At this point, every team has played at least four games, with at least a handful of teams who have had some bad scheduling luck and have received both of their byes to this point. It could be a long three weeks, but there are still enough days off that all should be well. A few other teams have already played seven games over the last 13 days, and with two byes left on their schedule they have a little more favorable of a slate left.
Today's schedule features for Groups A and D, who had yesterday off, while Groups F and H are back after having two days off. This includes what looked to be the marquee matchup of Group Play a month ago but got spoiled by an upset. All simulations are provided by WhatIfSports.com. Let's play some basketball.
Group F
'86 Boston Celtics 123, @ '84 Boston Celtics 97
The '86 team maintains its grip on first place in statement fashion, having led by 25 points at halftime. They shot 48.9 percent and owned the boards in just an all-around dominating performance. '86 Larry Bird abused his younger team to the tune of 31 points, 17 rebounds, and seven assists, while '86 Robert Parish put up 21 points, 16 rebounds, and four blocks, and '86 Kevin McHale added 13 points and five assists. '84 Bird put up 15 points, 11 rebounds, and five assists in the loss, while '84 Parish put up 18 points and nine rebounds and '84 McHale finished with 18 points.
@ '68 Boston Celtics 112, '04 Detroit Pistons 89
Boston grabs its fourth win after forcing 20 Detroit turnovers and easily winning the rebounding battle against a Pistons team that has only one win to its resume so far. Larry Siegfried logged 25 points and five assists to lead the Celtics, Bill Russell added seven points, 22 rebounds, five assists, and four blocks, and Bailey Howell chipped in 17 points and 14 rebounds. Chauncey Billups led Detroit with 16 points and five assists, Rip Hamilton added 16 points and six rebounds, and Ben Wallace recorded eight points, 12 rebounds, and four blocks.
@ '52 Minneapolis Lakers 107, '89 Detroit Pistons 91
Minneapolis is the second to last team to get in the win column in this year's tournament, and they got there with repeated trips to the free throw line against a physical Pistons team that couldn't toe the line. They also couldn't stop George Mikan, who put up 30 points, 19 rebounds, and five blocks for the Lakers, while James Pollard added 24 points, eight rebounds, and five assists, and Vern Mikkelsen chipped in 14 points and 15 rebounds. Joe Dumars paced Detroit's attack with 19 points, Isiah Thomas had 15 points and nine assists, and Bill Laimbeer finished with 12 points and 14 rebounds.
A 14-0 Chicago run spanning almost four minutes in the fourth quarter turned out to be the difference, as the Sonics were unable to counter the rally. They also had absolutely no answer for Michael Jordan, who went crazy with 39 points and 11 rebounds, while Scottie Pippen added 22 points, five rebounds, and five assists, and Steve Kerr scored 16 points off the bench, including nine in that crucial fourth quarter run. They spoiled a 25 point, 19 rebound, five assist night for Jack Sikma, while Dennis Johnson and Gus Williams each added 19 points for Seattle.
Group D
'07 San Antonio Spurs 106, @ '62 Boston Celtics 90
The Spurs opened the fourth quarter on a 10-1 run to take control of the game, and Boston was unable to rally all the way back as the Spurs remain at least tied for first place in the group. Manu Ginobili had 29 points and seven rebounds, Tim Duncan added a quadruple-nickel of 20 points, 12 rebounds, five assists, and five blocks, and Tony Parker scored 20 points to lead San Antonio to its sixth win. Frank Ramsey had 18 points, seven rebounds, and six assists off the bench to lead the Celtics, Bill Russell added 11 points and 12 rebounds, and Sam Jones chipped in 13 and eight.
'76 Boston Celtics 109, @ '88 Los Angeles Lakers 98
The Celtics won the rebounding battle and hit five of their 13 threes to edge out just their second victory of the tournament. Dave Cowens led the way with 20 points and 17 rebounds, Jo Jo White added 21 points and six assists, Paul Silas put up 13 points and 14 rebounds, and John Havlicek contributed 17 and five for Boston. James Worthy had 17 points to lead the Lakers, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar recorded 15 points and nine rebounds, and Magic Johnson added eight points, five rebounds, and 12 assists.
Cleveland shot just 36.6 percent and only managed nine second quarter points as the Bulls snap their three game losing streak. Chicago also annihilated the Cavs on the boards and got to the line repeatedly, while the Cavs settled for 33 three pointers. Michael Jordan had 25 points and 13 rebounds, Scottie Pippen added 24 points, six rebounds, and six assists, and Dennis Rodman pulled down 17 rebounds to go with his five points for the Bulls. LeBron James was held to 10 points, 11 rebounds, and five assists by a combined of Jordan, Pippen, and Ron Harper. Kyrie Irving added 11 points and five assists, and J.R. Smith and Matthew Dellavedova each scored 10 points for the Cavaliers.
'09 Los Angeles Lakers 120, @ '63 Boston Celtics 111
The Lakers doubled up on free throws to stay even with the '96 Bulls and further the gap between the haves and have-nots in Group D. Pau Gasol put up 25 points and 15 rebounds for the Lakers, Kobe Bryant added 22 points, eight rebounds, and six assists, and Andrew Bynum chipped in 11 points and 10 rebounds. Sam Jones had 27 points and five rebounds to lead the Celtics, Bill Russell added 20 points, 21 rebounds, and four blocks, and Tommy Heinsohn scored 16 points.
