Yesterday saw the official kickoff of Group Play for this year's Tournament of Champions. 32 teams have seen their fortunes rise or fall, while four teams got an immediate bye. We're repeating the pattern today with the groups that have yet to see any action.
A couple of these groups are going to be playing the front end of back to backs, just with how the randomizer set up the schedule, but this will all be balanced out over the remaining five weeks with byes and scheduled two day gaps between games.
In the meantime though, Groups B, D, F, and G begin their tournament play today. All simulations are provided by WhatIfSports.com. Let's get to it!
Group F
'86 Boston Celtics 105, @ '52 Minneapolis Lakers 71
Boston jumped out to a 30-16 lead after one quarter and held the Lakers to a paltry 30.6 percent shooting for the contest, all of which helped allow them to keep minutes down for their horses. Danny Ainge led the Celtics with 20 points, Larry Bird added 19 points, and Kevin McHale had 13 points and 15 rebounds. George Mikan paced Minneapolis with 20 points and 10 rebounds, James Pollard chipped in 12 and eight, and Myer Skoog had 10 points.
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Seattle shot 54.4 percent from the floor and built up a 19 point lead after three quarters before taking their foot off the gas a little bit. The Celtics had no answer for Gus Williams, who went off for 30 points, while Freddie Brown added 23 points off the bench and Lonnie Shelton chipped in 16 points and 12 rebounds. Sam Jones led the Celtics with 26 points, Bailey Howell added 19, and Bill Russell finished with 12 points, 22 rebounds, seven assists, and four steals.
'84 Boston Celtics 127, @ '89 Detroit Pistons 118
Gerald Henderson made a couple key baskets in the fourth quarter, and Larry Bird went 6-6 from the free throw line in the final 18 seconds to seal the win for Boston against a feisty Pistons team. Bird finished with 26 points, including a perfect 12-12 day at the stripe, along with 10 rebounds, while Cedric Maxwell finished with 20 points, and Dennis Johnson and Kevin McHale each added 18 points. Joe Dumars paced the Detroit attack with 20 points while Isiah Thomas had 19 points and 15 assists.
@ '01 Los Angeles Lakers 98, '04 Detroit Pistons 79
The Pistons struggled offensively, turning the ball over 21 times and shooting only 40.5 percent from the floor. That meant the Lakers' dynamic duo didn't need to be otherworldly to win. Shaquille O'Neal still had an excellent game with 23 points, nine rebounds, and seven assists, while Kobe Bryant put up 23 points, six rebounds, and six assists. Rip Hamilton led the Pistons with 20 points, Rasheed Wallace added 11, and Ben Wallace had nine points and 10 rebounds.
Group B
'73 Indiana Pacers 107, @ '93 Chicago Bulls 92
Indiana destroyed the Bulls on the glass, almost pulling down as many offensive rebounds (34) as the Bulls did in total (35). Mel Daniels had 22 points and 18 rebounds to lead the way for the Pacers, George McGinnis had 18 points and nine rebounds, and Freddie Lewis added 17 points. Michael Jordan had 23 points to lead the Bulls, but committed seven turnovers in the losing effort. B.J. Armstrong had 13 points and Horace Grant 12, while Scottie Pippen was a virtual no-show (three points, six rebounds).
@ '69 Oakland Oaks 114, '74 New York Nets 100
The Oaks showed no signs of rust from the ABA Preseeding Tournament other than a little trouble with turnovers. They got to the line at will and held New York under 40 percent shooting in their second straight win over these Nets. Warren Jabali put up 27 points and 14 rebounds, while Rick Barry had 26 and 11. Julius Erving had 27 points, seven rebounds, and six blocks for New York, while Billy Paultz put up 11 points and 15 rebounds.
In another paradox game, '85 Byron Scott knocked down a jumper with 27 seconds left that served as the game winner after '87 Kareem couldn't connect on a left wing shot at the buzzer. It capped off a largely back and forth affair with neither team taking a huge lead. '85 Kareem led the way with 27 points, '85 Byron Scott had 25 points, including that aforementioned jumper, '85 James Worthy had 21 points and '85 Magic Johnson chipped in 12 points and 13 assists. '87 Magic had a near triple-double with 25 points, nine rebounds and 11 assists, '87 Kareem finished with 22 points, and '87 Scott added 16 points, six rebounds, and six assists.
'90 Detroit Pistons 114, @ '70 New York Knicks 102
In a physical game, the Pistons controlled the pace, forcing 21 turnovers and making the most of their trips to the foul line despite getting outrebounded 55-42. Bill Laimbeer and Joe Dumars each poured in 21 points for Detroit, Isiah Thomas had 13 points and 11 assists, and Gerald Henderson added 13 points off the bench. Dick Barnett led the Knicks with 15 points and Willis Reed added 13 points and 18 rebounds.
