After today, just two more rounds of games will need to be played, so time is now of the essence. 22 spots still remain up for grabs in this year's Elimination Stage, and for the teams still fighting, today's games are all that matters for right now.
Our slate for this Monday features Groups D and E returning from a Sunday off, while Groups B and H had the entire weekend to recharge and get back to it. All simulations are provided by WhatIfSports.com. Let's see our results.
Group E
@ '77 Portland Trail Blazers 112, '53 Minneapolis Lakers 95
Portland clinches a berth in the Elimination Stage after forcing 18 turnovers and winning the rebounding battle en route to their 10th win. Maurice Lucas had 22 points and 16 rebounds, Bill Walton added 12 points and 15 rebounds, and Bob Gross scored 12 points to lead the Blazers. George Mikan paced the Lakers with 21 points and 16 rebounds, Vern Mikkelsen added 22 and eight, and Frank Saul scored 12 points in Minneapolis' 12th loss.
The Warriors hit 14 of 26 threes and forced 23 Chicago turnovers to take control of Group E in a dominating win. Steph Curry scored 34 points, including an 8-11 day from beyond the arc, to go with eight assists, Klay Thompson dropped 31 points, including a 6-10 day from downtown, Andre Igoudala had 15 points and five assists, and Draymond Green notched six points, 10 rebounds, and four steals for Golden State. Michael Jordan managed 18 points, five rebounds, and five steals for the Bulls, Scottie Pippen added 15 points, nine rebounds, and seven steals, and Horace Grant finished with 11 points and 14 rebounds.
@ '60 Boston Celtics 129, '61 Boston Celtics 126
'60 Bill Sharman scored the game's final six points, including the game-winner for his team with 22 seconds to go, and he iced the game with free throws with five ticks left. It's the fifth win for his Boston team while the '61 squad drops its 14th. '60 Sharman finished the game with 22 points, five rebounds, and five assists, '60 Bob Cousy had 22 points and 10 assists, '60 Tommy Heinsohn notched 24 points, 14 rebounds, and four blocks, and Bill Russell finished with 13 points, 22 rebounds, and four blocks for his Celtics. '61 Heinsohn had 27 points and 10 rebounds, '61 Sam Jones notched 27 and nine, and '61 Russell recorded 19 points, 25 rebounds, and four blocks for his Boston team.
'82 Los Angeles Lakers 118, @ '71 Utah Stars 113
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar converted the game-winning three point play with 65 seconds left to clinch the final Group E Elimination Stage berth for the Lakers and put a nice finish on a great game in Utah. Kareem finished with 27 points, 12 rebounds, and four blocks for Los Angeles, Jamaal Wilkes added 26 points and four steals, Magic Johnson chipped in 24 points, five rebounds, and 10 assists, and Mitch Kupchak finished with 14 points and 14 rebounds. Seven Stars reached double figures on the game led by 18 points from Glen Combs, 17 points and 15 rebounds from Zelmo Beaty, 16 points, 10 rebounds, and seven assists from Donnie Freeman, and 15 points and 14 rebounds from Willie Wise.
Group B
@ '73 Indiana Pacers 121, '74 New York Nets 119
Julius Erving missed a pair of game-tying shots in the final ten seconds, and the Pacers escape with a win that keeps them alive and locks the hard-luck Nets into the basement of Group B. Billy Keller had 25 points and seven assists, Mel Daniels added 19 points and seven rebounds, and George McGinnis chipped in 18 and nine for Indiana. They spoiled a 38 point, nine rebound, seven assist night for Erving, while Larry Kenon added 22 points and 20 rebounds and John Roche posted 20 points and five assists for New York.
@ '87 Los Angeles Lakers 113, '93 Chicago Bulls 88
The Lakers clinch a berth in the Elimination Stage after shooting 55.1 percent from the floor and holding the Bulls to a 37.4 percent clip that bumps them back down to .500. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar paced Los Angeles with 15 points and nine rebounds, Michael Cooper notched 17 points, five rebounds, and five assists, Magic Johnson added 14, five, and nine, Byron Scott scored 14 points, and Mychal Thompson added 12 points and 10 rebounds off the bench. Michael Jordan paced Chicago with 21 points, seven rebounds, five assists, and four steals, Scottie Pippen added eight points, 16 rebounds, and eight assists, Horace Grant notched 12 points and 12 rebounds, and Will Perdue scored 10 points off the bench.
@ '90 Detroit Pistons 100, '85 Los Angeles Lakers 98
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar missed a floater at the buzzer that would have forced overtime as the Pistons grab their 13th win in their effort to be the top overall seed. Joe Dumars had 20 points and six assists for Detroit, Dennis Rodman added 16 points and 13 rebounds, Vinnie Johnson scored 13 points off the bench, and Bill Laimbeer recorded 15 points and eight rebounds. Magic Johnson had 25 points and 11 assists to pace the Lakers, Kareem finished with 15 points, eight rebounds, and five assists, and James Worthy added 13 points and eight rebounds.
The Knicks shot 53.3 percent from the floor to grab sole possession of third place in Group B. Each team made six threes, but New York did it in just 10 attempts in grabbing their eighth win and putting the Warriors on the brink. Walt Frazier was excellent with 21 points, eight rebounds, and 11 assists, Willis Reed had 15 points, 14 rebounds, and five blocks, Dick Barnett put up 18 points, five assists, and four steals, and Cazzie Russell scored 21 points off the bench for the Knicks. Rick Barry went off for 25 points, 11 rebounds, and seven assists to pace Golden State, while Charles Johnson had 22 points and five assists, Clifford Ray added 17 points and six rebounds, and Derrek Dickey finished with 12 points and 12 rebounds.
