The team of Giannis Antetokounmpo won this sunday no All-Star from N.B.A to the team led by LeBron James (175-184) thanks to Jayson Tatum spectacular that he was named MVP and that with 55 points he broke the goal mark in an all-star game.
The previous brand had Anthony Davis with 52 points in 2017, but Tatum set a new record thanks to a fantastic 10-for-18 3-pointer and a brutal third quarter in which he scored 27 (all-star scoring record in a quarter).
Tatum, upon receiving the Kobe Bryant award for the All-Star MVP, said that it meant “a lot” to him to have reached the points record but maintained that all marks “are to be surpassed” and assured that in a few years someone will take that one away honor
A match without their captains
The All-Star from Salt Lake City left LeBron’s first loss after the All-Star format change in 2018 (5-1 now for the figure of the Lakers, who in the six years he has been captain), but this time, dragging discomfort in the foot, only plays in the first half.
For his part, Antetokounmpo, who had been a doubt until the last minute due to a wrist injury, came out in the starting fifth of his team but did not last long on the court as he scored a basket and 20 seconds later he went to the bench ( Chris Paul did something similar in the 2022 All-Star).
The main novelty of this All-Star was that the captains chose their players in shifts just before the start of the game (in the last years this process was done days before the match).
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the tatum show
After a jump between two of the ‘shorts’ Morant and Irving, the first quarter, after the early withdrawal of Antetokounmpo, began with the local hero, Markkanen, who added 7 points in just under four minutes.
LeBron and Tatum got together for a fabulous drive-against-the-backboard dunk contest while Doncic, wearing a microphone and headset during the game, joked on the TNT broadcast that he forgot he had to play while talking to the commentators.
With the usual absence of defense that characterizes the All-Star, the first quarter ended with a tie (46-46) with Tatum leading Team Giannis with 13 points and Irving giving the reply to Team LeBron with 11 points.
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show everywhere
Many NBA fans are looking forward to a dunk contest involving Morant, and the Grizzlies’ explosive point guard gave them a taste of what he could offer in the second quarter with a fantastic 360-degree dunk.
The highlight of the second period was Mitchell, who in front of his old crowd in Utah scored 14 points for Team Giannis to take that quarter (46-53, 92-99 in the first half).
Tatum made 7 3-pointers, Mitchell added 4, and Lillard, the winner of Saturday’s 3-point contest, hit one from midcourt for a total of 4. With such an arsenal, Giannis’ team comfortably scored in the third period (49-59) and they stepped on the accelerator towards the final victory (after the accumulated 141-158, the first to reach 182 would sign the victory).
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undisputed triumph
The third quarter left the anecdote of seeing Tatum measure up in a juicy and spicy face-to-face with Brown, his inseparable partner from Boston. With too much distance on the scoreboard, it was only a matter of time before Team Giannis sentenced the All-Star and that final blow came with a 3-pointer by Lillard.
Finally, Pau Gasol received the WNBA Kobe and Gigi Bryant Honorary Award at an All-Star timeout for their support and contributions to the development of women’s basketball.
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