We are 240 games into our quest to once again determine the greatest NBA champion of all time. It's been a lot of action to try to sift through, and we aren't even halfway done yet. All 32 spots in the Elimination Stage are still up for grabs, and even with a fairly reasonable pecking order established to date, things can flip fairly quickly.
Today's schedule features a return from a two day layover for Group C, while Groups A, D, and F are back in action after taking yesterday off. All simulations are provided by WhatIfSports.com. Here's our results from today.
Group D
@ '16 Cleveland Cavaliers 121, '63 Boston Celtics 109
The Celtics blew a 19 point halftime lead, as the Cavs put together a 26-4 run that spanned a majority of the third quarter, and Cleveland put it away in the fourth, shooting 45 free throws for the game. Kyrie Irving dropped 37 points and six assists on Boston, LeBron James added 26 points, nine rebounds, and eight assists, Kevin Love put up 19, 18, and seven, and Tristan Thompson finished with 12 points and 13 rebounds. Bill Russell had 19 points and a game-high 20 rebounds for the Celtics, Tommy Heinsohn added 14 and nine, and Bob Cousy finished with nine points and 13 assists.
@ '96 Chicago Bulls 121, '76 Boston Celtics 116
Scottie Pippen hit the game-tying three with 1:44 left then scored the go-ahead bucket on a runner the next time down, and Michael Jordan finished it off with a three point play and a couple extra free throws to keep the Bulls in the thick of the race. Jordan finished with 28 points and seven rebounds, Scottie Pippen added 15 points, seven rebounds, and five assists, and Toni Kukoc put up 21 points and seven assists off the bench for Chicago. They spoiled a 31 point, 23 rebound, five assist performance by Dave Cowens. Charlie Scott chipped in 19 points and five assists for the Celtics, and John Havlicek also scored 19 points.
Magic Johnson hit a game-tying jumper with 14 seconds left in regulation, and Tony Parker missed a fadeaway at the buzzer that would have avoided the extra session. Instead, the Spurs couldn't hold a lead, and Magic got a layup with 25 seconds left to give LA the lead. Tim Duncan and Fabricio Oberto both missed game-winning looks in the final ten seconds, and the Lakers escaped with the overtime victory. Magic finished with 16 points, nine rebounds, and 11 assists, James Worthy added 23 points and eight rebounds, and Byron Scott chipped in 18 and 11 for Los Angeles. Tim Duncan led the Spurs with 18 points, eight rebounds, and four blocks, but also turned the ball over eight times in the loss, while Tony Parker added 15 points, six rebounds, and seven assists.
@ '62 Boston Celtics 127, '78 Washington Bullets 117
The Bullets missed 13 free throws and were outrebounded 75-60 in a battle between 1-5 teams at the bottom of Group D. Bill Russell had 17 points, 24 rebounds, and five blocks to lead the Celtics to their second victory, Tommy Heinsohn added 24 points and 10 rebounds, and Sam Jones chipped in 23 and five. Bob Dandridge had 24 points and 13 rebounds to pace Washington, Mitch Kupchak added 21 and 11 off the bench, and Elvin Hayes finished with 16 and 16.
Group A
'91 Chicago Bulls 100, @ '95 Houston Rockets 95
The Bulls shot 50 percent from the field and forced 19 Houston turnovers to win their fifth game of the tournament and remain in second place in the group. Michael Jordan was excellent all-around with 23 points, five rebounds, nine assists, and four steals, Horace Grant added 22 points, 13 rebounds, and five assists, Scottie Pippen chipped in 19 points, eight rebounds, and seven assists, and John Paxson contributed 10 points and four steals for Chicago. Hakeem Olajuwon did feast on the Bulls' interior defense to the tune of 28 points, 22 rebounds, and four blocks, while Clyde Drexler added 13 points, seven rebounds, and seven assists for the Rockets.
The Spurs hit nine of their 15 threes and more than doubled up on free throws to hand Boston its seventh consecutive loss. The Celtics had no answer for Tony Parker, who had 29 points, six rebounds, and five assists, Tim Duncan added 17 points and four blocks, Kawhi Leonard put up 16 points and 10 rebounds, and Manu Ginobili scored 11 points off the bench for San Antonio. Bill Russell had 11 points, 14 rebounds, five assists, and four blocks to pace Boston, while Sam Jones did manage 27 points and five rebounds, and K.C. Jones added 11 points, six rebounds, and six assists.
'72 Los Angeles Lakers 110, @ '74 Boston Celtics 100
Gail Goodrich was fouled on a three with 6:34 to play in a tie game, hit all of his free throws, and the Lakers never trailed again en route to their group-leading seventh win. Goodrich led all scorers with 24 points, Wilt Chamberlain logged 12 points and 18 rebounds, Jerry West put up 17 points, five rebounds, and 10 assists, and Jim McMillian added 20 points and seven rebounds for Los Angeles. Dave Cowens had 16 points and 18 rebounds to lead the Celtics, John Havlicek posted 17 and nine, and Paul Westphal scored 14 points off the bench.
'70 Indiana Pacers 113, @ '06 Miami Heat 107
Indiana opened the fourth quarter on a 10-2 run to turn the tide and Roger A. Brown got hot late to seal a win for the Pacers, who are now back to .500. Brown finished with 25 points and nine rebounds, Mel Daniels added 20 and 11, and Freddie Lewis and Bob Netolicky each scored 15 points for Indiana. Dwyane Wade paced the Heat with 20 points and five assists, Udonis Haslem had maybe his best game of the tournament with 15 points and 14 rebounds, and Shaquille O'Neal chipped in 19 and eight.
