The Tournament is officially in full swing now, as we still have about five more full weeks of basketball to narrow this field of 72 down to 32. Every game matters, at least until we get close to the end and teams find themselves eliminated with nothing but pride to play for.
On today's slate, Groups G and F will conclude the first back to backs of the Group Stage. Meanwhile, Groups E and H are back in action after having yesterday off. With two groups and 14 teams playing their second games in as many days, I intend to adjust minutes a little bit, just to make sure that these players aren't getting overworked. All simulations are provided by WhatIfSports.com. Let's play!
Group E
@ '77 Portland Trail Blazers 116, '69 Boston Celtics 89
Boston missed 11 of 13 threes and shot just 36.3 percent from the floor, while Portland won the rebounding battle 71-53 to even both teams' records. Bill Walton went off for 26 points, 15 rebounds, and six blocks, Maurice Lucas added 13 points, nine rebounds, and five assists, and Larry Steele chipped in 16 points off the bench. Sam Jones and John Havlicek each put in 17 points for the Celtics, while Bill Russell had six points, 17 rebounds, and five blocks.
A 28-0 Chicago run spanned 11 minutes in the third quarter as the Bulls turned a four point game into an absolute laugher and allowed them to call off the dogs late. Michael Jordan had 25 points, seven rebounds, and five steals, Horace Grant had 16 points and 17 rebounds, and Scottie Pippen put up 14 points and eight assists. George Mikan had 20 points and nine rebounds to pace the Lakers, while Myer Skoog added 12 points in 12 minutes off the bench.
@ '15 Golden State Warriors 110, '82 Los Angeles Lakers 91
The Warriors hit a mind-boggling 13 of 22 threes to offset 21 turnovers against Showtime, though the Lakers also missed half of their 18 free throws in a tough loss. Steph Curry had 21 points and seven assists, Klay Thompson went off for 24 points, and Andre Igoudala had 14 points off the bench for Golden State, with the three combining for 10 of the 13 threes. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar had 23 points and seven rebounds in the loss for the Lakers, Norm Nixon had 13 points and 10 assists, and Magic Johnson put up eight points, 10 rebounds, nine assists, and six steals.
@ '60 Boston Celtics 134, '71 Utah Stars 121
The two teams combined to put up 220 field goal attempts in a barnburner, with the Celtics shooting slightly better and getting to the line a few more times while also shooting well from three to beat Utah in its Group Play debut. Bob Cousy led the way for the Celtics with 27 points, six rebounds, and nine assists, Bill Russell had a career day of 22 points and 19 rebounds, and Frank Ramsey added 18 points off the bench. Donnie Freeman had 23 points and nine rebounds off the bench to lead the Stars, Glen Combs chipped in 18 points, and Red Robbins contributed 12 points and 18 rebounds.
Group G
@ '72 Indiana Pacers 111, '64 Boston Celtics 99
Indiana put up 38 first quarter points and never looked back while also forcing 22 turnovers to grab their first Group Play win. Billy Keller led all scorers with 19 points, but Bob Netolicky had a big impact for the Pacers with 16 points and 16 rebounds, while Mel Daniels added 12 and 11. Sam Jones paced the Celtics with 14 points, Bill Russell put up 10 points, 17 rebounds, and six assists, and John Havlicek added 10, nine, and four.
'11 Dallas Mavericks 111, @ '58 St. Louis Hawks 98
The Mavs used a 38-19 second quarter advantage to turn this one into a laugher by intermission. The Hawks managed just a 38.7 percent day shooting the ball, and couldn't contain Dallas' outside shooting. Dirk Nowitzki had 25 points and 13 rebounds to lead the Mavericks, Caron Butler added 17 points, and Tyson Chandler had 11 points to go with his game-high 19 rebounds. Bob Pettit led the Hawks with 23 points and eight rebounds, Cliff Hagan added 17 and 12, and Ed Macauley finished with 12 and eight.
@ '66 Boston Celtics 103, '76 New York Nets 93
The Celtics had surprising success from beyond the arc while also making more free throws (27) than New York attempted (20). It led to something of an upset, with Sam Jones' 21 points leading the way for Boston. Satch Sanders added 13 points and 10 rebounds, and Bill Russell was phenomenal with 10 points, 22 rebounds, and six assists. Julius Erving had 15 points and seven rebounds in 27 minutes, while Brian Taylor was the only other Net to hit double figures.
Fatigue may have played a factor, as the fresh Sixers went 35-42 at the free throw line, controlled the glass, and forced 19 Chicago turnovers to pull the upset. Wilt Chamberlain played 40 minutes and was efficient with 17 points and 20 rebounds, Billy Cunningham added 22 and seven off the bench, and Hal Greer chipped in 18 points for the Sixers. Michael Jordan had 19 points, eight rebounds, and six assists to pace the Bulls, Scottie Pippen added 16, five, and seven, and Brian Williams added 14 points off the bench.
