All-time NBA/ABA tournament of champions: Part VI
All-time NBA/ABA
tournament of champions: Part VI
By Cort Reynolds
The final three
spots in the quarterfinals are now filled as the six best decade round losers
faced off in a trio of one-game playoffs to earn entrance to the quarterfinals.
The team with the
better record in their season of play and the all-time tournament was given
home court for the one-game play-in contest.
The three
survivors will assume the six through eight seeds.
All-time NBA/ABA
Tournament of Champions Loser's Bracket
Team (with season
record, playoff record, tournament record, head coach)
2012-13 Miami
Heat (66-16, 16-7, 10-9 Erik Spoelstra)
at
1971-72 Los
Angeles Lakers (69-13, 12-3, 12-6 Bill Sharman)
INGLEWOOD - The
two teams with the longest win streaks in NBA history faced off at the Fabulous
Forum in a one game play-in battle during the knockout stage of the all-time
tournamemt of champions.
But the outcome
was never seriously in doubt as the star-studded 1972 Lakers roared out to a
big early lead and held on to defeat the 2013 Heat 125-116, advancing to the
quarterfinals after they narrowly fell in the 1970s decade championship series
to the 1973 Knicks, 4-3.
LA guard Jerry
West led all players with 33 points, five steals and nine assists as he
orchestrated the victory from the backcourt.
On the interior,
Laker center Wilt Chamberlain, despite being 35, pulled down a game-high 24
rebounds as he dominated the smaller Heat frontline inside with eight blocks as
well as many altered shots.
His defense,
board work and outlet passing triggered the deadly Laker break, which helped
pave the way for their record 33-game win streak in 1971-72. LA crushed Miami
on the glass, 70-56.
Laker power
forward Happy Hairston also yanked down 14 caroms, five more than any Heat
player, demonstrating the Laker superiority on the boards.
"We knew we
had an advantage on the glass," said LA coach Bill Sharman. "I felt
that if we could force them to shoot outside and control the boards, we could
run and get easy baskets. Plus I like our halfcourt offense better than theirs.
Jerry did a great job on Wade, and Gail outplayed Chalmers and the other Heat
guards."
Speedy southpaw
Goodrich matched his season' scoring average with 26 points, while Chalmers
netted just eight. Ray Allen scored 15 off the bench for Miami but it wasn't
enough to beat the better-balanced Lakers.
Los Angeles
boasted the highest-scoring backcourt in NBA history (the Hall of Fame pairing
of West and Goodrich combined for 51.7 ppg) and the duo hit for 59 vs. Miami to
exceed their norm.
Versatile Miami
MVP LeBron James tallied 28 points, eight rebounds and seven assists while
Dwyane Wade added 25 markers, but they didn't have enough help. Chris Bosh
scored 16 and grabbed eight caroms.
The Heat put
together a 27-win skein in 2012-13 but played in a weakened eastern conference
amid a soft Atlantic Division, and lacked a true center and any consistent or
true low-post offense. In addition, they were an erratic shooting team from
outside which relied on its pressure defense to force turnovers and score in
transition, as well as the driving of Wade and James.
However, the
veteran guards West and Goodrich were both fine, esperienced ballhandlers with
the quickness, floor vision and skill to beat any Heat pressure.
LA jumped ahead
21-8 and led 30-23 after one period as West scored 11 points. Miami stayed
within striking distance, down just six at the intermission. Going into the
fourth stanza, LA held on to an 88-82 edge.
But Miami never
got closer than four points in the final quarter. Chamberlain closed off the
driving lanes to
James and Wade, and the Laker guards were able to pressure
more on the perimeter as a result, leading to five West steals.
His swipe and
breakaway layup put the game out of reach 123-115 in the final 30 seconds, and
after James misfired from three-point land, LA rebounded and West was fouled.
He canned two free throws to provide the final margin.
"We just
didn't have an answer for Wilt inside, and our outside shooting was not good
enough to make up for a lack of inside scoring," explained Heat coach Erik
Spoelstra.
Miami shot just
41 percent from the field, while LA connected on exactly half of its floor
tries.
Jim McMillian
added 19 points for the victors, who are expected to meet the third seeded 1986
Celtics in the quarterfinals.
1972 Lakers
West 11-23 9-11
33, Goodrich 10-19 5-6 26, Chamberlain 5-7 3-8 13, Hairston 6-13 2-4 14,
McMillian 7-15 4-5 19, Riley 3-8 0-0 6, Robinson 3-5 2-2 9, Erickson 2-4 1-1 5.
Totals: 47-94
26-37 125. 3-pointers (5-13): West 2,
Goodrich 1, McMillian 1, Robinson 1. Rebounds (70): Chamberlain 24, Hairston
14, West 7, McMillian 5, Goodrich 2, Riley 3, Robinson 1, Erickson 5. Team
rebs: 7. Deadball rebs: 2.
