You will notice that on the right side of the page I have links to the standings pages. I will try to update these as best as I can over the next few days, but I am out of town for the next few days, so the standings page may not be totally up to speed. Just wanted to give a fair warning.
In our fourth round of games, Groups D and F will conclude its second consecutive day of games, while Groups B and H return to the court after a day off. Once again, all simulations are provided by WhatIfSports.com. Let's take a look at our results from today.
Group F
Boston annihilated the Lakers on the glass and shot 55.6 percent from the floor to improve to 3-0 on the tournament. Los Angeles had no answer for Larry Bird, who had a triple-double with 26 points, 14 rebounds, and 10 assists. Dennis Johnson scored 22 points, Kevin McHale added 18 points and 10 rebounds, and Robert Parish contributed 14 and 12 for the Celtics. Shaquille O'Neal had 22 points on 9-15 shooting, but only grabbed seven rebounds for the Lakers, while Kobe Bryant added 24 points on 25 shots.
@ '04 Detroit Pistons 98, '89 Detroit Pistons 76
The '04 Pistons shot just 36.3 percent from the floor, but forced a ridiculous 28 turnovers and got to the line 21 times compared to their '89 counterparts' eight. Rip Hamilton and Rasheed Wallace each had 17 points to pace the '04 team, Mehmet Okur had 11 points and 12 rebounds off the bench, Chauncey Billups chipped in 11 points and eight assists, Tayshuan Prince contributed 14 points and nine rebounds, and Ben Wallace finished with eight points, 10 rebounds, and five blocks. Isiah Thomas had 19 points and seven assists to lead the '89 Pistons, while Dennis Rodman picked up 14 points and 17 rebounds.
@ '84 Boston Celtics 120, '79 Seattle Supersonics 112
A 17-3 Celtics run in the fourth quarter flipped the script and saw an eight point Sonics lead crumble and push Boston to a 4-0 start. '84 Dennis Johnson scored six of his 11 points in this stretch, though Larry Bird went off for 29 points, 15 rebounds, and six assists while Robert Parish finished with 19 points and 17 rebounds for the Celtics. Gus Williams led the Sonics with 20 points and seven assists, John Johnson added 20 points and six rebounds, and Jack Sikma chipped in 18 points and 19 rebounds.
'98 Chicago Bulls 113, @ '68 Boston Celtics 88
The Bulls shot 53.3 percent from the floor to improve to 2-1 and stay within striking distance of those 80's Celtics juggernauts. Michael Jordan had 22 points, six rebounds, and eight assists to lead the Bulls, Scottie Pippen added 21, five, and six, Toni Kukoc finished with 19 points and nine rebounds, and Luc Longley chipped in 12 points and 12 rebounds. Bailey Howell played well again with 18 points and 16 rebounds, while John Havlicek and Sam Jones each scored 14 points.
Group D
'63 Boston Celtics 110, @ '78 Washington Bullets 107
The Bullets remain in search of that elusive first win, with their 13 missed free throws likely looming large in Washington's locker room. Tommy Heinsohn and Sam Jones each scored 18 points to lead Boston, John Havlicek added 17, and Bill Russell went off for 12 points, 26 rebounds, six assists, four blocks, and three steals. They spoiled a 20 point, 22 rebound night for Elvin Hayes, while Wes Unseld added 15 points and 20 rebounds for the Bullets.
@ '07 San Antonio Spurs 103, '09 Los Angeles Lakers 76
The Spurs shot 50 percent from the floor, including 10-24 from beyond the arc, and destroyed the Lakers on the glass to move to 4-0 on the tournament. Tim Duncan led the way with 23 points and 15 rebounds, Manu Ginobili added 18 points and six assists, and Bruce Bowen chipped in 11 points for San Antonio. Kobe Bryant had 17 points on 18 shots to lead the Lakes in defeat, Andrew Bynum added 12 points, and Pau Gasol finished with 10 points and eight rebounds.
@ '16 Cleveland Cavaliers 118, '62 Boston Celtics 94
Cleveland used a 39-23 second quarter edge to pull away from the Celtics and win their third straight game, keeping them right in the running in Group D. LeBron James was magnificent again with 33 points, 10 rebounds, and nine assists, Kyrie Irving added 21 points, six rebounds, and seven assists, J.R. Smith chipped in 20 points, and Kevin Love finished with 19 points and 13 rebounds. Tommy Heinsohn had 25 points and eight rebounds to lead Boston, while Bill Russell notched 13 points, 13 rebounds, and four blocks.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar threw down a go-ahead dunk with 2:48 to play, and Magic Johnson scored five straight points after that to effectively seal the deal for the Lakers, who deal the defending champs their first loss of the tournament. Byron Scott went off for 31 points to lead the way for Los Angeles, Kareem finished with 21 points, and Magic Johnson added 12 points, eight rebounds, and 10 assists. Michael Jordan finished with 24 points, seven rebounds, and six assists for the Bulls, while Scottie Pippen had a magnificent game with 24 points, seven rebounds, eight assists, four blocks, and three steals.
