Griner makes emotional, dominant return to record-setting WNBA All-Star Game

LAS VEGAS — Brittney Griner made an emphatic and emotional return to the WNBA’s midseason showcase event.

She scored 18 points, including her team’s first six, and put down two dunks in the league’s AllStar Game on Saturday night.

The sellout crowd roared when Griner was introduced and, clearly moved by the ovation, she tapped her chest over her heart with her right hand.

There was no doubt that a year after being forced to miss this event while detained in Russia, Griner was the star of the show.

“To have that ovation and all those little memories that I can cherish now, it means the world,” Griner said. “So it was no question I was going to come and play. They have never wavered in their support.”

Griner led Team Stewart, captained by the New York Liberty’s Breanna Stewart, to a 143-127 victory over Team Wilson, led by the Las Vegas Aces’ A’ja Wilson.

The 143 points and 270 combined points are AllStar Game records.

Team Stewart’s Jewell Loyd of the Seattle Storm broke the All-Star Game scoring record with 31 points, setting the mark on a pass from Griner.

Maya Moore and Kelsey Plum shared the previous record of 30 points. Loyd earned Most Valuable Player honors for the game.

“I played hard because of my parents; I didn’t get them a gift for their anniversary,” Loyd said.

Plum actually tied her own record with 30 points, one of four Aces competing for Team Wilson, who received loud ovations from the home crowd in pregame introductions.

Plum, who also had five assists, said sponsors pledged to donate $1,000 to a Las Vegas charity for each basket and assist.

Griner, at this time last year, was being held in Russia on drug charges, sparking international outrage that she was being wrongfully detained. The WNBA named her an honorary starter, with every player wearing her No. 42 jersey in the second half of last year’s game.

This year, Griner was in the starting lineup — the only one wearing that jersey number — overshadowing almost everything that happened on the court.