(Cleveland) LeBron James had the game-winning shot and his team won 163-160 over Kevin Durant’s group in the 71and NBA All-Star Game on Sunday.
Posted at 11:20 p.m.
The darling of the Cleveland region, James made the decisive game by moving away from the basket, for two points.
He’s improved to 5-0 since the game switched to a format where captains choose from a list of star players.
Stephen Curry stole the show with 16 three-pointers and 50 total points. He came just short of Anthony Davis’ record 52 points, set in 2017.
He missed his last six shots as the crowd held their breath every time, hoping to see him beat Davis’ mark.
The majority of his 16 successes have come from well beyond the three-point line, in a dizzying array of perfect shots.
He scored a single shot for two points.
Curry won the Kobe Bryant Trophy as the game’s most valuable player.
The last quarter ended when a club reached 24 points more than the leading team’s score after three quarters (the score was reduced to zero after each quarter, but still accumulated).
The evening was also an opportunity to pay a fine tribute to the history of the NBA.
A multitude of great names in the history of the circuit were honored at the half.
After a fiery video of highlights from NBA history, we spotlighted the 75 greatest players of all time.
A total of 45 of them went to the midfield to greet the crowd. Among them: Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Julius Erving, Dirk Nowitzki, Charles Barkley, Shaquille O’Neal, Allen Iverson, Oscar Robertson, Dominique Wilkins, Kevin McHale, Dennis Rodman, Patrick Ewing, David Robinson, Bill Walton, Hakeem Olajuwon, Jerry West and Reggie Miller.
JB Smoove, Tiffany Haddish and Usher lathered up the value of each basketball position after Spike Lee kicked off the ceremony.
At the end of the presentations, Earth, Wind & Fire played the hit “Shining Star”.
Barkley was touched by the vibrant ceremony and shared it with elegance and relevance on the airwaves of TBS, before resuming the match.
A native of Akron, James started his career with the Cavaliers and spent a total of 11 seasons with Cleveland. He helped the Cavaliers earn the championship in 2016.
He was greeted as a hero by the packed house at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse.
James finished the game with 24 points.
The 37-year-old James is in his fourth season with the Lakers, who took it all in 2020. He also won two championships with the Heat.
Giannis Antetokounpo scored 30 points for James’ clan, while Joel Embiid had 36 for Durant’s group.
Representative of the Raptors, Fred VanVleet collected six points with the club of James.
Donovan Mitchell, the Jazz’s leading scorer, missed the game with a respiratory infection.
Cleveland hosted the All-Star Game for the third time, after 1981 and 1997.