Jayson Tatum became the MVP of the All-Star Games with a stunning third quarter and broke the game’s record with 55 points. Team LeBron lost for the first time after James himself was injured at halftime.
Team LeBron – Team Giannis 175:184 (BOXSCORE)
James bumped into a block attempt late in the second quarter die Finger am Ring and was benched at half-time for the remainder of the game but looked no greater pain as he emerged during the break as the league’s new top scorer alongside second- and third-placed legends Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Karl Malone. was honored. It was probably just a precautionary measure.
Tatum scored 27 points in the third quarter, also a new All-Star Game record for a single period. The record for the entire game was previously held by Anthony Davis, who played 52 points in 2017.
Tatum hit 22 of his 31 shots from the field and 10/18 from long range, 10 rebounds and 6 assists. With more than 35 minutes he got by far the most playing time of all players. Team Giannis coach Joe Mazulla also coaches him with the Celtics.
Giannis Antetokounmpo announced when the game was drafted that he would give everything he had. Today that meant he completed the first possession of the game with a barely defended dunk, then fouled on purpose and was substituted after 20 seconds. In the third attempt as captain, however, he and his team were successful for the first time against James, who had previously been unbeaten in five All-Star Games as captain.
NBA All-Star Game: Giannis pulls together after long-awaited triumph
So what did Giannis have to say after this long-awaited triumph? “Winner Winner, Chicken Dinner,” said the Greek freak, making Ernie Johnson laugh, who probably didn’t expect this answer after a long question.
Given the many points in the game, there should have been enough points for everyone, but some players took control of the scoring. Alongside Tatum, on Team Giannis was Donovan Mitchell with 40 points on Downtown’s 8/17 and 10 assists.
Damian Lillard participated with 26 points (8/20 3P) including one cast from beyond the center line and the hit to victory. Lauri Markkanen (13, 1/6 3P) and Pascal Siakam (12, 0/1) still managed a double-digit result.
At the other end, the other Celtics All-Star was the top scorer, Jaylen Brown had 35 points, 14 rebounds and 5 assists coming off the bench. He laced up for the first time since his tough clash with Tatum on February 8, debuting a black mask.
NBA All-Star Game: Brown plays with a mask, “Hookah” Doncic misses again
Joel Embiid and Kyrie Irving followed suit with 32 points each in 4/8 triples, while Irving also played 15 assists. Tyrese Haliburton (18, 4/6 3P) warmed up late in the game and joined Anthony Edwards (12) and Julius Randle in double figures coming off the bench for Team LeBron.
The captain marked 13 points and 4 assists. Team LeBron scored almost as well as Team Giannis from the field (both just under 60 percent) but had thanks to candidates like James (1/5), Paul George (0/9), Randle (1/5) and Brown (3/ 12) a three-point rate of just 28.3 percent while the other side sank 43.9 percent from downtown.
Nikola Jokic was the first player ever to have the honor of playing in an All-Star Game on his birthday. In his first hours as a 28-year-old, however, he apparently did not want to overwork himself and held back with 4 points (2/4 FG) and 6 assists.
DeMar DeRozan was introduced pre-draft as “the undisputed champion of the midrange” and seemed a bit irritated by it, but in the game he confirmed his reputation. In the entire game, only twelve shots were attempted inside the line of three but outside the zone, five of which came from him. He just got a different degree.
As is now almost a tradition for him at the All-Star Game, Luka Doncic scored which James first accidentally called “Hookah Doncic” in the draft, not much. However, that didn’t stop him from having tons of fun. At one of the entertainment groups during a break, he was so enthusiastic that he immediately joined.
NBA All-Star Game: Team LeBron and Team Giannis rosters
NBA All-Star Game: Defense is missed, dunks aren’t
The game kicked off after a brief appearance from superstars Post Malone and 21 Savage, which didn’t really resonate with the crowd at a family event like the All-Star Game. James himself provided the first real highlight of the game when he threw the ball past his opponent Donovan Mitchell on the board on the fast break, ran past him to the right and did the alley-oop himself finished with a two-handed dunk.
As you might expect (or fear) there was little defense early in the game, with layups, dunks and the occasional three-pointer playing the main roles on both sides. Without stops, no team could develop a big lead.
To give each quarter a little more prominence, the league last year introduced a donation that was donated on behalf of the winning team in a quarter. After DeRozan missed the last normal shot of the quarter from middle distance, but the score was 46:46 at the end of the first period, so both teams donated $50,000 to the Big Brothers Big Sisters of Utah Foundation and Raise the Future, respectively.
Defense was also a rare sight in the second quarter, after all, Ja Morant provided the next one spectacular finish. After Adebayo deliberately threw the throw-in at Jokic’s butt and then picked it up, Jokic got serious on defense and stole the ball, in the subsequent fast break Irving wanted to reward him and threw the ball on the board, but the pass was too ambitious for Jokic’s jumping power.
The second period also seemed to be heading for a tie, but then Lillard made a +5 from Downtown with just under 30 seconds to go for Team Giannis, who then went into the break with a 99-92.
NBA All-Star Game: Brown and Tatum duel
Nigerian artists Tems, Rema and Burna Boy’s halftime show seemed to be a big hit with the Utah crowd. Then there was the news, which is particularly annoying in an All-Star Game: James is out for the rest of the game.
The second half continued without the two captains, but of course that didn’t stop the remaining players from happily continuing to dunk. Tatum appeared to have made up his mind to become the game’s MVP during the break. He sunk three straight triples and shared the first 28 points of Team Giannis’ second half with Mitchell. On the other side, Irving and Embiid in particular defended themselves.
The much-anticipated clash ensued at the end of the third quarter, when Brown dribbled Tatum, sinking a middle-distance stepback jumper over his teammate. He then indicated with a popular cheer that Tatum was too short. He didn’t want to let that sit and immediately sought revenge, but he lost the ball while dribbling out of bounds.
Brown vs. Tatum II was all winners as both Celtics stars netted a long three over their opponent. In Brown’s third attack, Tatum took the lead and didn’t let Brown lose a shot before the end of the third quarter. The rest of the players just watched for almost a minute.
NBA All-Star Game: Lillard trifft Gamewinner
With a score of 158:141 for Team Giannis after 36 minutes, the target score was set at 182. So Team LeBron didn’t have much leeway to close the 17-point deficit.
Led by Haliburton, they slowly closed in, but Tatum and Mitchell quickly pushed Team Giannis toward the goal. Then, when Mitchell brought his team three points from victory, things went wild.
Mitchell went straight for a three from far away, then Lillard got to try twice from the center line. Then Mitchell again from a very long distance, Tatum dribbled in the corner and went wide.
Then Markkanen missed a completely free three from the corner, meanwhile the other side only needed seven points thanks to Brown. Lillard then fired from a reasonably normal distance and ended the game.
