LeBron, Durant lead All-Star win over Team Curry.
James, Durant double-team Steph late to secure win
LOS ANGELES >> As he sat on the bench, Stephen Curry munched on popcorn and appeared intent on watching an exciting show.
It took awhile, including when Curry opened the second half of the NBA All-Star game chewing on a buttery snack. But eventually, the All-Star teams that Curry and LeBron James assembled offered an entertaining finishing after laboring through a boring start. It was not exactly how Curry wanted it to end, though, as Team James secured a 148-145 victory over Team Stephen on Sunday.
Curry had the chance to play the hero on the final possession. But he met a swarm of double teams from Kevin Durant and James before finding teammate DeMar DeRozan. His shot fell short as time expired.
“They double-teamed me hard and pushed me to the sidelined,” Curry said. “Two tall giants out there not letting me shoot. I tried to make a play and it didn’t work out.”
Moments earlier, DeRozan made a pair of foul shots for a 145-144 lead with 40.2 seconds remaining. After James made a layup, DeRozan threw a pass to Giannis Antetokounmpo that ended in a turnover. Russell Westbrook then made a layup for a 148-145 lead with 10.7 seconds remaining.
It seems inevitable that Durant will talk trash to Curry about the play soon.
“For sure; that was great defense by myself,” Durant said. “I’m patting myself on the back.”
While James collected his third All-Star MVP with 29 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists, Curry had only 11 points on 4-of-14 shooting. After missing his first seven shots, Curry’s first basket came on a made 3-pointer midway through the third quarter. And in five AllStar games, Curry has gone only a combined 32-of-78 from the field (41 percent).
“It’s kind of a different vibe. Your body and your mind is telling you like it’s a normal game, but when you get out of there, we know it’s an All-Star game,” Curry said. “So it’s not a 10-out-of-10 on the intensity scale, but it’s just a different kind
of pace. You obviously take some shots. Probably a little more aggressive along the way throughout the course of the game than you probably would in a normal game. But you have the same confidence, really. It’s a makeor-miss situation, so I don’t really look too much into it.
That frenetic finish gave the NBA exactly what it hoped for after tweaking the All-Star format this year. Amid public outcry over last year’s game that featured a combined 374 points and roughly a combined zero effort on defense, the NBA no longer featured All-Star teams based on conference affiliation.
Instead, Curry and James selected their own teammates in hopes to prove superiority. James revealed his draft order included Cleveland forward Kevin Love, New Orleans forward Anthony Davis, Boston guard Kyrie Irving and New Orleans center DeMarcus Cousins, who was eventually replaced by Oklahoma City forward Paul George because of an injury. Curry would not reveal his draft order, but reemphasized that he valued shooters.
Every player on the winning team also secured an extra $100,000 and the league donated $500,000 to the charities determined by James (After School AllStars) and Curry (Brotherhood Crusade).
“It did give some incentive, but also surrounding
and circulating kind of the opinions of what the AllStar game has turned into, I think we all took it kind of personal,” Irving said. “Individually, we wanted to come out and be competitive.”
So when both teams met for practice on Saturday, one common message emerged.
“We wanted to kind of change the narrative of the All-Star game being a joke,” Durant said. “Today we wanted to make it a real basketball game.”
Staples Center attracted several NBA legends, including Magic Johnson, Jerry West, Bill Russell, Shaquille O’Neal and Bill Walton. Plenty of celebrities patrolled the sidelines, including Jack Nicholson, Snoop Dogg, Dave Chappelle and Kevin Hart.
A handful of stars, including Warriors guard Klay Thompson, played in front of a hometown crowd. Even with all those elements, the game initially lacked energy and buzz.
A drawn out lineup introduction ensued with Fergie performing a dramatic rendition of the national anthem that soon became panned. So much that Warriors forward Draymond Green was captured opening his mouth and laughing, a video that Curry liked on social media. Then, both Team Steph and Team LeBron went through the motions in the first quarter like any other All-Star game.
That changed pretty soon, though, in a game that featured 11 lead changes and five ties.
“People tend to focus more in the fourth quarter, anyway,” Durant said.
“The first three quarters, they don’t mind getting up, getting a hot dog and coming back and checking the score. But in the fourth, everybody was in their seat winning. Usually that’s winning time.”
Team LeBron spent most of the fourth quarter overcoming a 13-point deficit. With James stacked his roster with scoring and size, James (29 points), Durant (19 points) and George (16 points) dominated all over the court. James tied the game at 144 with 90 seconds left after making a 27-foot step-back 3-pointer. That captured a 21-7 run that Team LeBron used to secure the win.
“It definitely worked out for everybody,” James said. “It worked out not only for the players, not only for the league, but for our fans and for everybody. It was a great weekend, and we capped it off the right way.”