Group D
'63 Boston Celtics 120, @ '88 Los Angeles Lakers 119
Big Game James buried a shot from the right wing with eight seconds to go, but that left too much time as John Havlicek put home a contested look from in close at the buzzer to give the Celtics their sixth win and keep them barely alive. Hondo finished with 18 points and five rebounds, Tommy Heinsohn had 22 and seven, Sam Jones put up 22 points, nine rebounds, and five assists, and Bill Russell finished with eight points, 19 rebounds, five assists, and four blocks for the Celtics. They spoiled a 33 point, five rebound, 12 assist night for Magic Johnson while Worthy added 17 points and 13 rebounds and Byron Scott chipped in 19 and nine for Los Angeles.
A couple weeks ago there was some doubt, but the '96 Bulls have clinched a berth in the Elimination Stage after shooting 9-17 from beyond the arc and forcing 24 turnovers to pull within a game and a half of the group lead. Michael Jordan led the Bulls with 38 points, nine rebounds, and four steals, Scottie Pippen added 19 points and eight assists, Dennis Rodman had six points and 19 rebounds, and Luc Longley chipped in 10 and six. Bill Russell paced the Celtics with 16 points, 14 rebounds, and five blocks, while Tommy Heinsohn scored 15 points, Satch Sanders chipped in 13 points and seven rebounds, and Frank Ramsey poured in 12 points.
@ '09 Los Angeles Lakers 113, '76 Boston Celtics 102
The Lakers forced 17 turnovers and overcame a slow start to move back into a tie with their '88 counterparts for the fourth and final spot in the Elimination Stage. Andrew Bynum had 22 points and nine rebounds to pace Los Angeles, Kobe Bryant scored 20 points, Pau Gasol added 16 points and nine rebounds, and Lamar Odom chipped in 11 and nine off the bench. Jo Jo White scored a game-high 27 points to pace the Celtics, while Dave Cowens added 22 points and 16 rebounds and Paul Silas logged 14 and seven.
'07 San Antonio Spurs 114, @ '78 Washington Bullets 104
San Antonio clinches an Elimination Stage berth as well by withstanding some late Washington pushes in a tight game to grab win number 10 on the tournament. Tim Duncan had 22 points, 11 rebounds, and five assists to pace the Spurs, Tony Parker scored 27 points and grabbed five rebounds, and Manu Ginobili chipped in 14 points and five assists. Elvin Hayes paced the Bullets with 20 points and 13 rebounds, while Bob Dandridge added 17 and five and Wes Unseld finished with 16 and 12.
Group H
'73 New York Knicks 110, @ '57 Boston Celtics 101
New York stays alive after holding the Celtics to 36.8 percent shooting, though they nearly cost themselves with 12 missed free throws in the win. Getting 23 points out of Earl Monroe certainly helps, as does a 22 point, seven rebound, six assist performance from Bill Bradley, while Dave DeBusschere finished with 17 points, 17 rebounds, and four blocks and Willis Reed picked up 17 points and 17 rebounds for the Knicks. Tommy Heinsohn had 23 points and six rebounds to pace Boston, while Bob Cousy added 22 points and 13 assists and Bill Russell logged 12 points, 23 rebounds, and seven blocks.
'13 Miami Heat 103, @ '03 San Antonio Spurs 88
The Heat forced 16 turnovers and held the Spurs to a 5-22 day from beyond the arc to grab their 13th win and keep pace for the top overall seed while San Antonio finds itself at 7-7 and on the verge of elimination. Dwyane Wade led the Heat with 19 points, seven rebounds, and 11 assists, LeBron James added 25, seven, and five, and Ray Allen scored 17 points off the bench. Tim Duncan led San Antonio with 21 points and 19 rebounds, Bruce Bowen had 11 points and five rebounds, and Tony Parker logged 10 points and six assists.
'94 Houston Rockets 109, @ '80 Los Angeles Lakers 104
The Lakers shot 55.2 percent from the floor but committed 23 turnovers in dropping to 9-5 on the tournament while the Rockets hit 26 of 29 free throws to grab their fifth win and play spoiler a little bit. Hakeem Olajuwon finished with 29 points and 11 rebounds to pace Houston, Vernon Maxwell had 15 points and six assists, Otis Thorpe notched seven points and 20 rebounds, and Kenny Smith scored 13 points. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar had 20 points, nine rebounds, five assists, and four blocks to lead Los Angeles, Jamaal Wilkes scored 22 points, Norm Nixon recorded 20 points and five assists, and Magic Johnson finished with 14 points and five rebounds.
The Bucks grab the most lopsided win of the tournament, maybe ever, shooting 58.7 percent while holding the Celtics to a 33.3 percent clip and clinching a berth in the Elimination Stage. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar exploded for 40 points, 24 rebounds, and five assists, Oscar Robertson added 21, six, and 12, Bob Dandridge put up 25 points and nine rebounds, and Jon McGlocklin scored 18 points for Milwaukee. Bill Russell managed 12 points and 15 rebounds for the Celtics, while Bill Sharman scored 14 points, Sam Jones put up 13 points and eight rebounds, and Bob Cousy scored 10 points.
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