Here is an article from the Bowling Green Daily News:


Great play, bad finish

By JANIS CARR, McClatchy

LOS ANGELES — The play, the one that features an in-bounds lob pass into Courtney Lee for a layup, always worked in practice. That is, the few times the Orlando Magic has tried it. So with that little bit of confidence and the need to adjust their last-second play in regulation, Orlando coach Stan Van Gundy called for Hedo Tukoglu to find Lee. Turkoglu found his mark and lobbed the ball into Lee. Lee, though, missed his mark and the ball banked off the rim forcing overtime Sunday, which gave the Lakers a second chance to put away Game 2 of the NBA Finals with a 101-96 victory. “He missed it. I don’t know what else to say,” Van Gundy said. “Hedo made a great pass, and we missed it. I don’t really know. I’m not trying to be a pain … I just don’t know what else to say about it. “It was a great pass, it was right there, and he missed it.” Turkoglu had told Lee, a former Western Kentucky star, during the timeout to look for a pass just like the one in practice. “We connected. The shot just didn’t fall,” Lee said. “It was a good play, it was a good pass. Coach did a good job of drawing up the right play. I caught it, got a good look at the backboard. I tried to get it up there as quick as possible, and the ball rolled off the rim.” Lee, who finished with just two points, had a chance to be the game hero moments earlier, but missed that layup as well. The Magic had taken an 88-86 lead on a 23-foot jump shot by Turkoglu with 47 seconds left in regulation. After a time out, Pau Gasol tied the game on layup. Lee then had his first chance at a winning basket with nine seconds remaining, but his layup failed to fall in and Lamar Odom grabbed the rebound. “He got a good look at it,” Rashard Lewis said of Lee’s final attempt in regulation. “It seemed like he was a little bit under the basket when he caught it the ball for the layup and it was a tough play for him. “He had to get it off quick because there was only .6 seconds left. … It could have gone either way and you’ve got to roll with the punches. He didn’t get the layup, so we had to go into overtime.” From where Kobe Bryant stood, the play was the right move. “Honestly, it was just a brilliant play,” said Bryant, who scored 29 points. “It was just a very, very smart play that he drew up. He knew my eye was more on the shooters coming up and just a hell of a play by a hell of a coach.” Lee’s desperation shot seemed to deflate the Magic, which was looking to avoid carrying home a 0-2 deficit after losing the opener by 25 points. They fell behind, 97-91, on a three-point play by Gasol with 1:14 left in overtime then missed on back-to-back jumpers by J.J. Redick. Orlando made one final gasp, pulling to within three, 99-96, on a 3-pointer by Rashard Lewis, but it was too late. “We came up empty on two plays where I think we had created what could have been very good shots and that was difficult,” Van Gundy said. “I thought J.J. (Redick) played well, but like the rest of the guards, he struggled to get it in the basket. He played real well, but I thought those back-to-back plays sort of turned it their way.”