2015 NBA Tournament of Champions: Group Play Day 22

We've hit the three-quarter mark of the group stage in the NBA Tournament of Champions. Teams are running out of time; just one week remains until the string is played out and we find out who will continue playing for the title.

Today, we conclude Round 11 with a few teams having a chance to lock up a spot in the elimination round. Groups A and B have had the last two days to regroup and prepare, while Groups E and G only had the one. Group E is finishing a home-and-home series.

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 see the results.

Group A

@ 1979 Seattle Supersonics 119, 1989 Detroit Pistons 109

A 9-1 Sonics run early in the fourth quarter turned a one point lead into a nine point lead, and that was plenty of room for Seattle to pick up its sixth win of the tournament and in so doing, combined with the 2010 Lakers game below eliminate the Pistons from contention for the Elimination Round. Jack Sikma had 19 points and 18 rebounds to lead the way for the Sonics, while Dennis Johnson had 21 points and seven assists and Lonnie Shelton added 20 points and 15 rebounds. Joe Dumars paced Detroit with 20 points, Bill Laimbeer added 18 points and nine rebounds, and Isiah Thomas had 16 points, eight rebounds and eight assists.

@ 2015 Golden State Warriors 100, 2002 Los Angeles Lakers 67
The defending NBA Champions are officially moving on to the Elimination Round and not only that, they have officially clinched the Group A Championship thanks to the head-to-head tiebreaker over these Lakers. The Lakers shot just 34.5 percent for the game and had 18 turnovers, while being the latest victim of the Warriors' long range attack. Today, it was Steph Curry doing most of the damage with 27 points and 11 assists, while Klay Thompson had a modest 16 points and Harrison Barnes added 15 points and 13 rebounds. Shaquille O'Neal led the Lakers with 22 points and 15 rebounds, Kobe Bryant had 10 points and nine assists, and Samaki Walker had six points and 14 rebounds off the bench.

@ 2012 Miami Heat 88, 2010 Los Angeles Lakers 72
The Heat pick up just their third win of the Tournament of Champions and avoid elimination thanks to a good day from beyond the arc and holding the Lakers to 34.5 percent shooting. Miami was only up by one at halftime, but they came out of the locker room strong and built their lead to seven after three quarters and expanding it in the final frame. Mario Chalmers hit four threes en route to 14 points while adding 11 rebounds, Dwyane Wade had 14 points, seven rebounds and seven assists, and LeBron James finished with 13 points and nine rebounds for the Heat. Pau Gasol paced the Lakers with 15 points and 11 rebounds, Lamar Odom had nine points and 12 rebounds, and Kobe Bryant had 10 points on 4-20 shooting.

@ 1970 New York Knicks 116, 1982 Los Angeles Lakers 107
The Knicks gave the Warriors the help they needed, overcoming a bipolar game to remain within one game of the fourth and final Elimination Round spot in Group A. New York led by 14 early in the second quarter only to see the Lakers go on a 14-2 run later in the frame to erase their lead and see some back and forth before Norm Nixon hit a shot at the buzzer to give the Lakers a one point halftime edge. Los Angeles led by as many as five in the third quarter before the Knicks came back, with Walt Frazier giving them the lead for good towards the end of the frame and building on it in the fourth. Frazier finished with 22 points and nine assists, Willis Reed added 24 points, 18 rebounds, four blocks and four steals, and Dick Barnett chipped in 20 points and seven rebounds for the Knicks. They overcame 34 points and 11 rebounds from Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, while Norm Nixon had 18 points, five rebounds and seven assists and Magic Johnson had 12, six and nine for the Lakers.

Group B

1971 Milwaukee Bucks 128, @ 1975 Golden State Warriors 122
The Bucks punch their ticket to the Elimination Round, but not without a fight from Golden State. The Warriors hit 14 of their 20 first quarter shots and led 43-31 after the frame. The Bucks fought back though, narrowing the gap to  eight by halftime and five after three quarters. Mccoy McLemore hit a go-ahead three with 4:28 left in the game, and the Bucks would not cough up the lead. The Warriors made it interesting, but after hitting a three to cut the lead to three, Rick Barry stupidly committed his sixth foul with 10 seconds left rather than let a teammate do it. Barry would finish with a game-high 32 points while Jamaal Wilkes added 16 points and Derrek Dickey added 12 points and 10 rebounds. It wasn't enough to overcome Milwaukee's three-headed monster. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar had 25 points, 13 rebounds and six assists, Oscar Robertson added 24 points and 11 assists, and Jon McGlocklin chipped in 25 points.

