The 2nd and 4th overall ranked teams in the tournament belong to the Bulls - and so does the 6th, the 1997 Chicago Bulls.
1. 1997 NBA CHAMPION CHICAGO BULLS v. 16. PLAY IN WINNER
(69-13)
-Michael's 3rd best team. The '97 Bulls beat Utah in the Finals. MJs 33. Pippen 31. Rodman's 35. They'll face the winner of the Play in Game between the '85 Sixers and '94 Spurs.
8. 2001 NBA CHAMPION LA LAKERS v. 9. 1967 BOSTON CELTICS
(56-26) (60-21)
-Phil v. Phil looks like a Round 2 matchup here in Region 6; the '01 Lakers beat the Sixers in the Finals. Shaq's 28, Kobe's 22. And it's our first Lakers/Celtics matchup; the '67 Celtics fell in the East Finals. Russell's 32, Havlicek 26. Sam Jones is 33.
5. 2014 PAC DIV CHAMP LA CLIPPERS v. 12. 2008 HOUSTON ROCKETS
(57-25) (55-27)
-The '14 Clips are the 5th seeds in Region 6; they lost in the West Semis, Blake Griffin's 24, Chris Paul is 28. They host the Rockets team that fell in the opening round of the playoffs; Yao Ming is 27, TMac, 28.
4. 2012 NBA CHAMPION MIAMI HEAT v. 13. 2011 SW DIV CHAMP SA SPURS
(46-20) (61-21)
-It's the third NBA Champion in the Region; the Heat beat OKC in the Finals. LeBron and Bosh are 27, Wade's 30. And they face yet another Spurs team; Duncan's 34, Ginobli 33, Parker 28
3. 1996 WEST CHAMP SEATTLE SUPERSONICS v. 14. 1978 ATL DIV CHAMP PHILLY 76ERS
(64-18) (55-27)
-It's 26 year old Kemp, 27 year old Payton and the Sonics team that lost to Jordan in the Finals. The Sixers lost in the East Finals; Erving and George McGuinness are 27.
6. 2020 ATL DIV CHAMP TORONTO RAPTORS v. 11. 1966 NBA CHAMPION BOSTON CELTICS
(53-19) (54-26)
-It's the Covid Raptors; they lost in the East Semis. Kyle Lowry's 33, Pascal Siakam's 25. They take on, of course, a Celtics title team - Boston beat the Lakers in the Finals. Russell's 31, Havlickek's 25, Sam Jones is 32.
7. 2011 NBA CHAMPION DALLAS MAVERICKS v. 10.1993 CLEVELAND CAVALIERS
(57-25) (54-28)
-The 5th NBA Champion in the Region. The Mavs took out the Heat - and there Miami sits from the year following also in this region. Dirk's 32. The Cavs made the East Finals; Brad Daugherty is 27, Mark Price is 28.
2. 1950 NBA CHAMP MINN LAKERS v. 15. 1976 PAC DIV CHAMP GST WARRIORS
(51-17) (59-23)
-And here's the 6th NBA Champ in the Region. The Lakers beat the Nationals in the Finals; George Mikan's 25. They face a Warriors team that lost in the West Finals, Rick Barry's 31.
