The semifinals

The Times has asked an online sports simulation site to run atournament involving the 12 greatest Lakers title teams of alltime, as selected by The Times.

The simulations were done by Imagine Sports, a SiliconValley-based Internet company developing multiplayer online sportssimulation games, including Total Hoops, an online basketball gamewhere users are the general managers of their own pro basketballfranchises and can draft or sign players from throughout thehistory of basketball, and Diamond Mind Online, an online baseballmanagement game licensed and promoted by MLB Advanced Media.

And now, the semifinals. Each series is best-of-seven, with thebetter seeded team receiving home court advantage:

Top-seeded 1971-72 Lakers vs. fifth-seeded 2000-01Lakers

The matchup: Can the Wilt-West Lakers continue theirdominant run through the tournament? Or, will Kobe- Shaq make topossible for it to be a all Shaq-Kobe Lakers finals.

The results

Game 1: at 1971-72 Lakers 112, 2000-01 Lakers 99. High scorer: GailGoodrich, 41

Game 2: at 1971-72 Lakers 123, 2000-01 Lakers 104. High scorer:Goodrich, 33

Game 3: at 2000-01 Lakers 104, 1971-72 Lakers 85. High scorer:Shaquille O’Neal, 33

Game 4: 1971-72 Lakers 123, at 2000-01 Lakers 121. High scorer:O’Neal, 44

Game 5: at 2000-01 Lakers 111, 1971-72 Lakers 99. High scorer: KobeBryant, 37

Game 6: at 1971-72 Lakers 135, 2000-01 Lakers 107. High scorer:Goodrich, 39

1971-72 Lakers win series, 4-2.

The recap: The 2000-01 Lakers were able to slow down Westand Chamberlain, but that left Goodrich, who’d like to remindeveryone that he is a Hall of Famer too, open.

Series MVP: Goodrich (31.3 points per game). Note:Chamberlain averaged 18.7 rebounds per game and Jerry West averaged10.5 assists.

------

Second-seeded 1986-87 Lakers vs. third-seeded 1999-2000Lakers

The matchup: Showtime vs. Shaq-Kobe to decide which era wasbest between the two.

Game 1: at 1986-87 Lakers 114, 1999-2000 Lakers 107. High scorer:James Worthy, 31

Game 2: at 1986-87 Lakers 115, 1999-2000 Lakers 104. High scorer:Shaquille O’Neal, 37

Game 3: at 1999-2000 Lakers 114, 1986-87 Lakers 105. High scorer:Kobe Bryant, 37

Game 4: 1986-87 Lakers 107, at 1999-2000 Lakers 102. High scorer:O’Neal, 27

Game 5: at 1999-2000 Lakers 117, 1986-87 Lakers 103. High scorer:O’Neal, 36

Game 6: at 1986-87 Lakers 116, 1999-2000 Lakers 83. High scorer: Magic Johnson, 23

1986-87 Lakers win series, 4-2.

The recap: The last Kobe-Shaq team is eliminated as Showtimeadvances to the finals.

Series MVP: Magic Johnson (19.2 points and 14.2 assists pergame).

Up next: The finals, pitting the 1971-72 Lakers vs. the1986-87 Lakers. Results will be posted on Thursday.

------

houston.mitchell@latimes.com

For a free trial of Total Hoops, readers should register at https://basketball.imaginesports.com/home.