1980 Los Angeles Lakers 145, @ 1966 Boston Celtics 125
I think this is both the highest scoring game of the tournament, and the '80 Lakers now have the single team mark for highest scoring game. Los Angeles shot 56.3 percent for the game, making two more field goals than the Celtics did in 20 fewer attempts. The Lakers put up 45 points in the opening quarter and never looked back. Magic Johnson led all scorers with 29 points, then added 10 rebounds and six assists, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar had 25 points, 11 rebounds and seven blocks, and Jamaal Wilkes added 23 points and 10 rebounds. Bill Russell led the Celtics with 14 points and 21 rebounds, John Havlicek added 18 points, eight rebounds and eight assists, and Sam Jones had 19 points.

@ 1968 Boston Celtics 124, 1965 Boston Celtics 114
When Celtics teams get together, a ton of shots get thrown up. The '65 version put up 126 attempts, which I'm pretty sure is a tournament-high, though they only made 48 shots for a 38.1 percent clip. The '68 Celtics were one shot shy of 50 percent for the day, and finished 7-13 beyond the arc to pick up their fourth win of the tournament. '68 Bill Russell led the way with 15 points, 26 rebounds, five assists and four blocks, '68 John Havlicek had 21 points, eight rebounds, four assists and four steals, and Bailey Howell added 18 points and 12 rebounds. '65 Russell was held to three points, but notched 25 rebounds, six blocks and five steals, '65 Sam Jones had 32 points, seven rebounds and four assists, and '65 Havlicek had 22 points and nine rebounds.

@ 1996 Chicago Bulls 126, 1985 Los Angeles Lakers 119 (OT)

The Bulls blew a 10 point fourth quarter lead and choked it away in the dumbest way possible: Scottie Pippen fouled Byron Scott on a three with no time remaining up three points, and Scott hit all three free throws to force an extra session. Ron Harper had seven points in the overtime period, including a clutch three to avoid continuing to tie the Lakers, but it was Michael Jordan who gave the Bulls the lead for good with 1:33 left. Jordan finished with 46 points and nine rebounds, Scottie Pippen had 20 points and 11 assists, and Harper finished with 14 points and seven rebounds. Byron Scott led the Lakers with 24 points, including the free throws to force overtime, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar finished with 23 points and nine rebounds, while Magic Johnson had 10 points, six rebounds and 12 assists, though he had eight turnovers in the loss.

Group E

@ 1990 Detroit Pistons 91, 1997 Chicago Bulls 89

The Bulls managed just 37 points in the first half to drop a game to the last place Pistons, but even then they made it interesting. Detroit nearly blew a 10 point lead in the fourth quarter, but Scottie Pippen missed an open three at the buzzer that would have won the game. The Pistons did control the paint for most of the game, winning the rebounding battle 60-48. Bill Laimbeer had 11 points and 16 rebounds to lead the Pistons, while Isiah Thomas had 14 points, seven rebounds and six assists. Joe Dumars added 15 points. On the Chicago side, Michael Jordan finished with 25 points, Pippen had 21 and seven rebounds, while '97 Dennis Rodman had 20 rebounds.

2014 San Antonio Spurs 108, @ 1981 Boston Celtics 98
The Celtics badly outrebounded the Spurs 58-38, but they blew a 12 point lead late in the first quarter, fell behind at halftime, and couldn't overcome the solid shooting of San Antonio, who opens up a two-game lead on the Bulls for first place in Group E. Tiago Splitter and Manu Ginobili each had 19 points to pace the Spurs attack, Tony Parker had 14 points and eight assists, and Kawhi Leonard added 10 points, 11 rebounds and four steals. Larry Bird had a triple-double in the loss with 13 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists, Nate Archibald had 13 points and 10 assists, while Cedric Maxwell had 19 points and 12 rebounds for Boston.

