The first Lakers top seed is here, in Region 11. The 1972 LA Lakers.
1. 1972 NBA CHAMPION LA LAKERS v. 16. PLAY IN WINNER
(69-13)
-Bill Sharman's here as a Celtics player; he's also coaching these Lakers. Pat Riley - who is in the tournament as the Knicks coach, the Lakers coach, and the Heat GM, is playing for these Lakers. They beat the Knicks in the Finals. Wilt's 35, West is 33, Baylor's 35. 28 year old Gail Goodrich leads the team in PPG. They'll face the winner of a play in game between the '90 Bulls and '80 Bucks.
8. 1993 ATL DIV CHAMP NEW YORK KNICKS v. 9. 2008 SAN ANTONIO SPURS
(60-22) (56-26)
-If seeding holds, Riley the player will face Riley the coach in the second round, as he's here with the Knicks team that lost in the East Finals. Patrick Ewing's 30. Once we finish the play in round I'll count up how many representatives of each franchise we have, but the Sours would appear the winner. This group lost in the West Finals. Duncan's 31, Ginobli's 30. Parker 25.
5. 1998 WEST CHAMPION UTAH JAZZ v. 12. 2000 EAST CHAMP INDIANA PACERS
(62-20) (56-26)
-The Jazz fell to Jordan in his last NBA Championship season, Malone's 34, Stockton's 35. Larry Bird coaches this Pacers team that lost to the Lakers in the Finals. Reggie Miller's 34. A 36 year old Chris Mullin is also on this team.
4. 1981 NBA CHAMPION BOSTON CELTICS v. 13. 2011 NW DIV CHAMP OKC THUNDER
(62-20) (55-27)
-And here's Bird the player; the '81 Celtics beat the Rockets in the Finals. Larry's 24, McHale 23, Parish 27. OKC fell in the West Finals; Durant and Westbrook are 22, Harden's 21.
3. 1991 PAC DIV CHAMP PORT TRAIL BLAZERS v. 14. 2011 ATL DIV CHAMP BOSTON CELTICS
(63-19) (56-26)
-The Blazers lost in the West Finals; Drexler's 28. The Celtics lost in the East Semis; KG is 34, Pierce 33, Allen 35 - a 38 year old Shaq is on this team.
6. 2004 NBA CHAMP DET PISTONS v. 11. 2018 ATL DIV CHAMP TORONTO RAPTORS
(54-28) (59-23)
-The Pistons beat the Lakers in the Finals; Hamilton's 25, Billups 27, Rasheed Wallace is 29. Toronto made the East Semis; Kyle Lowry's 31, DeMar DeRozan 28.
7. 1950 ROCHESTER ROYALS v. 10. 1974 ABA CHAMPION NEW JERSEY NETS
(51-17) (55-29)
-51-17 is a helluva record, but the Royals went down in the Central Semis. 30 year old Bob Davies leads in PPG. They'll lost the ABA Champion Nets; Erving's 23.
2. 1999 NBA CHAMPION SAN ANTONIO SPURS v. 15. 1984 WEST CHAMP LA LAKERS
(37-13) (54-28)
-The Spurs won the whole thing in '99, beating the Knicks. Robinson's 33, Duncan 22. They'll face, of course, Pat Riley and his '84 Lakers who fell in the Finals to Boston. Kareem's 36, Magic's 24, Worthy's 22.