Group D
@ '76 Boston Celtics 123, '63 Boston Celtics 99
The '63 Celtics shot just 37.3 percent from the floor, including an abysmal 3-17 from beyond the arc in one of the bigger blowout losses of the tournament thus far. '76 John Havlicek led the way with 22 points, Charlie Scott added 19 points, and Dave Cowens went off for 14 points, 22 rebounds, and six assists. Sam Jones led the '63 Celtics with 18 points while Bill Russell had a monster line of 11 points, 24 rebounds, five assists and seven blocks.
The Cavs made a valiant comeback late, coming back from down seven with four minutes to play, but Tim Duncan scored San Antonio's final five points to put the game out of reach. He finished with 30 points and eight rebounds, Tony Parker added 17 points, and Matt Bonner had 10 points in 14 minutes off the bench. LeBron James had 24 points to pace the Cavs, while Kevin Love had 17 points and 14 rebounds, and Kyrie Irving added 15 points.
@ '96 Chicago Bulls 103, '78 Washington Bullets 90
The defending tournament champions looked a tad rusty, hitting less than 50 percent of their free throws, but in the end it didn't matter as the Bullets struggled from the line as well and only shot 41.8 percent from the floor. Michael Jordan had 26 points, Toni Kukoc added 21 off the bench, and Scottie Pippen did the dirty work to the tune of 11 points, eight rebounds, and seven assists. Bob Dandridge had 16 points and 12 rebounds to lead Washington, while Elvin Hayes added 14 points and 17 rebounds.
'09 Los Angeles Lakers 127, @ '88 Los Angeles Lakers 117
The '09 Lakers attacked the rim with abandon, shooting twice as many free throws as their '88 counterparts, then played well on defense, forcing 16 turnovers in the win. Kobe Bryant had 27 points, six rebounds, and seven assists to lead the way for the '09 team, Andrew Bynum added 25 points and 14 rebounds, and Lamar Odom came off the bench to chip in 22 and seven. It ruined a 24 point, eight rebound, 17 assist night for Magic Johnson, while James Worthy added 23 points and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar finished with 21 points and 15 rebounds for the '88 Lakers.
Group G
@ '76 New York Nets 112, '72 Indiana Pacers 111
In our second ABA rematch of the day, Ted McClain knocked down a contested 16 foot pull up jumper with three seconds to go to win the game for the Nets, as Freddie Lewis' fadeaway at the buzzer wasn't close. The bucket gave McClain 10 for the contest in support of a 35 point, 16 rebound performance from Julius Erving. It also spoiled a 22 point, 14 rebound day for Mel Daniels. Roger A. Brown added 22 points, eight rebounds and five assists for the Pacers, while Bob Netolicky chipped in 15 points and 12 rebounds.
The Bulls struggled early in this one, trailing by as many as 17 points in the first quarter, but had a furious third quarter comeback and early fourth quarter run to stretch the lead to 11, but the Mavericks roared back to take a two point lead on a Caron Butler drive with a second to go. The Bulls called time out, and just as would have happened in real life, Michael Jordan hit a contested bank shot at the buzzer to force overtime. The supporting cast came to life in the extra session, as Ron Harper and Luc Longley got the Bulls out in front again, and this time they would hold firm. Jordan finished with 33 points, seven rebounds, and five assists, Scottie Pippen added 19, six, and four, and Dennis Rodman put up 13, 19 and six. Dirk Nowitzki put up 26 points and seven rebounds before fouling out in the extra session, Tyson Chandler had 21 points, and Jason Kidd had nine points, 10 assists, and six steals.
@ '66 Boston Celtics 137, '64 Boston Celtics 100
Our biggest blowout and highest score of the tournament so far goes to the '66 Celtics, who shot 49 percent while holding their counterparts to a 31.7 percent clip. '66 John Havlicek went off for 31 points and '66 Sam Jones added 27, which freed up Bill Russell to only score two points while pulling down 28 boards. '64 Russell matched that scoring output, but only grabbed 14 rebounds, while '64 Sam Jones had 16 points, tied for the team lead with Clyde Lovellette, who also had 10 rebounds.
@ '02 Los Angeles Lakers 114, '58 St. Louis Hawks 100
The Lakers forced 18 turnovers and held the Hawks to just a 2-12 performance from beyond the arc to grab their first win of the tournament. Kobe Bryant led the way with 25 points, seven rebounds and five assists, while Shaquille O'Neal was just as good, putting up a 23-9-7, and Derek Fisher added 21 points. Bob Pettit led St. Louis with 25 points and 11 rebounds, while Cliff Hagan added 20 and eight.
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