West Wins Defensive Battle in All-Star Game

The NBA All-Star Game was full of hard play and defensive execution as the West narrowly won 196-173.

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The Golden State Warriors were well represented by their three All-Stars all weekend and tonight was no different.

This year’s All-Star game was a perfect closer for arguably the greatest All-Star Weekend ever. Clearly feeling inspired after watching the performances by Aaron Gordon and Zach LaVine, Stephen Curry decided to sky for his first dunk of the night in the first quarter. He would have another explosive jam later in the game. He finished with 26 spectacular points and added 5 rebounds, 6 assists, and 4 steals. Curry shot 10-18 and 6-13 from deep. He hit one from nearly mid court with seconds left in the fourth quarter.

Klay Thompson finished with 9 points, hitting three shots from beyond the arc. Apparently, he used up all his magic during his incredible performance last night against Curry in the Three-Point contest.

First time All-Star Draymond Green scored 4 points and grabbed 5 rebounds in 12 minutes of action. He missed a reverse dunk down the lane that had both him and Curry smiling. In a game led by long range bombers and high-flyers, Green still found his time to shine. Indiana’s Paul George was chasing history, looking to break Wilt Chamberlain‘s all-time record for points in an All-Star Game. George needed just one more basket. Instead of making it easy, head coach Greg Popovich subbed in Green for Kobe Bryant and Green played his patented defense.

In his last All-Star game, Bryant scored just 10 points, but finished second on the team with 7 assists. The Lakers legend looked to get others involved, particularly the dynamic Oklahoma City duo of Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant. Westbrook, who was named All-Star Game MVP for the second year in a row, scored a team-high 31 points, grabbed 8 rebounds, and dished out 5 assists. Durant dropped a cool 27 points with 5 boards and seven dimes.

Curry played a game-high 28 minutes. Surely a combination of the fans’ desire and gamesmanship from the Spurs’ Popovich. For the Eastern Conference, head coach Tyronn Lue had his Cleveland Cavaliers’ best interests in mind as he only played LeBron James 20 minutes.

The All-Star Game set scoring records across the board. It was thunderous dunks and rainmaking threes all night for both teams.

West

• Field-goal percentage: 55% (82-149)
• Three-point percentage: 38.8% (31-80)
• Rebounds: 59
• Assists: 51
• Turnovers: 14

East

• Field-goal percentage: 54.7% (75-137)
• Three-point percentage: 33.9% (20-59)
• Rebounds: 57
• Assists: 34
• Turnovers: 24

Good to Know

What’s on Tap

The rest of the season kicks off later this week as the Warriors look to set the all-time record for wins in a season and to defend their title.