We had five upsets in that first round, including a pair of sweeps by lower seeds that kind of threw things into chaos. Overall, eight of the 16 series in the Round of 32 were ended in four games, three needed a fifth game to finish, four were decided in six games, and only one needed to go the distance.
The series get tougher here, and the number of sweeps are likely to go down as we whittle our way down to the elite of the elite. Four series will get simulated out today, though in reality they could potentially still be playing a couple days after this. It's just much easier to simulate a series in one go.
So like the last round, these series are all best of seven played ina 2-2-1-1-1 format. Home court advantage goes to the higher seed based on Group Play placing. All simulations are provided by WhatIfSports.com. Let's get to it!
Tim Duncan Pod
Game 1: @ '97 CHI 83, '05 SA 73 ('97 CHI leads 1-0)
Game 2: '05 SA 101, @ '97 CHI 91 (Series tied 1-1)
Game 3: '97 CHI 102, @ '05 SA 88 ('97 CHI leads 2-1)
Game 4: @ '05 SA 93, 97 CHI 78 (Series tied 2-2)
Game 5: @ '97 CHI 91, '05 SA 76 ('97 CHI leads 3-2)
Game 6: '97 CHI 107, @ '05 SA 99 ('97 CHI wins 4-2)
The Bulls held San Antonio to 34.8 percent shooting in Game 1 and only gave up 12 first quarter points, as Tony Parker's 19 points, nine assists, and four steals couldn't outdo a 12 point, 14 rebound night for Dennis Rodman while Scottie Pippen added 15 points, 10 rebounds, and five assists to give the Bulls the early advantage. Tim Duncan roared back in Game 2 with 25 points, 14 rebounds, and four blocks while Manu Ginobili added 25 points, five rebounds, and five assists to even the series. Michael Jordan exploded for 35 points, Scottie Pippen added 23 points and nine rebounds, and Rodman put up six and 18 to counter a 13 point, 13 rebound, six block performance from Duncan to give Chicago the road win and steal back home court advantage. Duncan had 12 points, 14 rebounds, and five blocks in Game 4, Manu added 17 points and seven assists, and Glenn Robinson become a contributor with seven points off the bench to relieve a struggling Bruce Bowen as the Spurs even the series again despite 22 points from Jordan. Jordan finished with 26 points and 10 rebounds, Pippen scored 19 points, and Brian Williams had maybe his best game of the tournament with eight points and eight rebounds off the bench to outduel Duncan's 13 points and 18 rebounds and put the Spurs on the brink of elimination. Pippen had a near triple-double in Game 6 with 14 points, 11 rebounds, and nine assists, Jordan put up 27 points and seven rebounds, and the Bulls caught fire from three in the fourth quarter, keyed by a pair from Steve Kerr as he scored eight of his 16 points in the final frame to negate a 21 point burst from Parker as the Bulls move onto the quarterfinals against another version of themselves.
Magic Johnson Pod
Game 1: @ '16 CLE 110, '87 LAL 96 ('16 CLE leads 1-0)
Game 2: '87 LAL 123, @ '16 CLE 116 (Series tied 1-1)
Game 3: @ '87 LAL 110, '16 CLE 91 ('87 LAL leads 2-1)
Game 4: '16 CLE 131, @ '87 LAL 123 (Series tied 2-2)
Game 5: '87 LAL 119, @ '16 CLE 115 ('87 LAL leads 3-2)
Game 6: @ '87 LAL 114, '16 CLE 98 ('87 LAL wins 4-2)
Kevin Love went bombs away in Game 1, hitting five of 10 threes and finishing with 28 points and 11 rebounds to outduel 22 points apiece from Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and James Worthy to take the opener for the Cavs. LA bounced back in Game 2 thanks to a Magic Johnson triple-double of 32 points, 12 rebounds, and 11 assists while Byron Scott added 29 points and four steals to counteract Cleveland's continued hot shooting in the form of Kyrie Irving's 27 points and 25 apiece from Love and LeBron James. Magic almost had another triple-double in Game 3 with 24 points, nine rebounds, and nine assists as well as four blocks, while James Worthy dropped 27 points and eight rebounds to spoil a LeBron triple-double of 18 points, 15 rebounds, and 11 assists, while Love cooled off to just six points and 10 rebounds. In Game 4, Cleveland dropped what has to be a tournament-record 51 points in the fourth quarter, including 14 of James' 42 points while he also managed nine rebounds and 10 assists. Love got back into the series with 25 points, and Tristan Thompson put up 16 points and 15 rebounds for the Cavaliers to spoil Magic's second triple-double of the series with 23 points, 10 rebounds, and 16 assists. LeBron scored 29 points in Game 5, Love had 11 points and 18 rebounds, and Kyrie finished with 22 points and seven assists, but they couldn't top Magic's sublime 25 point, nine rebound, 21 assist night as well as 27 points from Kareem as the Lakers grabbed another road win. Magic notched a third triple-double back home with 24 points, 11 rebounds, and 10 assists to go with four steals, while Kareem added another 27 points and eight rebounds and Worthy put up 23 and 13 to advance the Lakers to the quarterfinals with the upset.
