ESPN: Game 2 Diary

[KingRobb02]

Simmons: Take a retro look at Game 2
Game 2 might not have been an all-time classic, but it will save the '09 Finals from going down as a clunker for the ages, writes Bill Simmons.

[magicfan4life05]

1:10: Just for comedy's sake, Ariza finally gets called for a non-shooting foul on Turkoglu. I enjoyed that.

so true

[EasternMagic]

Bill Simmons showing us love? what???
On CLee missed layup:

Do me a favor: Go to a playground with a buddy, bring a 7-foot guy with you, stand at midcourt, then sprint toward the basket, have a buddy throw a lob pass that you'll catch as you're passing under the backboard, then have the 7-foot guy jump at you and grab the rim for good measure. Try this 100 times and see how many you make. Put it this way: If Lee made that shot, it's one of the great plays in the history of the Finals. So you can't give him a crap. You just can't. That would have been an AMAZING (that's right, I went all caps) pass/shot and ranked right up there with Ralph Sampson's series-winner in the '86 Western finals on the "I can't believe they drew that up and then pulled it off" scale.

[EasternMagic]

Orlando ran such a sneaky back screen that Kobe fouled Lee twice -- once as he started making his cut (a bump), then a second time when he grabbed Lee's arm as Lee ran by Howard's screen to unsuccessfully slow him down (no call) --

[craig01]

Bryant bumped Lee....but it was not a foul ....... as the whistle didn't blow.

[EasternMagic]

Bryant bumped Lee....but it was not a foul ....... as the whistle didn't blow.

ehh... it was a foul technically and the arm grab was too... but you don't call that in that time in the game...

[crazytown]

Laker fans are going to love this column

[magicfanatic23]

That was actually some well written, entertaining stuff. Good work by Simmons. He dislikes the Magic but his hate for the Lakers is 100X worse.

[SpaceCoastGator]

Bill Simmons showing us love? what???
On CLee missed layup:

Do me a favor: Go to a playground with a buddy, bring a 7-foot guy with you, stand at midcourt, then sprint toward the basket, have a buddy throw a lob pass that you'll catch as you're passing under the backboard, then have the 7-foot guy jump at you and grab the rim for good measure. Try this 100 times and see how many you make. Put it this way: If Lee made that shot, it's one of the great plays in the history of the Finals. So you can't give him a crap. You just can't. That would have been an AMAZING (that's right, I went all caps) pass/shot and ranked right up there with Ralph Sampson's series-winner in the '86 Western finals on the "I can't believe they drew that up and then pulled it off" scale.

I was going to post this on the other CLee thread. Great points...good article.

[taruky1]

Funny, I was going crazy that nobody else saw the CLEAR hack on C. Lee by Odom with a couple minutes left in regulation. Everyone is blaming Courtney for missing the layup, but Odom fouled the crap out of him. I'm so glad Simmons saw that. As for Ariza's defense, my respect for Ariza's defensive prowess went down a couple notches. He was getting away with murder, then Hedo gets called for a ticky tack offensive foul. That's called inconsistency. If you are going to give the defender that kind of leeway, then you need to let the offensive player be a little physical as well.

[Neon1]

Lol....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3AEYKEHfJ68

[Big A All Day]

Lol....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3AEYKEHfJ68

LMAO thats wrong but funny as hell

[Dome]

Lol....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3AEYKEHfJ68

LMAO thats wrong but funny as hell

You know what would've been wrong? The Clip of seeing the Magic celebrate and LeBron James quickly walking into the lockerroom worked into this... I'm not sure Cavs fans could laugh about it though, but Knicks fans might...