@ 1973 New York Knicks 116, 1974 Boston Celtics 109
The Knicks rebounded with a much needed win and move into a tie for third place with the '81 Celtics (and they tied head-to-head). New York actually trailed by 14 early in the fourth quarter, and after a 10-2 run made it close, trailed by a dozen. A 14-3 run pulled them within one point, and Walt Frazier hit a go-ahead three with 2:08 left to seal the comeback win. Frazier only had 11 points, but added eight rebounds and eight assists for the Knicks, while Willis Reed had 23 points and 12 rebounds and Dave DeBusschere added 19 and 10. John Havlicek had 20 points and eight assists for the Celtics while Dave Cowens added 20 points and 13 rebounds.

@ 2008 Boston Celtics 111, 1978 Washington Bullets 92
This game was close for three quarters, then the Celtics scored 42 points in the final frame to put it away. Ray Allen scored Boston's first 14 points of the quarter while the Bullets managed just two in a roughly five minute span, and it was over. Allen finished with 25 points, including a total of 16 in the fourth quarter, , Kevin Garnett added 16 points, eight rebounds and five assists, and Paul Pierce chipped in 16 points. Bob Dandridge led the Bullets with 18 points while Elvin Hayes added 11 points and 18 rebounds.

Group G

@ 2001 Los Angeles Lakers 125, 1967 Philadelphia 76ers 112
The Lakers used a 12-0 run early in the second quarter to break a 30-30 tie and take control of the game. The Sixers were unable to keep pace, despite cutting the lead to single digits a few times. Philly also shot just 50 percent at the free throw line, which likely cost them a chance to win the game. It also didn't help that Shaquille O'Neal dominated the paint to the tune of 33 points, 18 rebounds, seven assists and four blocks, while Kobe Bryant added 28 points, six rebounds and 10 assists. Wilt Chamberlain paced the Sixers with 20 points, 19 rebounds and seven blocks, while Chet Walker had 23 points and Hal Greer added 20.

@ 1957 Boston Celtics 116, 2005 San Antonio Spurs 113

Bill Russell tipped in his own miss with 51 seconds left to give the Celtics the lead, but it was Bob Cousy who played the role of hero after picking Tim Duncan's pocket and feeding Bill Sharman for the insurance dunk to make it a three point lead, and the Spurs couldn't even get a shot off as Tony Parker lost the ball out of bounds with the clock running out. The Celtics win puts them at 6-5 and within striking distance of stealing an unlikely Elimination Round berth. Jim Loscutoff actually led the Celtics with 25 points and 13 rebounds, Sharman had 23 points, and Russell finished with 18 points, 12 rebounds and six blocks. Duncan paced the Spurs with 27 points, 12 rebounds, five assists and five blocks, Tony Parker had 19 points and eight assists, and Manu Ginobili added 19 points.

@ 1987 Los Angeles Lakers 130, 1964 Boston Celtics 87
The Celtics find themselves knocked out of contention for the Elimination Round after shooting just 35 percent and getting outrebounded 71-50 by the Lakers, who remain tied atop Group G. The Lakers shot 51 percent in a win where they only led by four at halftime but held the Celtics to 36 total second half points while scoring 37 in each of the final two frames. Seven Lakers scored in double figures, led by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's 26 and 10 rebounds. A.C. Green had 17 points, 15 rebounds and five assists, James Worthy had 18 points and 10 rebounds, and Magic Johnson had 14 points and 12 assists. Bill Russell led the Celtics with nine points, 19 rebounds and six assists, John Havlicek had 16 points, and Sam Jones added 13.

@ 2003 San Antonio Spurs 108, 1955 Syracuse Nationals 99
The Nationals make it 11 losses in a row despite hitting nine of their 14 threes and only turning the ball over seven times. The Spurs did win the rebounding battle 57-42 and came back from down 17 points in the second quarter to keep their dreams of stealing an Elimination Round berth alive. Tim Duncan all but singlehandedly willed the Spurs to the win with 37 points, 16 rebounds and six assists while David Robinson added 13 points and 11 rebounds. Six Nationals scored in double figures, with Red Rocha and Dolph Schayes each logging 15. Schayes added 11 rebounds while Paul Seymour had 11 points and eight assists.