Scottie Pippen Pod
Game 1: @ '91 CHI 104, '15 GS 102 ('91 CHI leads 1-0)
Game 2: @ '91 CHI 105, '15 GS 90 ('91 CHI leads 2-0)
Game 3: @ '15 GS 120, '91 CHI 88 ('91 CHI leads 2-1)
Game 4: @ '15 GS 123, '91 CHI 100 (Series tied 2-2)
Game 5: '15 GS 105, @ '91 CHI 101 ('15 GS leads 3-2)
Game 6: @ '15 GS 118, '91 CHI 108 ('15 GS wins 4-2)
Michael Jordan put up 26 points, 10 rebounds, and six assists, Scottie Pippen added 18, nine, and five, and the Warriors only took 25 threes, hitting 11, as the Bulls took the opener. Steph Curry did finish with 15 points, six rebounds, and 15 assists despite the loss, while Klay Thompson scored 22 points. The Bulls forced 18 turnovers in Game 2 and got 21 points, nine rebounds, and six assists from Jordan, while Pippen added 19, 13, and nine to give the Bulls a 2-0 series lead. Golden State finally broke out in Game 3 with 31 points, seven rebounds, and nine assists out of Curry while Thompson hit five threes en route to 27 points and the Bulls committed 20 turnovers in the loss. The Warriors stayed hot in Game 4 as Thompson went 6-9 from beyond the arc to the tune of 26 points and Curry finished with 16 points and 10 rebounds to spoil a near triple-double from Pippen, who finished with 19 points, nine rebounds, and 10 assists while Jordan added 20 points and four blocks as the series was even going back to Chicago. In Game 5, Curry and Harrison Barnes hit threes on back to back possessions to give Golden State the lead, and Thompson and Curry buried dagger threes to push the Bulls to the brink. Curry had 29 points, seven rebounds, and eight assists, while Thompson scored 17 points and Draymond Green finished with 12 points and 13 rebounds to top double-double from both Jordan and Pippen. Curry knocked the Bulls out in Game 6 behind a flurry of threes and finished with 32 points, nine rebounds, and eight assists while Leandro Barbosa scored 15 points off the bench. Jordan put up 19 points and nine assists in defeat while Pippen scored 18 points for the Bulls, who after making the final round last year are done in the Round of 16.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Pod
Game 1: @ '12 MIA 104, '71 MIL 92 ('12 MIA leads 1-0)
Game 2: @ '12 MIA 121, '71 MIL 103 ('12 MIA leads 2-0)
Game 3: @ '71 MIL 125, '12 MIA 108 ('12 MIA leads 2-1)
Game 4: '12 MIA 95, @ '71 MIL 83 ('12 MIA leads 3-1)
Game 5: @ '12 MIA 111, '71 MIL 94 ('12 MIA wins 4-1)
Game 1 was tied at halftime, but the Heat pulled away as the game went on and took the opener behind 22 points and nine rebounds from Chris Bosh as well as 16 points, eight rebounds, nine assists, and four steals from LeBron James to more than offset 20 points and 11 rebounds from Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and 11 points, eight rebounds, and seven assists from Oscar Robertson. LeBron exploded in Game 2 for 36 points, eight rebounds, and six assists while Bosh scored 26 points to ruin a 29 point, 16 rebound night for Kareem as Miami took care of business at home. Bob Dandridge broke out for the Bucks with 32 points and 10 rebounds in Game 3, Kareem added 27 and 15, and Oscar put up 17 points, five rebounds, and 11 assists to outmatch a 36 point, 10 rebound night for LeBron. James put up 28 points, 13 rebounds, and six assists in Game 4, Dwyane Wade added 22 points and four blocks, and the Heat spoiled a Kareem triple-double of 10 points, 16 rebounds, and 10 blocks while forcing 22 turnovers to steal the road win and take a 3-1 series lead. Kareem went off for 40 points and 11 rebounds in Game 5, while Bob Dandridge added 17 points, 10 rebounds, and six assists, but Milwaukee committed 19 turnovers and LeBron put up 21 points, 10 rebounds, and six assists, Bosh added 22 points and nine rebounds, and Wade scored 18 points to advance the Heat to the quarterfinals.
To see the updated bracket, click here.
With only eight series to play in this round, we're halfway through now. I'll be back tomorrow with look at the remaining four matchups as we set the field for the Quarterfinals of the NBA/ABA Tournament of Champions!
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