We've answered this question a couple times over the past couple of years, if you're new to Confessions of a Sportscaster. But given the craziness that this last NBA season brought us, I had to run this scenario through again. By adding in the forgotten ABA champions, we have a bigger tournament than either of the ones run before. It's all building up towards a similar tournament to last year: 32 teams doing battle following weeks of proving themselves worthy of the stage, and all 32 of those spots are still up for grabs, with three available to be taken today.
Today's schedule features the return of Groups B, C, and H following a two day break, while Group F is taking the court after yesterday's day off. All simulations are provided by WhatIfSports.com. Let's play.
Group C
@ '81 Boston Celtics 118, '68 Pittsburgh Pipers 108
Boston scored 41 points in the opening quarter and shot 52.1 percent for the game to grab their fifth win. Larry Bird was excellent with 23 points, eight rebounds, and eight assists to pace the Celtics, Robert Parish added 19 points, 10 rebounds, and six blocks, and Nate Archibald chipped in 12 points and 13 assists. Charlie Williams led the Pipers with 19 points and five rebounds, Connie Hawkins contributed 15 and eight, and Art Heyman finished with 14 and nine.
'56 Philadelphia Warriors 111, @ '08 Boston Celtics 99
The Warriors grab a huge upset win after forcing 24 turnovers and copious amounts of foul trouble for the Celtics. Paul Arizin went off for 31 points and six rebounds to pace Philly, Neil Johnston added 22 points, 12 rebounds, and five assists, Joe Graboski had 10 points and 14 rebounds, and Tom Gola chipped in 15 and nine. Ray Allen scored 25 points to pace Boston, Rajon Rondo had 19 points and eight rebounds, Kevin Garnett logged 17 and nine, and Paul Pierce recorded seven points, nine rebounds, and seven assists.
Miami is the first team to punch its ticket to the Elimination Stage after dominating for three quarters and taking their foot off the gas in the fourth but still coming away with a solid win. LeBron James had 17 points, 12 rebounds, and eight assists, Chris Bosh added 17, 12, and six, and Dwyane Wade scored 20 points to pace the Heat. They spoiled a 24 point, seven rebound, seven assist night for Kobe Bryant, while Shaquille O'Neal added 21 points and 10 rebounds for the Lakers, who fall to .500 but remain in decent shape for the Elimination Stage.
@ '05 San Antonio Spurs 81, '99 San Antonio Spurs 68
The '99 Spurs post the lowest score of the tournament and drop their eighth game while the '05 team grabs sole possession of third place and moves within a game of the '08 Celtics for second place. '05 Tim Duncan led the way for his Spurs with 18 points, 14 rebounds, and five blocks, Manu Ginobili scored 14 points, and Radoslav Nesterovic chipped in 12 points and 10 rebounds. '99 Tim Duncan posted a 20 point and 10 rebound performance, '99 Mario Elie added 10 points and five rebounds, and David Robinson finished with eight points and a game-high 17 rebounds for his San Antonio team.
Group B
'90 Detroit Pistons 98, @ '87 Los Angeles Lakers 85
Make it 11-0 for the Pistons, who are advancing to the Elimination Stage and have all but won Group B after clinching the tiebreaker over the Lakers. Mark Aguirre continues to shine after scoring 20 points to lead Detroit, while Bill Laimbeer added 12 points and 13 rebounds and Isiah Thomas chipped in 10 points and 14 rebounds. Magic Johnson finished with a near triple-double of 18 points, 11 rebounds, and nine assists to pace the Lakers, James Worthy scored 14 points, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Byron Scott each poured in 10 points.
@ '74 New York Nets 120, '70 New York Knicks 111
The Nets avoid elimination for at least one more round after jumping out to a 38-18 lead after one quarter, dominating the glass, and surviving 10 missed Knick free throws. Julius Erving led the way with 25 points, 13 rebounds, five assists, and four blocks, Larry Kenon added 25 points and 19 rebounds, and John Williamson chipped in 17 points and five assists for the Nets. Willis Reed paced the Knicks with 25 points and 18 rebounds, Walt Frazier added 19 points, eight rebounds, and four steals, and Dave DeBusschere finished with 15 points, 10 rebounds, and five assists.
Rick Barry knocked down a go-ahead three with seven seconds to go, but that left too much time as Scottie Pippen buried a 15 foot jumper at the buzzer to win the game for the Bulls and catapault them into fourth place. Pippen finished with 17 points, 10 rebounds, and five assists for Chicago, Michael Jordan dropped 31 points, seven rebounds, and five assists before fouling out, and Horace Grant chipped in 12 points and 15 rebounds. They spoiled a 33 point, five assist, four steal night for Barry, while Clifford Ray added 15 points and 13 rebounds and Jamaal Wilkes contributed 10 and eight for the Warriors.
'85 Los Angeles Lakers 131, @ '69 Oakland Oaks 121
The Lakers opened the fourth quarter on a 15-4 run to keep pace with Chicago and leapfrog the Oaks over the Elimination Stage cutoff line. Magic Johnson posted a triple-double of 15 points, 10 rebounds, and 11 assists to lead Los Angeles, James Worthy added 21, six, and six, Byron Scott scored 16 points, and Mitch Kupchak added 15 points and six rebounds off the bench. Rick Barry led Oakland with 29 points and 10 rebounds, Warren Jabali added 17 and eight, and Larry Brown also scored 17 points.
