At the halfway mark, a minimum record of 8-2 is what's required to win a group, but there are several 8-2 teams that are either tied at the top of trail someone who had an even better first half. Two undefeated teams still remain through a single round robin. Meanwhile down towards the bottom, there is a little bit of an imbalance among the groups. As a general rule, 4-6 halfway through would be good enough to advance to the postseason, but in some groups you would need five wins, and if the tournament ended today, two 4-6 teams would be knocked out while some teams at 3-7 are on the right side of the bubble. Based on this I'd anticipate needing eight wins total to advance, maybe seven depending on the group.
We're still waiting for some tournament-firsts; we've had several overtime games and buzzer beaters, as well as some 50 point outbursts, triple-doubles, and an early quadruple-nickel, but no quintuple-nickels (though we've come close). We'll see with another set of 440 games if any more of these outstanding performances come into play.
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
Larry Bird ('86 BOS): 24 pts, 9 reb, 7 ast, 3 stl
'24 BOS 118, @ '77 POR 100
Jayson Tatum ('24 BOS): 23 pts, 15 reb, 4 ast
@ '94 HOU 116, '65 BOS 111
Hakeem Olajuwon ('94 HOU): 38 pts, 14 reb, 8 ast, 10 blk
@ '98 CHI 114, '74 NYN 95
Scottie Pippen ('98 CHI): 22 pts, 7 reb, 9 ast, 3 blk
'81 BOS 114, @ '63 BOS 111
Larry Bird ('81 BOS): 29 pts, 9 reb, 12 ast, 7 stl
Bill Russell ('63 BOS): 16 pts, 17 reb, 4 blk; missed game-tying three with 1 second left
Group B
Karl Malone ('97 UTA): 39 pts, 13 reb
John Stockton ('97 UTA): 17 pts, 16 ast
'23 DEN 112, @ '83 PHI 94
Nikola Jokic ('23 DEN): 22 pts, 12 reb, 12 ast
@ '75 KEN 108, '52 MIN 77
Artis Gilmore ('75 KEN): 22 pts, 20 reb, 4 blk
@ '06 MIA 118, '68 PIT 95
Dwyane Wade ('06 MIA): 33 pts, 5 reb, 7 ast
@ '00 LAL 98, '04 DET 75
Shaquille O'Neal ('00 LAL): 22 pts, 17 reb, 5 ast
Group C
Magic Johnson ('87 LAL): 23 pts, 8 reb, 8 ast
'17 GS 104, @ '01 LAL 87
Draymond Green ('17 GS): 8 pts, 8 reb, 6 ast, 6 stl, 5 blk
@ '89 DET 127, '56 PHI 100
Bill Laimbeer ('89 DET): 24 pts, 11 reb
@ '10 LAL 111, '73 IND 105
Kobe Bryant ('10 LAL): 38 pts, 7 reb
'60 BOS 126, @ '75 GS 120
Bill Russell ('60 BOS): 17 pts, 18 reb, 5 blk
Rick Barry ('75 GS): 32 pts, 9 reb, 11 ast
Group D
Jason Kidd ('03 NJ): 18 pts, 6 reb, 16 ast, 3 stl
'19 TOR 106, @ '84 BOS 99
Kawhi Leonard ('19 TOR): 33 pts, 10 reb
@ '73 NYK 123, '61 BOS 108
Dave DeBusschere ('73 NYK): 27 pts, 18 reb, 4 ast
'66 BOS 124, @ '82 LAL 121
Sam Jones ('66 BOS): 39 pts, 5 reb, 7 ast
Eddie Jordan ('82 LAL): missed game-tying three at the buzzer
@ '67 PHI 119, '71 UTA 105
Wilt Chamberlain ('67 PHI): 17 pts, 27 reb, 11 ast, 9 blk
Group E
LeBron James ('20 LAL): 36 pts, 11 reb, 8 ast
@ '14 SA 101, '25 OKC 92
Tim Duncan ('14 SA): 24 pts, 25 reb
@ '99 SA 115, '78 WAS 80
David Robinson ('99 SA): 22 pts, 13 reb, 3 stl, 5 blk
@ '03 SA 116, '62 BOS 95
Tim Duncan ('03 SA): 17 pts, 11 reb, 9 ast, 5 blk
'90 DET 109, @ '79 SEA 103
Dennis Rodman ('90 DET): 20 pts, 14 reb
'79 SEA: Led 94-79 after 3rd quarter
Group F
Horace Grant ('92 CHI): 22 pts, 10 reb, 4 ast
@ '09 LAL 109, '22 GS 83
Kobe Bryant ('09 LAL): 21 pts, 8 reb, 4 ast, 3 stl
@ '76 BOS 108, '55 SYR 79
Dave Cowens ('76 BOS): 21 pts, 15 reb
'72 IND 131, @ '69 BOS 121
Mel Daniels ('72 IND): 27 pts, 17 reb, 5 blk
'68 BOS 145, @ '64 BOS 128
Bill Russell ('64 BOS): 22 pts, 20 reb, 10 ast, 3 blk
Bailey Howell ('68 BOS): 23 pts, 10 reb, 4 ast
Group G
Kevin Love ('16 CLE): 21 pts, 18 reb
'18 GS 115, @ '08 BOS 92
Kevin Durant ('18 GS): 39 pts, 8 reb, 9 ast
@ '70 NYK 119, '58 STL 109
Walt Frazier ('70 NYK): 28 pts, 5 reb, 8 ast
'69 OAK 130, @ '80 LAL 129
Kareem Adbul-Jabbar ('80 LAL): 23 pts, 16 reb, 5 reb, 7 blk
Warren Jabali ('69 OAK): 28 pts, 10 reb, 4 ast, 5 blk
Spencer Haywood ('80 LAL): 10 pts, 6 reb, 4 ast; missed game-winning shot at the buzzer
@ '07 SA 114, '57 BOS 79
Tim Duncan ('07 SA): 28 pts, 11 reb, 6 blk
Group H
Oscar Robertson ('71 MIL): 27 pts, 5 reb, 5 ast, 4 stl
'21 MIL 115, @ '11 DAL 99
Giannis Antetokuonmpo ('21 MIL): 33 pts, 7 reb, 11 ast
@ '76 NYN 139, '59 BOS 109
Julius Erving ('76 NYN): 18 pts, 17 reb, 10 ast, 4 stl, 3 blk
@ '93 CHI 122, '70 IND 102
Michael Jordan ('93 CHI): 45 pts, 9 reb, 6 ast
'95 HOU 106, @ '74 BOS 85
Hakeem Olajuwon ('95 HOU): 31 pts, 21 reb, 6 blk
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