Assists (23):
West 9, Goodrich 5, Chamberlain 3, McMillian 2, Hairton 1, Riley 1, Robinson 1,
Erickson 1. Steals (11): West 5. Blocked shots (9): Chamberlain 8. Turnovers
(14).
2013 Heat
Wade 9-22 6-8 25,
Chalmers 2-8 1-2 5, Andersen 3-4 2-3 8, Bosh 6-15 4-6 16, James 11-27 5-7 28,
Allen 5-11 3-3 16, Miller 3-7 2-3 10, Haslem 4-8 0-0 8.
Totals: 43-102
23-31 116. 3-pointers (7-21): Allen 3, Miller 2, Wade 1, James 1. Rebounds
(56): Anderson 9, Haslem 9, James 8, Bosh 8, Wade 6, Chalmers 1, Allen 2,
Miller 4. Team rebs: 8. Deadball rebs: 1. Assists (22): James 7, Wade 4,
Chalmers 5, Miller 3, Allen 1, Andersen 1, Haslem 1. Steals (10): Wade 3.
Blocked shots
(5): Andersen 4. Turnovers (18).
1 2 3 4 F
1972 LA 30 27 31 37 125
2013 Mia 23 28 31 34 116
Fouled out:
Haslem. Technicals: Wade 1. Attendance: 17,505.
1974 Boston
Celtics (56-26, 12-5, 7-5 Tom Heinsohn)
vs.
1963 Boston
Celtics (58-22, 8-5, 11-7 Red Auerbach)
BOSTON - The
showdown between the Celtic champions of 1963 and 1974 at Boston Garden
featured intriguing matchups, with the most important one between a pair of
left-handed, intelligent and athletic yet undersized centers.
Bill Russell
lacked the offensive skills of fellow southpaw pivotman Dave Cowens, but no one
had Bill's defensive presence and shotblocking abilities, and it may have
spelled the slim difference in a 128-126 overtime thriller.
Sharpshooter Sam
Jones faced off against defensive ace Don Chaney, rookie supersub John Havlicek
met the 1974 Finals MVP and first team all-league version of himself, and Bob
Cousy in his last season dueled against a young JoJo White.
The 1963 Celtics
possessed the deeper bench with four fine reserves, led by swingmen Frank
Ramsey and Hondo and defensive stopper KC Jones. But the '74 Celts featured
heady forward shooter Don Nelson and young future All-Star Paul Westphal in his
second season at guard off the pines. Not to mention Hall of Fame forward Tom
Heinsohn going against a team he coached.
Heinsohn the
coach called his 1974 champs "the quickest team in Celtic history"
and both teams sought to run and wear down the other in a tight matchup.
Cowens sought to
draw Russell out from under the basket with his superior outside shooting
ability, and when he began to hit Auerbach countered by switching Russ into
Paul Silas, the bruising power forward who was not a good shooter.
When Heinsohn
answered by putting the good-shooting, heady Nelson into the game for Silas,
Russell went back to Cowens and tried to crowd him and force him right.
The game was
close throughout, as expected. The older version of Havlicek ran roughshod over
Heisnohn and Sanders for 22 first half points. Only when the rookie version of
himself guarded Hondo did the man in perpetual motion come close to slowing
down.
White also had
his way with the aging Cousy, but Sam Jones countered by scoring 17 furts half
points and getting Chaney in foul trouble.
The 74 Celtics
tied it 92-all heading into the final period. In the final moments, a Sam Jones
jumper put the 63 Celts ahead by a basket.
Havlicek tied it
on a running banker yet Cousy threaded the needle to Heinsohn for a hook shot.
White then knocked down a jumper over Cousy in an isolation play to tie it
again.
Cooz then found
Sanders for a potential winner, but his jumper was off and Cowens knocked the
rebound out of bounds as time expired with the score tied, 118-118.
In OT, Cousy put
his teamin front with two foul shots but a running hook by Cowens tied it. Dave
then switched out ona pick and knocked
the ball from Cousy, outran him for the loose ball, dove and batted it to Hondo
for a layup and a 122-120 edge.
A left wing
banker by Sam Jones knotted the score, and Westphal, in for a fouled out
Chaney, buried a tough fadeaway from the left baseline.
The game then
swung on a sixth foul called on Cowens as Russell swung for a hook shot.
Russell split the pair, but with Hank Finkel in for Dave, Sanders hauled in the
miss and laid it back in for a 125-124 advantage.
Havlicek drove
and was fouled, then calmly hit both shots to put the '74 Celts back on top by
a point with 19 seconds left.
