2015 NBA Tournament of Champions: Group Play Day 8

We're a quarter of the way through the group play portion of the NBA Tournament of Champions. 21 days' worth of games have yet to be played as we search for the best NBA team of all time.

Yesterday's batch saw half of the field play their fourth game of the tournament, so today the other half will catch back up. Groups A and H will return to the court after a day off, while Groups F and G are back after a two-day layoff.

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. Here are today's results.

Group A

@ 2002 Los Angeles Lakers 102, 1989 Detroit Pistons 82
Detroit looked good to start the game off, but the Lakers went on a 12-2 run to close out the quarter up nine. The Pistons would get no closer than six the rest of the way, falling to 0-4 on the tournament. The Lakers got to empty their bench at the end to balance things out, so the scoring was led by Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal, who each had 18 points. Shaq also had 10 rebounds, while Samaki Walker added 15 off the bench. Isiah Thomas led all scorers with 23 points and added seven assists, while Joe Dumars added 22.

@ 1979 Seattle Supersonics 102, 2010 Los Angeles Lakers 94
This makes three losses in a row for the Lakers, while the Sonics improve to an improbable 4-0. The teams traded leads for much of the first half before Seattle went on a run in the third quarter to go up by 13. The Lakers would narrow the gap to as small as five points before Gus Williams sealed the game. Williams scored 21 points to help lead the Sonics, while Jack Sikma also added 21 to go with his 13 rebounds. Andrew Bynum led the Lakers with 19 points and 15 rebounds, Pau Gasol added 16 and 11, and Kobe Bryant scored 18 points.

1982 Los Angeles Lakers 116, @ 2015 Golden State Warriors 109
Golden State dropped its first game of the tournament, but they were in it to the end. The game was tied after three quarters, and both teams traded leads throughout the frame until Norm Nixon put the Lakers ahead for good with 2:56 to play. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar had 28 points, eight rebounds and four blocks, Norm Nixon added 23 points, six rebounds and eight assists, and Magic Johnson chipped in 19 points, eight rebounds and 13 assists. Klay Thompson went off for Golden State, going 6-7 beyond the arc en route to 38 points while Steph Curry only managed to go 2-9 from deep but still finished with 18 points, seven rebounds and 11 assists.

@ 2012 Miami Heat 103, 1970 New York Knicks 99

The Heat won their first game of the tournament, but it wasn't easy. The Knicks were right with them the whole game, even leading for chunks of the first half before Miami took over in the second half. The Knicks did manage to take a four point lead with 4:27 to play, but the Heat went on an 11-0 run to take the game. LeBron James scored 12 of his game-high 35 points in the fourth quarter and added nine rebounds and eight assists. Dwyane Wade added 29 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists. Willis Reed did have a monster game for New York with 24 points, 23 rebounds and six blocks while Walt Frazier had 13 points, six rebounds and nine assists.

Group F

1986 Boston Celtics 103, @ 1998 Chicago Bulls 89
Boston continued its unblemished start to the tournament, taking early control against a tough Bulls team. Chicago wouldn't go away, taking a couple small leads in the second quarter, but the Celtics came back and led 52-48 at the break. The Bulls kept it close until roughly the final five minutes of the third quarter, when Boston went on a 14-3 run to close out the quarter up 11. Chicago never threatened the rest of the way. Kevin McHale was close to unstoppable, dropping a game-high 27 points. Robert Parish added 18 points and 10 rebounds, while Larry Bird had a near triple-double of 11 points, 16 rebounds and nine assists. Michael Jordan led the Bulls with 23 points, Toni Kukoc added 16 off the bench, and Scottie Pippen filled the stat sheet with 17 points, four rebounds, two assists, four steals and four blocks.

