2001 NBA Finals Game 2 Philadelphia 76ers at Los Angeles Lakers, June 8, 2001

PHI 89 LAL 98 Los Angeles Lakers center Shaquille O'Neal tied an NBA Finals record for most blocks in Game 2 against Philadelphia 76ers in 2001. Player of the game: Shaquille O’Neal, 28 PTS, 12-19 63FG%, 20 REB, 9 AST, 1 STL, 8 BLK In Game 2, the Lakers found themselves in another highly-contested matchup as they only held a 49-47 lead at halftime. Fortunately, they were able to distance themselves in the third quarter en route to a 98-89 win. With the Lakers able to limit Iverson to 23 points (10-of-29 shooting), O’Neal had another historical performance. Along with 28 points, 20 rebounds and nine assists, O’Neal had eight blocks. It tied a record for most in an NBA Finals game, joining Bill Walton, Hakeem Olajuwon and Patrick Ewing. Lakers center Shaquille O'Neal was named the NBA Finals Most Valuable Player (MVP) for the second year in a row, thanks to his dominant averages of 33.0 points, 15.8 rebounds, and 3.4 blocks per game. O’Neal's MVP win was well-deserved, surpassing even two of my favorite players, Allen Iverson and Kobe Bryant. Examining their contributions to their teams reveals: Shaquille O’Neal: 33 PPG, 57 FG%, 15.8 RPG, 4.8 APG, 0.4 SPG, 3.4 BPG, GmSc Rating 27.4 Allen Iverson: 35.6 PPG, 41 FG%, 5.6 RPG, 3.8 APG, 1.8 SPG, 0.2 BPG, GmSc Rating 20.5 Kobe Bryant: 24.6 PPG, 41 FG%, 7.8 RPG, 5.8 APG, 1.4 SPG, 1.4 BPG, GmSc Rating 17.2 Dikembe Mutombo: 16.8 PPG, 12.2 RPG, 0.4 APG, 0.4 SPG, 2.2 BPG, GmSc Rating 15.7 For reference, a GmSc rating of: 25+ signifies an all-time greatest performance 20+ is MVP-level 15+ is All-Star level Below 14 indicates a role-player contribution Shaquille O’Neal was such a dominant force, period. 2000 Finals (GmSc) O’Neal: 30.6 (All-Time) Miller: 17.6 (All-Star) Rose: 14.0 (Role) Croshere: 12.8 (Role) Jackson: 10.7 (Role) Bryant: 9.7 (Role) 2001 Finals (GmSc) O’Neal: 27.4 (All-Time) Iverson: 20.5 (MVP-level) Bryant: 17.2 (All-Star) 2002 Finals (GmSc) O’Neal: 30.1 (All-Time) Bryant: 20.3 (MVP-level) Kidd: 19.0 (All-Star) Game Score rating averages from all series (First Round, Semifinals, Conference Finals, and Finals), the only time that Kobe is close enough to Shaq was in the 2001 title run, but 2000 and 2002 are runaways. 2000 Game Score (GmSc) Playoff Series Shaquille 25.23 (All-time rating) Kobe 14.3 (Role-player rating) 2001 Game Score (GmSc) Playoff Series Shaquille 23.67 (MVP rating) Kobe 22.28 (MVP rating) 2002 Game Score (GmSc) Playoff Series Shaquille 22.38 (MVP rating) Kobe 17.58 (All-Star rating)