We're two-thirds of the way through the hardest part of following along with the tournament, and that's keeping up with the goings-on of 72 NBA and ABA champions. In 12 days' time, that number will drop by more than half and we'll get to more of a playoff-type atmosphere.
We're getting there in some groups; five teams have already been mathematically eliminated from the next stage. We also have an opportunity for our first team to clinch today.
In the quest for that extended season, Groups D, E, and G are all back in action again today despite having just played yesterday, while Group A rounds out the schedule following a rest day yesterday. All simulations are provided by WhatIfSports.com. Let's start our thirteenth round of games.
Group D
@ '63 Boston Celtics 100, '07 San Antonio Spurs 92
San Antonio missed 11 free throws, but also turned the ball over 18 times as they drop their fourth game of the tournament. Bill Russell dominated to the tune of 14 points, 19 rebounds, and six blocks, while Tommy Heinsohn scored 24 points, Bob Cousy dropped 17, and John Havlicek chipped in nine points and 10 rebounds for the Celtics. Tim Duncan finished with 18 points, 14 rebounds, five assists, and four blocks to pace the Spurs, Manu Ginobili scored 17 points and Bruce Bowen added 16.
'76 Boston Celtics 128, @ '78 Washington Bullets 110
Boston climbs back into the mix while handing the Bullets their second straight loss, forcing a mind-boggling 28 turnovers. Jo Jo White led the way with 27 points, nine assists, and seven steals, Dave Cowens had 19 points and 13 rebounds, and Charlie Scott scored 17 points for the Celtics. Elvin Hayes paced the Bullets with 17 points and 19 rebounds, Bob Dandridge chipped in 19 points and 10 rebounds, and Mitch Kupchak contributed 13 and six off the bench.
Cleveland is going to have to wait for its clinching party as the Lakers shot 54.1 percent from the floor and dominated the glass to overcome a strong outside shooting day by the Cavs. Kobe Bryant lifted the Lakers with 37 points and five assists, Pau Gasol added 21 points and 12 rebounds, and Andrew Bynum scored 20 points. Kyrie Irving went off for 31 points and eight assists to pace Cleveland, while LeBron James added 21 points, six rebounds, and seven assists, and Channing Frye scored 14 points off the bench.
@ '62 Boston Celtics 116, '88 Los Angeles Lakers 112
Jim Loscutoff drained the game-winning 17 footer with 49 seconds to go, and the Lakers missed a pair of good looks at the basket to tie the game. Tommy Heinsohn drained the icing free throws, and the Lakers drop out of the advancing picture if the tournament ended today. Heinsohn finished with 22 points and seven rebounds to lead the Celtics, Bill Russell put up 20 points and 20 rebounds, and Loscutoff's basket gave him 11 for the night. A.C. Green paced the Lakers with 15 points and 16 rebounds, James Worthy notched 20 and six, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar finished with 19 and 10.
Group E
'77 Portland Trail Blazers 121, @ '71 Utah Stars 109
Portland grabs its eighth win after getting to the line 43 times and making 33 of them to help pull away late. Bill Walton led the way with 23 points and 16 rebounds, Maurice Lucas added 22 and 12, and Lloyd Neal had nine points and seven rebounds off the bench for the Blazers. Donnie Freeman led the Stars with 23 points and seven rebounds, Zelmo Beaty was limited to 14 points and five rebounds, and Red Robbins finished with seven points and 15 rebounds.
The Lakers pull a full game ahead of the Stars to grab full possession of fourth place in the group after shooting 52.7 percent from the floor and forcing 25 turnovers. Magic Johnson exploded for 32 points, 18 rebounds, and nine assists, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar added 28 points, 10 rebounds, five assists, and four blocks, and Jamaal Wilkes chipped in 21 points and six rebounds for Los Angeles. Bill Russell had a quadruple-nickel in the loss, dropping 10 points, 16 rebounds, eight assists, and six blocks, Bob Cousy and Frank Ramsey each scored 17 points, and Maurice King scored 14 points in four minutes of garbage time for Boston.
@ '15 Golden State Warriors 105, '61 Boston Celtics 88
Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, and Draymond Green all entered the game for the first time with 2:34 to play, and their presence was ultimately not needed as they led by 17 at that point. The Dubs won the rebounding battle and held Boston under 40 percent shooting to move within half a game of the idle '92 Bulls for first place. David Lee led the way with 17 points and 10 rebounds, Leandro Barbosa scored 18 points, and Steph Curry dropped a quick nine points in garbage time for Golden State. Bill Russell managed just five points and 14 rebounds for the Celtics, while Tommy Heinsohn finished with 18 and five and Bill Sharman and Frank Ramsey each scored 12 points.
'69 Boston Celtics 114, @ '53 Minneapolis Lakers 105 (OT)
In a back and forth game, John Havlicek threw down a game-tying dunk with 17 seconds left, and George Mikan missed the game-winning jumper at the buzzer. The Celtics scored 12 of the final 14 points of the contest, however, to grab win number six and move within a game of the Utah Stars for fifth place. Bailey Howell had 28 points and seven rebounds to pace Boston, Sam Jones notched 23 and seven, Larry Siegfried had 23 and six, John Havlicek recorded 23 points and six assists, and Bill Russell finished with eight points and 29 rebounds. Vern Mikkelsen had 27 points and 11 rebounds to pace the Lakers, James Pollard logged 20 points, 11 rebounds, and five assists, and George Mikan contributed 17 points, 12 rebounds, six assists, and four blocks.
