West proves best, and so too now is Davis
Not this time. It was Davis hoisting the trophy, thanks to his West teammates deferring to their host time and again.
“It shows our guys recognize what the weekend is about,” West coach Steve Kerr said
Durant had a triple-double with 21 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists. Stephen Curry added 21 points for the West — where a subplot emerged as DeMarcus Cousins played only two minutes, prompting some speculation that a trade sending him out of Sacramento might be looming. But Kerr said Cousins wanted only a brief appearance because of injury, and that Kawhi Leonard asked for the second half off as well.
Still, Cousins was traded shortly after the game, where he is becoming a teammate of Davis’ in New Orleans.
Antetokounmpo had 30 points for the East. James scored 23 — including a 3-pointer from the midcourt logo — while his Cleveland teammate Kyrie Irving added 22 points and 14 assists.
“There were a few too many transition baskets allowed,” East coach Brad Stevens deadpanned. “But I think that was strictly coaching.”
Davis became the story that overshadowed The Story coming into this game, that being the Durant-Westbrook whatever.
If any animus remains between Durant and Westbrook, it was hidden. They passed each other the ball in the pregame layup line, and not long after Westbrook checked into the game the former Oklahoma City teammates provided one of the game’s top highlights — a give-and-go, capped by Durant lobbing the ball to set Westbrook up for a dunk. West 192, East 182
“OH MY GOD! WHAT JUST HAPPENED?” Curry shouted on the West bench, which moments later broke into celebration. Players jumped and threw hands skyward, Curry tossing a cupful of ice water onto a smiling Durant amid it all.
“It was a nice give-and-go, man,” Westbrook said.
Added Durant: “It was a great basketball play. He was open so I threw him the lob. He can jump really high so yeah, good play.”