2025 NBA/ABA Tournament of Champions: Group Play Round 2

One round down, several more to go.

Our first batch of games ran the gamut from a handful of fairly tight contests (though only one that came down to the final possession) to some that saw teams get their doors blown off. In a tournament where point differential matters as a tiebreaker, these tight games will become important.

We also saw some phenomenal individual performances; I highlighted who the simulator marked as the player of the game for each contest. The list was a pretty veritable who's-who of NBA history and included things like a Hakeem Olajuwon quintuple-nickel; Hakeem pulled off a quadruple-nickel in reality, so to see a quintuple-nickel really blew my mind.

The one thing we have not seen yet is any of the top eight teams from this tournament's history take the court yet; the scheduler scheduled pairings by the same tiers in each of the eight pools and that top tier got the first bye. Those teams will all see their first action of the tournament in this set.

Standings, schedules, and scores for the tournament can be found here. All simulations are provided by WhatIfSports.com. Let's get to it!

Group A

'74 NYN 118, @ '63 BOS 109
Julius Erving ('74 NYN): 19 pts, 17 reb, 6 ast

@ '98 CHI 115, '65 BOS 85
Scottie Pippen ('98 CHI): 28 pts, 11 reb, 8 ast, 3 stl

@ '94 HOU 92, '24 BOS 88
Hakeem Olajuwon ('94 HOU): 28 pts, 11 reb, 6 ast

'95 ORL 126, @ '77 POR 101
Shaquille O'Neal ('95 ORL): 25 pts, 14 reb

'13 MIA 11, @ '86 BOS 109
LeBron James ('13 MIA): 24 pts, 6 reb, 11 ast; made game-winning dunk as time expired
Larry Bird ('86 BOS): 24 pts, 13 reb, 11 ast

Group B

@ '00 LAL 108, '68 PIT 98
Shaquille O'Neal ('00 LAL): 45 pts, 19 reb, 6 blk

@ '06 MIA 94, '52 MIN 78
Dwyane Wade ('06 MIA): 26 pts, 8 reb, 8 ast, 4 stl

'23 DEN 126, @ '75 KEN 82
Nikola Jokic ('23 DEN): 25 pts, 13 reb, 10 ast

'97 UTA 109, @ '83 PHI 102
Karl Malone ('97 UTA): 27 pts, 8 reb, 6 ast

'15 GS 109, @ '02 LAL 100
Klay Thompson ('15 GS): 30 pts, 5 reb, 8 ast

Group C

@ '75 GS 131, '73 IND 112
Rick Barry ('75 GS): 37 pts, 9 reb, 5 ast

@ '10 LAL 124, '56 PHI 97
Kobe Bryant ('10 LAL): 26 pts, 7 reb, 11 ast

'17 GS 117, @ '89 DET 78
Kevin Durant ('17 GS): 23 pts, 10 reb

@ '01 LAL 121, '53 MIN 86
Shaquille O'Neal ('01 LAL): 31 pts, 18 reb, 7 ast, 5 blk

@ '87 LAL 124, '85 LAL 108
Magic Johnson ('87 LAL): 19 pts, 6 reb, 14 ast, 3 stl

Group D

@ '67 PHI 123, '66 BOS 107
Wilt Chamberlain ('67 PHI): 32 pts, 35 reb, 10 ast, 4 blk

@ '82 LAL 120, '61 BOS 118
Magic Johnson ('82 LAL): 13 pts, 14 reb, 14 ast

'19 TOR 110, @ '73 NYK 98
Serge Ibaka ('19 TOR): 24 pts, 13 reb, 3 blk

@ '84 BOS 108, '03 NJ 84
Robert Parish ('84 BOS): 16 pts, 15 reb

'97 CHI 101, @ '88 LAL 90
Michael Jordan ('97 CHI): 30 pts, 9 reb, 5 ast

Group E

@ '79 SEA 113, '62 BOS 103
Gus Williams ('79 SEA): 18 pts, 5 reb, 5 ast, 3 stl

@ '03 SA 103, '78 WAS 93
Tim Duncan ('03 SA): 13 pts, 13 reb, 9 ast, 3 blk

@ '99 SA 111, '25 OKC 102
Tim Duncan ('99 SA): 26 pts, 17 reb, 3 blk

'20 LAL 114, @ '14 SA 98
LeBron James ('20 LAL): 19 pts, 12 reb, 10 ast

@ '72 LAL 103, '12 MIA 92
Wilt Chamberlain ('72 LAL): 20 pts, 19 reb

Group F

'72 IND 132, @ '64 BOS 121 (OT)
Mel Daniels ('72 IND): 22 pts, 31 reb, 4 ast

@ '69 BOS 103, '55 SYR 87
Bailey Howell ('69 BOS): 24 pts, 9 reb

@ '76 BOS 116, '22 GS 110
Dave Cowens ('76 BOS): 15 pts, 19 reb, 7 ast
Steph Curry ('22 GS): 44 pts, 6 ast, 4 stl

'25 IND 114, @ '09 LAL 105
Pascal Siakam ('25 IND): 23 pts, 10 reb

'05 SA 95, @ '92 CHI 85
Tim Duncan ('05 SA): 23 pts, 14 reb

Group G

@ '07 SA 118, '69 OAK 106
Tim Duncan ('07 SA): 24 pts, 15 reb, 5 ast, 3 blk

@ '80 LAL 135, '58 STL 85
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar ('80 LAL): 25 pts, 12 reb, 4 ast, 6 blk

@ '18 GS 121, '70 NYK 97
Steph Curry ('18 GS): 27 pts, 7 reb, 9 ast

@ '08 BOS 108, '93 PHX 89
Kevin Garnett ('08 BOS): 17 pts, 9 reb, 4 ast

@ '16 CLE 123, '91 CHI 114
Kyrie Irving ('16 CLE): 29 pts, 6 ast

Group H

@ '74 BOS 111, '70 IND 91
Dave Cowens ('74 BOS): 24 pts, 9 reb, 4 ast, 3 blk, 3 stl

@ '93 CHI 107, '59 BOS 84
Michael Jordan ('93 CHI): 26 pts, 8 reb, 6 ast, 3 stl

'21 MIL 116, @ '76 NYN 90
Giannis Antetokuonmpo ('21 MIL): 24 pts, 18 reb, 6 ast, 3 blk

@ '11 DAL 98, '54 MIN 92
George Mikan ('54 MIN): 23 pts, 20 reb, 4 ast, 3 stl

'96 CHI 111, @ '71 MIL 101
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar ('71 MIL): 36 pts, 17 reb, 5 blk