Cousy missed a
one-hander but Russell rebounded and passed out to Sam Jones, who nailed an
18-footer with four ticks to go.
After a timeout,
the '74 Celtics advanced the ball to halfcourt. With Havlicek double-teamed and
no Cowens on the bench, Nelson threw the ball into White, who forced a
24-footer fromt he left wing that missed. Russell rebounded and was fouled with
a second to go.
Russ made the
first free throw but missed the second, perhaps on purpose. Silas grabbed the
ball and called for timeout to have one last chance, but referee Richie Powers
did not acknowledge it as time expired.
On the bench Red
Auerbach put a cigar in his mouth but refused to light it since both teams were
his. "Great game, great game," was all he would say later.
The 1963 Celtic
bench did outscore their counterpart 40-26, but the big difference came at the
charity stripe, as it often does in close games. The victors took 23 more free
throws and made 13 more foul shots as the disqualifications of Chaney and
Cowens proved costly.
The fiery redhead
outscored Russ 25-15 but Bill won the battle of the boards, 24-19.
The elder
Havlicek topped all scorers with 36 points and added eight assists to go with
seven rebounds. White tallied 23 points and dished out nine assists while Cousy
scored 18 and doled out a game-high 13 helpers.
Sam Jones led the
winners with 26 points while Heinsohn added 19 and Havlicek added 14 markers
off the pines.
"It could
have gone either way," said Heinsohn. "Once Dave fouled out, the
momentum swung."
1963 Celtics
Russell 5-13 5-11
15, Cousy 6-17 6-7 18, S. Jones 10-19 6-8 26, Heinsohn 7-16 5-7 19, Sanders 3-9
4-7 10, Havlicek 5-12 4-5 14, Ramsey 3-8 2-3 8, KC Jones 2-6 2-4 6, Lovellette
3-6 4-6 10, Loscutoff 1-3 0-1 2.
Totals: 45-109
38-58 128. Rebounds (74): Russell 24, Sanders 9, Heinsohn 8, Havlicek 7,
Lovellette 6, S. Jones 4, Cousy 2, Ramsey 2, KC Jones 2, Loscutoff 2. Team
rebounds: 6. Deadball rebounds: 2. Assists (30): Cousy 13, Russell 5, Havlicek
4, KC Jones 3, S. Jones 2, Heinsohn 1, Sanders 1, Ramsey 1. Turnovers: 18.
Fouls: 30.
1974 Celtics
Cowens 9-19 7-9
25, Silas 4-11 2-4 10, Havlicek 14-29 8-10 36, White 9-18 5-6 23, Chaney 2-5
2-3 6, Nelson 6-12 1-1 13, Westphal 5-11 1-2 11, Kuberski 1-2 0-0 2, Finkel 0-1
0-0 0.
Totals: 50-108
26-35 126. Rebounds (71): Cowens 19, Silas 15, Havlicek 7, Chaney 6, White 4,
Nelson 4, Kuberski 3, Westphal 2, Finkel 2. Team rebounds: 7. Deadball rebs: 1.
Assists (33): White 9, Havlicek 8, Cowens 6, Chaney 4, Westphal 3, Nelson 2, Silas
1. Turnovers: 19. Fouls: 38.
1 2 3 4 OT F
1963 Bos 28 33 31 26 10 128
1974 Bos 27 31 34 26 8 126
Fouled out:
Heinsohn, Chaney, Cowens. Technicals: Auerbach, Heinsohn (coach). Attendance:
15,320.
1986-87 Los
Angeles Lakers (65-17, 15-2, 7-7 Pat Riley)
at
1970-71 Milwaukee
Bucks (66-16, 12-2, 7-5 Larry Costello)
MILWAUKEE - With
almost all the other individual matchups grading out even while the 1987 Lakers
had a little better bench than the 1971 Bucks, the difference-maker was
expected to be this: how would 24-year old Lew Alcindor fare against 40-year
old Kareem Abdul-Jabbar?
The answer did
spell the difference as young Lew (as he was known publicly still in 1971)
outscored old Kareem 40-21 and domainted him on the boards to lead Milwaukee to
a taut 123-122 overtime victory.
Clutch Laker
forward James Worthy posted up and put in a finger roll to tie the game 110-all
late in regulation to force overtime.
Big Games James
then put his squad on top with a trademark leakout fast break dunk 122-121 with
32 seconds to go in overtime. But the Bucks showed veteran poise as Oscar
Robertson calmly set up the offense and went to a two man game with Alcindor.
He lobbed the ball into Lew, who took the fundamentally basic post entry feed
from the Big O and drained his patented right baseline hook from 14 feet out
over his older self to put the '71 Bucks in front with 13 ticks to go.