Group H
'94 Houston Rockets 98, @ '73 New York Knicks 91
Houston saw a 16 point halftime lead dwindle to one in the fourth quarter, but the Rockets never surrendered the lead in the final frame and held on for their first win. Hakeem Olajuwon went off for 25 points, eight rebounds and six blocks to lead the Rockets, while Otis Thorpe had 14 points and a whopping 21 rebounds. Earl Monroe led the Knicks with a solid all around performance of 10 points, seven rebounds, and seven assists, while Willis Reed had 16 points and eight rebounds, and Walt Frazier added 12 points, six rebounds, and six assists.
Milwaukee falls to 0-2 to start the tournament in a bit of a shocker, though the Heat came in as the top ranked team in the group. They attacked the rim to the tune of 35 free throw attempts compared to 12 for the Bucks. LeBron James had an excellent all around game with 23 points, 11 rebounds, and five assists, though Dwyane Wade led all scorers with 29 points. Mario Chalmers and Chris Bosh each added 14 points for Miami. Kareem led the Bucks with 28 points and 16 rebounds, Greg Smith had 12 and 12, and Jon McGlocklin added 20 points and six assists.
'10 Los Angeles Lakers 111, @ '59 Boston Celtics 81
The Lakers hit 11 of 25 threes and held Boston to just 33.3 percent shooting in a blowout victory over our Play In Tournament winners. Kobe Bryant had 28 points, eight rebounds, and five assists against an overmatched Celtics' defense, Lamar Odom had 16 points and 13 rebounds off the bench, and Derek Fisher went off for 20 points. Bennie Swain was Boston's leading scorer with 15 points, Bob Cousy added 13 points, five rebounds, and six assists, and Bill Russell was held to six points and 12 rebounds.
@ '80 Los Angeles Lakers 124, '57 Boston Celtics 99
The Lakers jumped out to a 34-21 lead after one quarter and never looked back thanks to a 55.4 percent shooting day from the floor, all from inside the arc. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar led the way with not only a triple-double, but a quadruple-nickel: 35 points, 21 rebounds, 10 assists, and five blocks. Magic Johnson had 25 points, seven rebounds and four assists off the bench, Norm Nixon had 17 points and eight assists, and Jamaal Wilkes chipped in 13 points, nine rebounds, and five assists. Seven Celtics reached double figures, led by 18 points from Bob Cousy to go with his seven assists, while Bill Russell managed just 10 points and nine rebounds.
Group F
@ '68 Boston Celtics 111, '52 Minneapolis Lakers 91
The Celtics crashed the boards, held Minneapolis to 37.6 percent shooting, and got a little lucky thanks to horrible free throw shooting by the Lakers to grab the win. Sam Jones had 21 points, eight rebounds, and six assists to lead the Celtics, Bill Russell added eight points, 17 rebounds, and five assists, and John Havlicek put in 17 points. George Mikan had a solid game with 23 points and 11 rebounds, while Vern Mikkelsen added 13 and nine.
@ '84 Boston Celtics 98, '98 Chicago Bulls 84
The Bulls shot just 38.5 percent in their opener, including 1-19 from beyond the arc, and had trouble containing Boston's offense as the Celtics improve to 2-0. Larry Bird had 20 points and eight rebounds to lead the way, Kevin McHale added 17 points off the bench, and Robert Parish finished with 10 points and 14 rebounds. Scottie Pippen had a good game for Chicago with 20 points, nine rebounds, and eight assists, Michael Jordan had 18 points, and Toni Kukoc chipped in 15.
This one went down to the wire, with three lead changes late. Lonnie Shelton put Seattle ahead with 26 seconds left, Rasheed Wallace answered with a go-ahead layup with nine seconds to go, but there was too much time, as Gus Williams buried a pull up jumper at the buzzer to give the Sonics their second win in as many games. Williams finished with 15 points, including the game-winner, though Dennis Johnson had 22 points to lead the way, and Lonnie Shelton added 15 more points. Rasheed Wallace led the Pistons with 19 points and nine rebounds, Ben Wallace added 14 points, 13 rebounds, and five blocks, and Rip Hamilton finished with 18 points, five rebounds, and seven assists.
@ '01 Los Angeles Lakers 110, '89 Detroit Pistons 100
The Pistons shot 51.3 percent from the floor, but turned it over 23 times and couldn't contain a strong outside shooting day from Los Angeles. The Lakers actually led by 22 at halftime before the Pistons made it look more respectable in the second half. Shaquille O'Neal had a quiet day with 13 points, eight rebounds, and five assists, though Kobe Bryant picked up the slack with 22 points, and Rick Fox added 18. Horace Grant had a great floor game with eight points, seven rebounds, three assists, three blocks, and four steals for the Lakers. Isiah Thomas had 18 points, five rebounds, and seven assists to pace Detroit, Mark Aguirre added 15 points, and Dennis Rodman finished with 12 points and 10 rebounds.
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