Here are the results for the Round of 64 according to the WhatIfSports simulator. For the first two rounds, I'm not going to provide commentary for each individual. One, because it's just a round of 64 game, and two, because it sounds kind of silly to provide observations for fictitious games.
Group 1
Play-in game: 1978 Washington Bullets def. 2010 Charlotte Bobcats, 91-88
1. 1996 Chicago Bulls def. 1978 Washington Bullets, 118-90
8. 1996 Orlando Magic def. 9. 1980 LA Lakers, 134-93
4. 1965 Boston Celtics def. 13. 1953 Minneapolis Lakers, 111-96
5. 2006 Detroit Pistons def. 12. 2010 LA Lakers, 105-95
14. 2006 Miami Heat def. 3. 2009 Cleveland Cavaliers, 101-92
6. 1998 Chicago Bulls def. 2004 Minnesota Timberwolves, 90-78
15. 1956 Philadelphia Warriors def. 2. 1971 Milwaukee Bucks, 127-126
10. 1994 Houston Rockets def. 7. 1954 Minneapolis Lakers, 116-84
The biggest surprise from Group 1 definitely has to be the 1956 Philadelphia Warriors edging out the 1971 Milwaukee Bucks. That Milwaukee team has always been in talks for best team ever, but they won't get to show that in this tournament. Under LeBron James, Cleveland always seemed to come up short, and they do so again, being upset by the O'Neal, Wade, and the 2006 Miami Heat. Speaking of upset, the 1994 Houston Rockets demolished the 1954 Lakers, 116-84. In another blow-out, the 1996 Orlando Magic beat the 1980 LA Lakers in what's usually regarded in a coin-flip 8/9 match-up.
Group 2
1. 1972 LA Lakers def. 16. 1958 St. Louis Hawks, 120-99
8. 1970 New York Knicks def. 9. 2003 San Antonio Spurs, 133-96
4. 1997 Utah Jazz def. 13. 2008 New Orleans Hornet, 110-102
12. 1993 Chicago Bulls def. 5. 1989 Detroit Pistons, 101-95
3. 2008 Boston Celtics def. 14. 2002 New Jersey Nets, 99-86
11. 2002 LA Lakers def. 6. 1988 LA Lakers, 107-91
2. 2000 LA Lakers def. 15. 2004 Memphis Grizzlies, 110-71
10. 2005 San Antonio Spurs def. 7. 1962 Boston Celtics, 100-92
This may be saying the obvious, but in this round, it was good to be coached by Phil Jackson as all his teams, the '93 Bulls and the '00 and '02 LA Lakers won. On the other hand, like in the first group, it wasn't so good to be a no. 9 seed as we saw another blow-out with the 2003 San Antonio Spurs losing by 37 to the 1970 New York Knicks. By the 1990s, Michael Jordan got tired of losing to the Detroit Pistons, and we saw that here, despite the 1993 Chicago Bulls being the worse seed.
Group 3
16. 2001 Toronto Raptors def. 1. 1997 Chicago Bulls, 95-90
9. 1963 Boston Celtics def. 8. 1964 Boston Celtics, 125-116
13. 1974 Boston Celtics def. 4. 1960 Boston Celtics, 123-119
5. 1993 Phoenix Suns def. 12. 1982 LA Lakers, 135-111
3. 1983 Philadelphia 76ers def. 14. 1979 Seattle SuperSonics, 122-107
11. 2007 San Antonio Spurs def. 6. 1985 LA Lakers, 105-94
15. 2002 Sacramento Kings * def. 2. 1992 Chicago Bulls, 114-87
7. 2004 Indiana Pacers def. 10. 1990 Detroit Pistons. 96-89
*WhatIfSports didn't give a 1951 Rochester Royals as an option, so I decided to replace them with the next best team for that franchise, which was the 2002 Sacramento Kings. If I had known this beforehand, I would have changed the seedings, and based on the results of the simulations, could very well have changed a lot.
So the biggest upset of this round, of this tournament so far, and most likely the tournament forever, will be the 2001 Toronto Raptors knocking off the 69-win Chicago Bulls. Looking at the box score, a young Vince Carter outplayed Michael Jordan (who would've imagined) and led his team to victory. Just because this was so surprising, I just thought I'd provide the box score.
http://whatifsports.com/NBA/boxscore.asp?GameID=5776021&nomenu=1&teamfee=-1
Unlike Group 2, Group 3 was not a good group to be coached by Phil Jackson, as both his 1992 Bulls and 1997 Bulls were upset. Actually, it wasn't a good round to be a high seed at all, as low seeds won 5 of 8 match-ups. There are no more Seattle teams in this tournament, as our only representative was, as expected, defeated. Here's the box score for that.
http://whatifsports.com/NBA/boxscore.asp?GameID=5776032&nomenu=1&teamfee=-1
Group 4
1. 1967 Philadelphia 76ers def. 16. 1977 Portland Trail Blazers, 113-91
9. 1959 Boston Celtics def. 8. 1999 San Antonio Spurs, 114-110
13. 2001 LA Lakers def. 4. 2009 LA Lakers, 95-94
5. 1981 Boston Celtics def. 12. 1973 New York Knicks, 103-82
3. 1987 LA Lakers def. 14. 2009 Denver Nuggets, 107-98
6. 1984 Boston Celtics def. 11. 2011 Dallas Mavericks, 103-90
2. 1986 Boston Celtics def. 15. 1975 Buffalo Braves, 116-98
10. 1961 Boston Celtics def. 7. 1991 Chicago Bulls, 122-120
I think Group 4 should just be called the Boston-Los Angeles Group, because only one team wasn't from one of those two franchises. This group went a lot more as expected than the group before it did. I think the most interesting match-up had to be the 2001 LA Lakers versus its 2009 counterpart. With the 2001 version, you had a team that was dominant in the playoffs, whereas the 2009 was dominant in the regular season. I guess it's only appropriate the dominant postseason one won.
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