Group H
@ '73 New York Knicks 119, '57 Boston Celtics 102
The Knicks shot 51 percent from the floor and held the Celtics to 35.5 percent in a battle in the cellar of the group. Boston had no answer for Walt Frazier, who went off for 30 points and 11 rebounds, Bill Bradley had 22 points and five assists, and Dave DeBusschere added 17 points and 16 rebounds for New York. Bill Russell put up 16 points, 24 rebounds, and four blocks to lead Boston, Bill Sharman scored 17 points, and Jack Nichols came off the bench to put up 16.
'03 San Antonio Spurs 90, @ '13 Miami Heat 83
Manu Ginobili hit a couple threes late in the fourth quarter, the first of which broke a 75-all tie with 3:09 left, and the Spurs dealt Miami their first loss of the tournament. Ginobili finished with just 10 points, but they came at a crucial time, while Tim Duncan put up 24 points, 19 rebounds, and five assists, and Tony Parker chipped in 14, five, and five for San Antonio. Chris Bosh had 23 points and seven rebounds to lead the Heat, LeBron James had 15 points, five rebounds, and six assists, and Dwyane Wade added 14 points.
The Lakers shot 51.1 percent from the floor and pulled away late to get back to .500 with a win over a struggling Rockets team. Houston had no answer for Norm Nixon, who went bonkers with 35 points and seven assists, while Kareem Abdul-Jabbar added 20 points and nine rebounds, Jamaal Wilkes scored 22 points, and Magic Johnson chipped in 11 points, 11 rebounds, and six assists for the Lakers. They spoiled a 32 point, 12 rebound, seven block game from Hakeem Olajuwon, while Otis Thorpe added 12 points, 11 rebounds, and five assists, and Vernon Maxwell contributed 14 points and seven rebounds.
@ '71 Milwaukee Bucks 120, '59 Boston Celtics 97
The Bucks jumped out to a 38-23 lead after one quarter and never looked back to pick up their fourth win, shooting 50 percent from the floor and shooting 42 free throws for the game. Ultimately, the Celtics were completely outmatched by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's 37 points and 28 rebounds, while Jon McGlocklin added 17 points and Oscar Robertson chipped in 15 points and five assists for Milwaukee. Bob Cousy had a solid game for Boston with 23 points, seven rebounds, and eight assists, Bill Russell added 15 points and 14 rebounds, and Bill Sharman chipped in 14 points.
Group A
@ '06 Miami Heat 105, '74 Boston Celtics 99
Miami made almost twice as many free throws (26) as Boston took (14) for the game, and used that aggressiveness to pick up their second win of the tournament. Shaquille O'Neal had 25 points and nine rebounds to lead the Heat, Dwyane Wade added 19 points, eight rebounds, and eight assists, and Jason Kapono put up 10 points off the bench. John Havlicek paced the Celtics with 23 points and six assists, Jo Jo White added 20 points, and Dave Cowens finished with 17 points, 12 rebounds, and five assists.
@ '70 Indiana Pacers 119, '65 Boston Celtics 110
The '65 Celtics remain the only team without a win in the Tournament of Champions after failing to crack 40 percent shooting and committing 28 fouls leading to 43 Indiana free throws. Bob Netolicky led the way with 34 points and 13 rebounds, Mel Daniels added 12 points, 26 rebounds, and seven blocks, and Roger A. Brown put up 22 points, eight rebounds and five assists for the Pacers. Willie Naulls had 23 points to lead Boston, Bill Russell logged 14 points, 20 rebounds, and four blocks, and K.C. Jones added 15 points, five rebounds, and eight assists.
Michael Jordan hit the go-ahead basket with 18 seconds left, blocked Julius Erving at the other end, then hit a pair of free throws to ice the game and make Andrew Toney's three at the buzzer mean nothing and get Chicago back into the mix. Jordan finished with 19 points, five rebounds, and seven assists, Scottie Pippen had a quadruple-nickel of 19 points, 11 rebounds, five assists, and five blocks, and Horace Grant chipped in 20 points and 11 rebounds for the Bulls. They overcame a 22 point, 19 rebound night for Moses Malone, Erving's quadruple-nickel of 14 points, nine rebounds, six assists, and five blocks, and the 11 point, nine assist game for Maurice Cheeks.
@ '72 Los Angeles Lakers 126, '14 San Antonio Spurs 110
The Lakers take control of Group A with the head to head win after shooting 52.5 percent from the floor and forcing 19 turnovers. Wilt Chamberlain had 23 points and 24 rebounds in another dominating performance, Jim McMillian added 21 points, Jerry West had 19 points and 10 assists, and Happy Hairston chipped in 14 points and 10 rebounds for Los Angeles. Tim Duncan had 18 points and 13 rebounds for the Spurs, Kawhi Leonard added 15 and 12, Tony Parker put up 17 points and seven assists, and Patty Mills scored 14 points off the bench.
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