@ 2004 Detroit Pistons 119, 1960 Boston Celtics 113
The Pistons caught fire in the first quarter offensively to go ahead 40-26 early. The Celtics never really recovered; despite shooting 47.6 percent for the game, they couldn't get the game close again until the very end when the outcome was pretty much decided. Chauncey Billups had a monster game, going off for 31 points. Rip Hamilton added 23 points, seven rebounds and six assists, Ben Wallace had 18 points, 10 rebounds and four blocks, and Rasheed just outdid him with 18, 11 and four. Seven Celtics reached double figures in the loss led by Sam Jones' 22. Bill Russell added 18 points and 15 rebounds, while Bob Cousy had 10 points and 13 rebounds.

1988 Los Angeles Lakers 142, @ 1961 Boston Celtics 114

The Lakers set a tournament high for points in a game, taking advantage of the tempo Boston wanted to run and making the most of their opportunities. Los Angeles shot 58.9 percent from the floor and saw all but three of their players score at least one point. Byron Scott had 24 points, six rebounds and six assists, Tony Campbell came off the bench to score 24, James Worthy had 21, A.C. Green had 18 points and 12 rebounds, and Magic Johnson had 13 points and 16 assists. Tommy Heinsohn led all scorers with 30 for Boston while adding 12 rebounds, and Bill Russell chipped in 14 points and a game-high 20 rebounds.

@ 1994 Houston Rockets 91, 1956 Philadelphia Warriors 86
This was a fairly tight game throughout, but one the Warriors were largely in control of, as they led by eight going into the fourth quarter. Philly would lead by as many as nine early in the fourth before the Rockets made their move. Mario Elie hit a game-tying three with 3:17 to go, Robert Horry put the Rockets ahead for good, and Hakeem Olajuwon iced the contest. The Warriors did have a couple chances late to tie the game, but Paul Arizin and Neil Johnston both missed potential tying shots in the closing seconds. Otis Thorpe feasted on the Warrior defense with 29 points and 17 rebounds while Hakeem added 18 points, 13 rebounds and six blocks. Arizin had 18 points and 11 rebounds to lead the Warriors, while Johnston added 18 points, nine rebounds, five assists and four steals.

Group G

1967 Philadelphia 76ers 127, @ 1964 Boston Celtics 114
Wilt Chamberlain finally got some measure of revenge as the Sixers win their third straight and Wilt goes to 1-1 against Bill Russell in the tournament. This was a tight game throughout, tied at halftime, and remained close until late in the third when the Sixers started to go on a run and led by 12 after three. Boston would get no closer than within seven in the final frame. Wilt broke out for a 30 point, 29 rebound, five assist, four block, two steal day. Wali Jones added 20 points, and Chet Walker had 19 points and 11 rebounds. Sam Jones led the Celtics with 19 points, John Havlicek had 18, and Bill Russell finished with 14 points and 28 rebounds.

@ 2005 San Antonio Spurs 92, 1955 Syracuse Nationals 82
This was not a great game offensively for either team; both squads shot under 40 percent for the game. San Antonio was able to use good defense to build its lead however, and went up 28-19 after one quarter. It continued in the second, and the Spurs led 54-37 at the break. Syracuse would work its way back after the game was out of reach, outscoring the Spurs in the third and fourth quarters, though Greg Popovich had called off the dogs by then. Tim Duncan led all scorers with 24 points while Malik Rose added 10 points off the bench. Dolph Schayes and Red Rocha each led the Nationals with 15 points, with Schayes adding a game-high 16 rebounds.

@ 2001 Los Angeles Lakers 82, 2003 San Antonio Spurs 80

The Lakers overcame a nine point halftime deficit to make a game of it in the fourth quarter. The two teams traded leads as time wound down. Finally, Kobe Bryant hit a reverse layup with 29 seconds left to give the Lakers an 82-80 lead. Tim Duncan missed a shot on the ensuing trip down, David Robinson pulled down the offensive rebound, and Tony Parker missed a game-winning three with four seconds left. Bryant had 21 points, including the game-winner, and eight rebounds, while Shaquille O'Neal led all scorers with 28 points and added 11 rebounds. Tim Duncan had an awful day offensively, making just three of his 14 field goals for seven points, but made up for it with 16 rebounds and seven blocks. Tony Parker had 18 points and Speedy Claxton added 15 off the bench.