Group F
@ '86 Boston Celtics 102, '01 Los Angeles Lakers 88
The Celtics shot 47 percent from the floor and held the Lakers under 40 percent to grab their eighth win of the tournament. All five Boston starters scored in double figures, led by Larry Bird's near triple-double of 14 points, 14 rebounds, and nine assists, while Kevin McHale added 19 points and nine rebounds and Robert Parish finished with 18 and eight. Shaquille O'Neal led all scorers with 23 points and grabbed 12 rebounds to pace Los Angeles, while Kobe Bryant scored 21 points.
@ '89 Detroit Pistons 109, '04 Detroit Pistons 99
The older Pistons grab their sixth win on the back of repeated trips to the free throw line. The '89 team went 31-40 at the stripe while their '04 counterparts managed just 16 trips in their sixth loss. Isiah Thomas was a monster with 17 points, eight assists, and eight steals, while Joe Dumars added 19 points and six assists, Bill Laimbeer logged 16 points and 13 rebounds, and Mark Aguirre chipped in 18 and nine for '89 Detroit. Rasheed Wallace paced the '04 team with 19 points and 11 rebounds, Chauncey Billups dropped 15 points, and Corliss Williamson scored 13 points off the bench.
'84 Boston Celtics 110, @ '79 Seattle Supersonics 107
A 12-2 Boston run midway through the fourth quarter turned a close game into one controlled by the Celtics, though the Sonics would keep it close the rest of the way, but they were unable to get over the hump. Robert Parish had 26 points and 15 rebounds to pace Boston, Larry Bird added 21 points, 13 rebounds, and six assists, and Gerald Henderson scored 23 points. Gus Williams went off for 32 points to lead Seattle, Freddie Brown scored 16 points off the bench, and '79 Dennis Johnson chipped in 14 points, seven rebounds, and seven assists.
The Bulls were badly outrebounded, but kept pace for most of the contest, but Boston's two threes in the game came in the fourth quarter to help the Celtics pull away and keep pace with the leaders in the group. Bill Russell was sublime with 18 points, 23 rebounds, six assists, and eight blocks for the Celtics, while John Havlicek added 21 points, seven rebounds, and five assists, Bailey Howell chipped in 19 points and 13 rebounds, and Sam Jones contributed 17 and nine. They needed every bit of that to combat a 42 point, seven rebound night by Michael Jordan, while Scottie Pippen added 31 points, seven rebounds, and five assists, and Toni Kukoc logged 11 points, six rebounds, and eight assists for Chicago.
Group H
@ '71 Milwaukee Bucks 109, '73 New York Knicks 95
The Bucks made 38 trips to the free throw line, double the number of made freebies by the Knicks, as Milwaukee grabbed its eighth win of the tournament and jumped into second place to help make everyone forget about their slow start in Group Play. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar led the way with 33 points and 12 rebounds, Bob Dandridge added 14 and 12, Greg Smith chipped in 14 and 15, and Oscar Robertson finished with seven points, seven rebounds, and nine assists for the Bucks. Dave DeBusschere led the Knicks with 15 points and 11 rebounds, Walt Frazier added 12 points, nine rebounds, and six assists, and Willis Reed logged 10 points and nine rebounds.
Houston survives elimination with a crucial home win despite losing the rebounding battle. The Celtics ultimately had no answer in this game for Hakeem Olajuwon, who went off for 31 points, 18 rebounds, and six blocks, while Vernon Maxwell added 23 points and five rebounds, Robert Horry scored 19 points, and Otis Thorpe finished with 16 points and 12 rebounds. Bob Cousy finished with 22 points, seven rebounds, and 12 assists to pace Boston, Bill Russell added 16 points and 21 rebounds, and Tommy Heinsohn chipped in 20 and 12.
@ '13 Miami Heat 106, '80 Los Angeles Lakers 92
The Heat knock the Lakers down to fourth place despite allowing LA to shoot 50.6 percent from the floor, but Miami went 8-22 from deep and forced 21 turnovers to move to 11-1. LeBron James exploded for 35 points, 11 rebounds, and five assists, Dwyane Wade scored 24 points, and Chris Bosh chipped in 16 points and seven rebounds for Miami. Jamaal Wilkes paced the Lakers with 19 points and seven rebounds, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar chipped in 14 points and 11 rebounds, and Norm Nixon and Michael Cooper each scored 10 points.
@ '10 Los Angeles Lakers 104, '03 San Antonio Spurs 86
The Spurs shot just 41.6 percent from the floor and fell behind by a lot early and never recovered as they drop a spot. Kobe Bryant was unstoppable with 37 points, Pau Gasol added 21 points, 12 rebounds, and five assists, and Andrew Bynum chipped in 14 points and 13 rebounds for the Lakers. Tim Duncan paced San Antonio with 30 points and 13 rebounds, Tony Parker added 23 points and six assists, and David Robinson pulled down 14 rebounds in the loss.
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