Group C
@ '99 San Antonio Spurs 92, '12 Miami Heat 86
The Heat drop from the ranks of the unbeaten after committing 19 turnovers while the Spurs get a key win to try and key a second half comeback. Tim Duncan had 21 points and 14 rebounds to lead San Antonio, David Robinson added 17 and 13, and Avery Johnson and Malik Rose each scored 12 points. Dwyane Wade had 21 points but committed six turnovers for Miami, LeBron James had 18 points, 10 rebounds, and six assists, but also committed six turnovers, and Chris Bosh logged 15 points and eight rebounds.
'08 Boston Celtics 97, @ '00 Los Angeles Lakers 78
The Lakers hung tough for much of the contest, but only shooting 38.6 percent for the game will get to you eventually. The Celtics were efficient, knocking down 52.6 percent of their shots to grab second place and move within a half game of the Heat for the top spot. Kevin Garnett led the way with 21 points, 12 rebounds, and five blocks, Ray Allen poured in 21 points, and Paul Pierce added 11 points and six assists for Boston. Shaquille O'Neal led the Lakers with 22 points, six rebounds, and seven blocks, Kobe Bryant chipped in 16 points, six rebounds, and five assists, and Glen Rice contributed 11 points.
'81 Boston Celtics 121, @ '56 Philadelphia Warriors 117
The Celtics get just their second win behind a 53.3 percent shooting day from the floor and winning the rebounding battle, overcoming a 45 free throw day from the Warriors. Larry Bird had 23 points, 10 rebounds, and seven assists to pace Boston, Nate Archibald added 18 points and seven assists, Robert Parish put up 24 points and 14 rebounds, and Cedric Maxwell chipped in 16 and 11. Neil Johnston had a game-high 29 points to go with 11 rebounds, while Paul Arizin added 21 and five, Joe Graboski chipped in 17 and 11, and Tom Gola finished with 11 points, seven rebounds, and 11 assists for Philadelphia.
The Colonels led by seven midway through the fourth quarter, but a quick 7-0 Pittsburgh run flipped the script and Kentucky couldn't recover, giving the Pipers their second win. Connie Hawkins led the way with 14 points, 14 rebounds, seven assists, and four steals for Pittsburgh, while Charlie Williams dropped 30 points and Art Heyman added 21 points and eight rebounds. Artis Gilmore had 22 points and 15 rebounds for the Colonels, Louie Dampier added 19 points, and Dan Issel chipped in 17 points and eight rebounds.
Group F
'68 Boston Celtics 101, @ '52 Minneapolis Lakers 91
Boston held Minneapolis to just 32.6 percent shooting and got away with their 11 missed free throws to get their fifth win and stay in fourth place in the group. Bill Russell managed just six points, but pulled down 21 rebounds, John Havlicek scored 21 points, Bailey Howell had 19 points and 11 rebounds, and Sam Jones scored 19 points for the Celtics. They spoiled a 29 point, 15 rebound, five assist day for George Mikan, while Vern Mikkelsen added 14 points and 14 rebounds, and James Pollard chipped in 16 points for the Lakers.
Larry Bird hit a go-ahead jumper with 1:17 left, and also scored the icing points of the contest to pull the Celtics to their fifth win of the tournament with two byes still to come. Bird finished with a ridiculous 30 points, 15 rebounds, and five assists, Cedric Maxwell added 13 points and 12 rebounds, and Robert Parish finished with 13 and 11 for Boston. Michael Jordan wrapped the game up with 28 points, five rebounds, and six assists, but missed a game-tying three with just a few seconds left. Scottie Pippen logged 22 points, nine rebounds, and six assists before fouling out, and Luc Longley chipped in 17 points and seven rebounds for the Bulls.
@ '79 Seattle Supersonics 93, '04 Detroit Pistons 74
The Pistons shot an abysmal 29.8 percent from the floor, only the second sub-30 percent showing by anyone in the tournament so far, and turned the ball over 20 times to fall to 1-5 and remain in eighth place in the group. Gus Williams had 20 points to lead the Sonics, Lonnie Shelton added 17 points and eight rebounds, Wally Walker added 13 points off the bench, and Jack Sikma logged eight points and 10 rebounds. Rip Hamilton was the only Piston in double figures, scoring 22 points. Ben Wallace had 14 rebounds but scored just three points, while Rasheed Wallace picked up eight points and 10 rebounds.
'01 Los Angeles Lakers 110, @ '89 Detroit Pistons 98
The Pistons hit just one of their eight threes while the Lakers went 7-14 from downtown to improve to 5-2 on the tournament and take full control of second place. The Pistons had no answer for Shaquille O'Neal, who put up 28 points, 15 rebounds, and five assists, while Kobe Bryant added 28 points and five rebounds, and Horace Grant chipped in 14 and six for Los Angeles. Mark Aguirre led Detroit with 21 points and seven rebounds, Bill Laimbeer logged 15 and 14, Dennis Rodman had 14 and 15 off the bench, and Isiah Thomas finished with 12 points and nine assists.
No comments:
Post a Comment