1987 Los Angeles Lakers 104, @ 1957 Boston Celtics 97
It was Showtime prevailing over Boston's fast pace, as the two teams combined for 207 field goal attempts in this game. It was a great game throughout though, as the Celtics and Lakers were tied at 95 with just under two minutes to play. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar scored four straight points from there to give Los Angeles a lead they would not relinquish, as Bill Loscutoff missed a game-tying shot with 33 seconds left, and the Lakers iced it out from there. Kareem led the way for the Lakers with 24 points and 12 rebounds, James Worthy had 20 and 10, and Magic Johnson had a near triple-double of 18 points, nine rebounds and 10 assists. Bill Sharman led the Celtics with 22 points, and three Celtics had double-doubles, led by Bill Russell's 17 points and 19 rebounds.

Group H

@ 1976 Boston Celtics 107, 2006 Miami Heat 101
The Celtics forced 22 turnovers in handing the Heat their first loss of the tournament. Boston cruised early, and led 61-37 at the half. Pat Riley made adjustments in the locker room and that 24 point deficit was narrowed to nine by the end of the third. The Celtics pushed the lead back up to 14 early in the fourth, but Miami wouldn't go away, getting back within three with less than four minutes to play, but Charlie Scott and Jo Jo White made key baskets in the final minutes to seal the win. Scott and White each had 23 points to lead the way for the Celtics, while Dave Cowens added 20 points and a game-high 19 rebounds. Dwyane Wade led all scorers with 30 points for the Heat, while Shaquille O'Neal added 16 points and 10 rebounds.

1991 Chicago Bulls 110, @ 1969 Boston Celtics 88
The Bulls take sole possession of first place with a solid win over the Celtics. After trailing for much of the first quarter, the Bulls closed the frame on an 11-3 run to lead 27-22. Boston was able to keep it close for a bit, but the Bulls proved to be too much and slowly pulled away, leading by 12 at halftime. The Celtics turned the ball over 21 times in the loss, too many times to keep pace. Michael Jordan led the way with 30 points and six steals, Horace Grant and B.J. Armstrong each had 12 points, and Scottie Pippen added eight points, 10 rebounds and seven assists. John Havlicek did all he could, beating out MJ with 32 points. Bailey Howell added 16, and Bill Russell finished with 12 points, 15 rebounds and five blocks.

@ 1952 Minneapolis Lakers 97, 1963 Boston Celtics 88

It's the first win for any Minneapolis Lakers team in NBA Tournament of Champions history! It didn't seem likely early though, as the Celtics scored the game's first 10 points and the Lakers missed their first 10 shots. Minny fought back though and only trailed by six after one. It was a seven point game at halftime but the Lakers wouldn't give up, pulling back within one after three. James Pollard hit a pair of free throws about a minute into the fourth quarter to give the Lakers the lead, and they wouldn't let it slip away. George Mikan had a huge game of 32 points, 14 rebounds, six assists and six blocks to lead the way, while Pollard added 22 points and 19 rebounds. Bill Russell had nine points, 18 rebounds and seven assists to lead the Celtics, while John Havlicek and Tommy Heinsohn each had 14 points.

@ 1962 Boston Celtics 120, 1984 Boston Celtics 92
The '84 Celtics fall to 0-4 on the tournament after turning the ball over 25 times and falling behind 37-23 after one quarter. The '62 Celtics only made 37.6 percent of their shots, but took 117 of them, plus 41 free throws, and outrebounded the '84 Celtics 75-60. Tommy Heinsohn led the charge for '62 with 29 points and 16 rebounds. Bob Cousy added 21, Sam Jones had 19, and Bill Russell finished with 14 points and 26 rebounds. Larry Bird led the '84 Celtics with 21 points and 13 rebounds, Cedric Maxwell had 14 points, and Robert Parish added eight points and 19 rebounds.