Earvin Johnson
dribbled the ball down to three seconds and did not get the ball into Kareem or
Worthy as he was supposed to. Instead he tried to back down Robertson and
tossed up a desperation turnaround fadeaway from the foul line that fell
woefully short and into the hands of Alcindor as time expired.
Johnson moaned
and gesticulated wildly for a foul call but replays showed Robertson did not
come close to hitting his arm on the shot as Johnson pleaded he had done to the
officials.
Robertson (21
points, 12 assists, 10 rebounds) and Johnson (28 points, 13 assists, eight
rebounds) basically negated each other at the point, although Johnson was five
years younger and 3.5 inches taller.
Sharpshooters Jon
McGlocklin (16 points) and Byron Scott (14) played about even. James Worthy
took advantage of a three-inch height surplus to outscore Bob Dandridge inside
27-18.
The '87 Laker
bench outscored the '71 Bucks 24-19, but the 19-point difference between
Alcindor and Jabbar and a 59-51 advantage on the boards made up the margin in
transition points and speed.
1987 Laker coach
Pat Riley lamented the physical play his team had to suffer from. "They
really beat us up inside and on the backboards," he cried.
But Buck coach
Larry Costello had some pointed comments in response when told of Riley's
comment, and he noted that the 1987 Lakers were bigger than his squad,
especially at forward. "Green is 6-9 and Greg Smith is just 6-4, and
everyone knows A.C. is a dirty player, plus Worthy is three inches taller and
much heavier than Bobby," said the former All-Star guard.
"It's time
the Lakers are seen as the physical, big club that they are," he
continued. "Their starting lineup goes 7-2, 6-9, 6-9, 6-4 and almost 6-9.
Plus they have a 6-10 former number one pick (Thompson) and a feisty 6-7 guy
(Cooper) with long arms off the bench, and another 6-8 guy (Rambis) who isn't
afraid to mix it up.
"All I am
saying is that despite what they like to portray, they aren't any wilting
lilies out there," he growled. "And all the whining and complaining
in the world won't change the outcome. "In the end I thought our halfcourt
offense was better. We limited the transition points and punished Worthy for
leaking out on the break by hitting the offensive boards. We knew Worthy did
not like to defensive rebound, instead liking to run out," he concluded.
Alcindor
out-rebounded Jabbar 17-7, including four stickback baskets. Dandridge also
tallied two of his seven baskets on putbacks.
1971 Bucks
Alcindor 16-25
8-11 40, Smith 4-9 1-2 9, Dandridge 7-16 4-5 18, Robertson 9-16 3-4 21,
McGlocklin 6-12 2-2 16, Allen 4-10 3-4 11, Boozer 3-7 0-0 6, Cunningham 1-2 0-1
2.
Totals: 50-97
21-29 123. 3-pointers (2-7): McGlocklin 2. Rebounds (59): Alcindor 17,
Robertson 10, Smith 7, Dandridge 7, McGlocklin 4, Allen 3, Cunningham 3, Boozer
2. Team rebounds: 5. Deadball rebs: 1. Assists (31): Robertson 12, Dandridge 5,
McGlocklin 4, Alcindor 3, Allen 3, Smith 2, Boozer 1, Cunningham 1. Turnovers:
17.
1987 Lakers
Jabbar 9-19 3-5
21, Green 3-8 2-4 8, Worthy 11-17 5-7 27, Johnson 9-18 10-12 28, Scott 5-12 2-3
14, Cooper 5-11 1-2 12, M. Thompson 4-6 1-1 9, Rambis 1-1 1-2 3.
Totals: 47-92
25-40 122. 3-pointers (3-8): Scott 2, Cooper 1. Rebounds (51): Green 9, Johnson
8, Jabbar 7, Rambis 6, Thompson 5, Worthy 4, Scott 3, Cooper 3. Team rebounds:
5. Deadball rebs: 1. Assists (33): Johnson 13, Worthy 7, Jabbar 6, Cooper 3,
Scott 2, Rambis 1, Green 1. Turnovers: 20.
1 2 3 4 OT F
1971 Milw 29 32 25 24 13 123
1987 LA 32 30 27 21 12 122
Fouled out:
Green. Technicals: Costello, Jabbar. Attendance: 10,938.
Quarterfinal
pairings:
#1 seed 1990s
champion 1996 Chicago vs.
#8 seed 1963
Boston
#2 seed 1950s/60s
champion 1967 Philadelphia vs.
#7 seed 1971
Milwaukee
#3 seed 1980s
champion 1986 Boston vs.
#6 seed 1972 Los
Angeles Lakers
#4 seed 2000s
champion 2007 San Antonio vs.
#5 seed 1970s
champion 1973 New York
Check back for
quarterfinal results in the next installment of the series coming soon.
