998 Chicago Bulls 116, @ 1956 Philadelphia Warriors 76
Chicago jumped out to a 38-17 lead after one quarter to eliminate the Warriors, who made one third of their field goals against a tough Bulls defense. The Bulls scored the first eight points of the game and led by 20 points as early as the 4:58 mark of that opening frame. Michael Jordan had 26 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Bulls, Scottie Pippen added 21 points, six rebounds and eight assists, and Toni Kukoc had 24, nine and five. Neil Johnston led the Warriors with 19 points, 11 rebounds and four blocks while Paul Arizin finished with 23 points. Chicago also moves into third place in Group F with the win and some help.

@ 1994 Houston Rockets 117, 1988 Los Angeles Lakers 107

Historically, people talk about how great the Rockets of the '80s were supposed to be when they knocked off the Lakers in 1986. This game showed why; even though it was close in just about every metric, the Lakers ultimately had no answer for Hakeem Olajuwon, who finished with 44 points, 19 rebounds, five assists and four blocks. Otis Thorpe added 14 points and nine rebounds while Kenny Smith also chipped in 14 points for the Rockets. Magic Johnson led the Lakers with 10 points, six rebounds and 10 assists, James Worthy had 21 points and seven rebounds, and Byron Scott added 16 and seven.

@ 1961 Boston Celtics 128, 1960 Boston Celtics 106
Our first game of the tournament with no meaning whatsoever was a blowout win for the home team. The '60 Celtics shot just 35.3 percent for the game and took 19 threes, missing 16 of them. They also turned the ball over 23 times. '61 Bill Russell had 15 points, 25 rebounds and five blocks to lead the way to victory, '61 Tommy Heinsohn had 26 points, and '61 Bill Sharman added 20 points. '60 Russell finished with 14 points and 28 rebounds, '60 Bob Cousy had 20 points and eight assists, and '60 Sam Jones added 15 points.

1986 Boston Celtics 98, @ 2004 Detroit Pistons 92
Boston has all but locked up winning the group now as the first team to 10 wins in group play, and did so behind strong defense against a Pistons team that has been lighting up Group F. Detroit shot just 34.8 percent for the game, including 4-15 from three point range. The Pistons still actually led by seven at halftime, and then had a pair of separate five point leads, but the Celtics bridged the third and fourth quarters with a 9-0 run to take the lead and, other than a 74-all tie, wouldn't let it slip away. Larry Bird led the way with 28 points, 12 rebounds and six assists, Kevin McHale had 16 points and 11 rebounds, and Robert Parish added 12 points, 10 rebounds and four blocks. Rasheed Wallace had 15 points, 10 rebounds and six blocks for the Pistons, but shot just 7-21 for the game, while Chauncey Billups had 17 points and Ben Wallace pulled down 15 rebounds.

Group H

@ 2006 Miami Heat 108, 1991 Chicago Bulls 106
James Posey had a clutch steal with the Heat up two with 37 seconds left, and Shaquille O'Neal hit a turnaround dagger to seal the sweep of the Bulls and punch their ticket to the Elimination Round while also likely giving them the Group H win. Chicago trailed by nine in the second half and by double digits at multiple points in the third quarter before the Bulls made their move. Chicago led by as many as five, but couldn't hold it. Dwyane Wade had 28 points, including the eventual game-winner, and eight assists, while Shaq finished with 26 points and nine rebounds. Udonis Haslem added 11 points and 14 boards for the Heat. They overcame a 41 point outburst by Michael Jordan. Scottie Pippen added 13 points, six rebounds and 10 assists for the Bulls, while John Paxson had 15 points.

1976 Boston Celtics 104, @ 1963 Boston Celtics 85
The '76 Celtics held their '63 cousins to 31.7 percent shooting, a big reason why they led 63-41 at halftime. This included a 2-12 mark from beyond the arc by the '63 Celtics, whose only lead of the day was a 12-10 advantage in the first quarter. The '76 Celtics had a balanced attack with six players scoring in double figures. Dave Cowens led the way with 14 points and 20 rebounds, while Paul Silas had 15 and 12. Bill Russell paced the '63 Celtics with 17 points and 31 rebounds, while John Havlicek added 17 points.

@ 1984 Boston Celtics 105, 1969 Boston Celtics 96
The '84 Celtics held their '69 cousins to a total of 30 points in the first half and got to the line 41 times to make it a group of three teams at 7-4. The '69 Celtics scored 30+ points in each of the final two quarters, but they allowed the '84 C's to do the same. '69 Boston actually got within one point about halfway through the fourth quarter, but the '84 Celtics went on a 15-4 run to put the game away. Larry Bird was sublime, finishing with 28 points, 22 rebounds and six steals, while Robert Parish added 22 points and 10 rebounds. Bill Russell only scored two points, but put up 20 rebounds and eight assists for the '69 Celtics while Bailey Howell had 22 points and Larry Siegfried added 17 points and 10 rebounds.

@ 1962 Boston Celtics 122, 1952 Minneapolis Lakers 78

George Mikan's last chance at the Elimination Round was snuffed out thanks to 22 turnovers and allowing the Celtics to shoot 52.9 percent for the game. Boston outscored Minneapolis in every quarter and turned an eight point lead after one into a 20 point advantage at the intermission. Sam Jones had 23 points, seven rebounds and four assists to pace the Celtics, Bob Cousy added 20 points, and Bill Russell tacked on 18 points, 16 rebounds and nine blocks. George Mikan had 17 points and seven rebounds in the loss for the Lakers, while Vern Mikkelsen had nine points and 18 rebounds and James Pollard had 15 points, six rebounds and eight assists.