~ Photo credit: @YahooSportsNBA
~ By Pearl Allison Lo
~ It came to the final shot at Staples Center as Team LeBron came back for a 148-145 victory in the premier of non-conference teams in the NBA All-Star Game Sunday.
Stephen Curry and then DeMar DeRozan had the ball looking for a three to tie, but due to tough defense, were unable to put up a shot before the buzzer.
The underdog Team Stephen led for the majority of the game. For the most part, when Team LeBron did get the lead, it was short-lived.
James tied the game at 144 apiece with 1:30 left and that score held until 40.2 seconds left. DeRozan put Team Stephen up by one when he made one of two free throws.
After a Team LeBron timeout, James gave his team the lead for good with 34.5 seconds left. Russell Westbrook put the final points up when he took a long pass by James to the basket. Westbook commented, “We got stops when we needed to.”
Captain LeBron James won his third All-Star Game MVP title, with 29 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists. He won $350K for his charity After School All Stars and Team Stephen earned $150K for Brotherhood Crusade.
DeRozan and Damian Lillard led Team Steph with 21 points apiece. Stephen Curry finished with 11 points.
Jimmy Butler was the only All-Star not to play.
After the second, Team LeBron shot above 50% from the field and Team Steph above 40%.
The first quarter saw a bit of a rough start or nervous energy, with five bad passes from the teams in just over a minute. Team Steph had two 7-0 runs, the latter run part of an 11-2 run to close the first.
Karl-Anthony Towns was the only double-digit scorer, with 11 points.
Team Steph’s heat continued in the second until Team LeBron made their way back from beyond the arc with three straight three’s, two from the Captain and one from Kemba Walker. Kevin Durant pulled Team LeBron to within one 51-52 with 7:15 left. James followed with a reverse dunk over a minute later to give his team their first lead since 7:48 left in the first. It was short-lived though, as Joel Embiid reasserted Team Stephen’s lead.
Team Steph put together an 11-0 run with four minutes left. This included Curry’s first field goal and one of Klay Thompson’s threes. Team LeBron then went on a 7-0 run and chipped at Team Steph’s lead. Team Steph was stopped from crossing half court twice in the waning seconds as the teams headed to the lockers with a two-point difference, 76-78.
Giannis Antetokounmpo had a block with 9:53 left that was called for goaltending. Thompson scored 12 points in the second, all off three’s, with three consecutive when he had the ball.
Durant started off the third with a three that gave Team Lebron a short-lived 79-78 lead. Team Stephen replied with a 9-0 run.
Durant took to the free throw line for Team LeBron’s first free throws with 8:17 left.
Team LeBron finally saw their lead last for more than one possession when Kemba Walker made it 109-105. Then Team Steph responded with a 7-0 run to close out the third, two threes by Curry.
Team Steph continued with a 6-2 run to start the fourth. They went on a 9-0 run with 8:28 left. Kyle Lowry had two points and two assists, DeRozan two free throws and Lillard five points.
Team LeBron kept in it with an 8-0 run with 5:06 left. James had a layup, free throw and Westbrook two free throws.
The game also had some instant replay action after James’ 144-144 score when the ball went out of bounds and the referee was checking to see if the ball went off Embiid or Durant.
Game notes: Team Steph outrebounded Team LeBron 68-49. Thompson finished with 15 points and Golden State Warriors teammates Draymond Green had three points off free throws and a game-high tying two blocks, Durant with 19 points and a game-high tying three steals. Embiid also had two blocks. Towns matched James with a game-high 10 rebounds. Lowry and Victor Oladipo also had three steals. Lillard finished +18. Bradley Beal, Paul George and James led with four threes apiece.