Group H
@ '03 San Antonio Spurs 109, '57 Boston Celtics 105 (OT)
Tim Duncan missed a baseline floater at the buzzer in regulation that would have avoided the extra session, but the Spurs never trailed in those five minutes, needing scoring from only three guys to pull out the victory. Duncan finished with 31 points, including six in overtime, to go with 14 rebounds and seven assists to lead the way, Tony Parker added 21 points and seven assists, and David Robinson finished with nine points, 11 rebounds, and five blocks for the Spurs. Tommy Heinsohn paced the Celtics with 24 points and eight rebounds, Bob Cousy chipped in 21 points and six assists, and Bill Russell logged 10 points and 25 rebounds.
The '80 Lakers shot 50.5 percent from the floor and held their counterparts to a 34.5 percent clip while also controlling the glass and forcing a tie at 2-2. Magic Johnson shined off the bench with 23 points, 12 rebounds, and eight assists, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar added 23 points and nine rebounds, and Jamaal Wilkes chipped in 21 points and 11 rebounds for the '80 Lakers. Kobe Bryant had 27 points to pace the '10 Los Angeles team, while Andrew Bynum added 14 points and Lamar Odom came off the bench with 10 points and 10 rebounds.
'13 Miami Heat 105, @ '59 Boston Celtics 102
James Jones hit a three with 2:54 to play that put Miami, who had trailed by four going into the final frame, ahead for good, but even then they barely held on as LeBron James missed multiple shots, but did hit a key free throw with four seconds left, and Bill Sharman missed the tying three at the buzzer to allow Miami to escape with a win. James finished with 31 points, seven rebounds, and nine assists to lead Miami, Dwyane Wade added 13 points, and Ray Allen chipped in 14 points off the bench. Bob Cousy led the Celtics with 21 points, eight rebounds, and seven assists, Bill Russell added 18 points, 21 assists, and five blocks, and Tommy Heinsohn contributed 17 points, nine rebounds, and seven assists.
@ '71 Milwaukee Bucks 118, '94 Houston Rockets 109
Milwaukee shot 52.4 percent from the floor, largely thanks to attacking the basket, and benefited from free throws as a result to get back to .500. Kareem went off for 26 points, 17 rebounds and four blocks, Bob Dandridge added 22 points and eight rebounds, and Oscar Robertson and Jon McGlocklin each scored 18 points for the Bucks. Hakeem Olajuwon had a monster game as well with 24 points, 10 rebounds, eight assists, five blocks, and three steals, while Otis Thorpe added 21 points and 13 rebounds for the Rockets.
Group B
Indiana led by 17 points with 8:26 to play, then it all went to hell. Joe Dumars kick started a 16-3 run over the next four minutes, and from there Indy would lead by as many as seven before Mark Aguirre scored four points in the final minute to tie the game. After a George McGinnis turnover with one second left, Isiah Thomas had enough time to get down the lane for a runner and fired it home at the buzzer to win the game. Thomas finished with 17 points and 12 assists, Joe Dumars added 16 and eight, Bill Laimbeer finished with 13 points and 10 rebounds, and Dennis Rodman logged 10 points and 16 rebounds for Detroit. George McGinnis wore goat horns despite dropping 33 points and pulling down 11 rebounds. Mel Daniels added 14 points and 15 rebounds for the Pacers.
'87 Los Angeles Lakers 128, @ '75 Golden State Warriors 121
The Lakers shot 53.6 percent from the floor to get back to .500 while showing great unselfishness with 36 assists as a team. Magic Johnson had 16 of them to go with his 25 points and six rebounds, Byron Scott scored 27 points, and Michael Cooper added 16 off the bench for Los Angeles. Rick Barry exploded for 34 points in the loss, Butch Beard added 20, and Derrek Dickey chipped in 18 points and 12 rebounds for the Warriors.
'74 New York Nets 121, @ '85 Los Angeles Lakers 112
The Nets turned Showtime on its head, forcing 25 turnovers thanks to 19 steals and surviving a subpar free throw shooting game to grab their first win of the tournament. Julius Erving led the way with 22 points, nine rebounds, and six steals, Larry Kenon added 26 points and 10 rebounds, and Billy Paultz finished with 19 and 12 for New York. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar had 25 points, nine rebounds, and seven assists to lead the Lakers, Magic Johnson added 14 points, seven rebounds, and nine assists, and James Worthy scored 22 points.
'93 Chicago Bulls 110, @ '69 Oakland Oaks 109
B.J. Armstrong sank a pair of free throws with 34 seconds left to give the Bulls a one point lead, and after Michael Jordan had a jumper blocked with eight seconds left, Oakland had one last chance to win the game, but Larry Brown missed a jumper at the buzzer, and Chicago escaped with the road win. Armstrong finished with 28 points to lead the Bulls, Michael Jordan added 23 points, six rebounds, and six assists, and Scottie Pippen added 15, eight, and six. Warren Jabali led all scorers with 34 points, but missed a potential go-ahead jumper after Armstrong's free throws. Gary Bradds had 22 points and eight rebounds, and Rick Barry finished with just 14 points for the Oaks.
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