Group G
@ '02 Los Angeles Lakers 98, '76 New York Nets 91
LA gets its eighth win despite losing the rebounding battle and committing 21 turnovers. They'd built up enough of a lead that the Nets couldn't catch up, as they turned the ball over 20 times on their side. Shaquille O'Neal led the Lakers with 26 points, seven rebounds, six assists, and four blocks, Kobe Bryant added 13 points, six rebounds, 12 assists, and five steals, and Rick Fox chipped in 14 points and six rebounds. Julius Erving led the Nets with 25 points, 10 rebounds, and five assists, but committed nine turnovers, while Brian Taylor added 12 points and four steals and Swen Nater finished with eight points and 13 rebounds.
The Mavericks keep pace and stay in third place in Group G after relentlessly attacking the basket, shooting 43 free throws to Boston's 20. Dirk Nowitzki led the Mavs with 28 points and 12 rebounds, Tyson Chandler added 19 and 12, Shawn Marion finished with 13 and 10, Jason Terry had 13 points and 10 assists, and Jason Kidd finished with 10 points, six rebounds, and six assists. John Havlicek had 30 points and five assists to pace the Celtics, Bill Russell added 12 points, 25 rebounds, and six assists, and Sam Jones finished with 12 points and eight rebounds.
@ '97 Chicago Bulls 100, '72 Indiana Pacers 84
The Bulls maintain their hold on first place after shooting 50 percent from the floor, winning the rebounding battle, and having no one on the pacers who could stop MJ. Michael Jordan finished with 32 points and six rebounds, Scottie Pippen added 19 and seven, and Dennis Rodman chipped in seven points and a game-high 20 rebounds for Chicago. Mel Daniels led the Pacers with 15 points and 14 rebounds, Roger A. Brown scored 16 points, and Darnell Hillman added eight points and 10 rebounds off the bench.
'67 Philadelphia 76ers 124, @ '66 Boston Celtics 117
Philadelphia hit 40 of 48 free throws while the Celtics shot only 21 as Boston drops its fifth game of the tournament. Wilt Chamberlain was magnificent with 26 points, 25 rebounds, nine assists, and six blocks, while Billy Cunningham added 18 points and 11 rebounds off the bench and Chet Walker chipped in 19 and nine for the Sixers. Sam Jones scored 26 points to pace the Celtics, Satch Sanders added 15 points and 16 rebounds, Don Nelson scored 22 points, and Bill Russell finished with five points and 19 rebounds.
Group A
Hakeem Olajuwon singlehandedly brought the Rockets back from down five with just over a minute to go, burying a game-tying pull up jumper with five seconds to go after Dwyane Wade split a pair of free throws. Shaquille O'Neal clanked a runner at the buzzer, and we went to overtime. Wade hit a go-ahead pull up jumper with 23 seconds to go in the extra session, but Hakeem came to the rescue again with a thunderous dunk with eight seconds to go, and Shaq missed again with a second left, forcing a second overtime. James Posey hit the go-ahead three a little over a minute in, and the Heat wouldn't trail again. Wade finished the night with 41 points, six rebounds, and five assists, Shaq had a near triple-double of 25 points, 11 rebounds, and nine assists, Udonis Haslem added 18 points and 12 rebounds, and Jason Williams chipped in 18 points and 11 assists for Miami. Hakeem finished the night with 38 points, 17 rebounds, and four blocks for Houston, Clyde Drexler added 19 points, six rebounds, and six assists, and Otis Thorpe chipped in 16 points and 12 rebounds.
@ '83 Philadelphia 76ers 114, '74 Boston Celtics 97
Philly jumped out to a 37-17 lead after one quarter and never looked back en route to their seventh win and fourth place in the group thanks to Houston's double overtime loss. Moses Malone had 23 points and 16 rebounds to pace the Sixers, Julius Erving added 23 and eight, and Maurice Cheeks chipped in 11 points, five assists, and four steals. John Havlicek paced the Celtics with 24 points, eight rebounds, and five assists, Dave Cowens added 13, nine, and six, and Jo Jo White and Don Chaney each contributed 14 points and five rebounds.
@ '72 Los Angeles Lakers 117, '65 Boston Celtics 96
Boston seems resigned to its fate, as they went deeper into their bench with nothing to play for, and only made a third of their shots in falling to 0-12 on the tournament. Wilt Chamberlain went off for 19 points, 17 rebounds, and six blocks for the Lakers, Jim McMillian added 22 points and 12 rebounds, Gail Goodrich logged 18 points and five assists, and Jerry West finished with 14 points, five rebounds, nine assists, and four steals. Bill Russell led the Celtics with nine points, 18 rebounds, and seven blocks, K.C. Jones scored 16 points, and Sam Jones added 15 points and eight rebounds.
'91 Chicago Bulls 129, @ '14 San Antonio Spurs 124 (OT)
The Bulls trailed by four in the final minute, but got a jumper from Michael Jordan, and after a Tony Parker miss, got a turnaround from Horace Grant with one second left, and another Parker miss resulted in an extra session. The teams traded buckets in the extra session until Scottie Pippen put the Bulls up one with 1:39 left, and Jordan finished them from there. He notched 30 points and 10 assists for Chicago, who moves into second place, while Scottie Pippen added 21 points, eight rebounds, and seven assists, Horace Grant logged 20 points and 10 rebounds, and Bill Cartwright finished with 14 and 10. Tim Duncan led the Spurs with 22 points, 12 rebounds, and five assists, Tony Parker logged 21 points and nine assists, and Kawhi Leonard finished with 15 points and 10 rebounds.
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