New twists, charity and Bryant tributes reset stale showcase
CHICAGO — Players took charges, bodies hit the floor, calls and noncalls were screamed about. The fourth quarter of the NBA AllStar Game was as intense as that of a playoff game.
And in the end, Anthony Davis was a hometown hero by making a free throw.
Kobe Bryant, ever the competitor, would have loved the way this night went.
“That was pretty damn fun,” a sweatsoaked, exhausted LeBron James said at the end.
Davis made a gameending free throw to give Team LeBron a 157155 win over Team Giannis in the revamped NBA All-Star Game on Sunday night, the format overhauled to put in elements for charity and ensure that someone was going to hit a shot to end the game.
That someone was Davis, the Chicago native who missed the first freethrow try and made the second to end the NBA’s midseason showcase.
Kawhi Leonard, the game’s MVP and the first recipient of the trophy now named for Bryant, scored 30 points for Team LeBron. James — his team’s captain — and Chris Paul each scored 23. Davis finished with 20.
“This one’s for him,” Leonard said, speaking of Bryant.
Giannis Antetokounmpo, who captained his team, led his squad with 25 points. Kemba Walker had 23 for Team Giannis, Joel Embiid scored 22 and Rudy Gobert added 21.
“I think it was really interesting,” said Team Giannis coach Nick Nurse of the Toronto Raptors. “It was really fun, each and every quarter, from a coaching standpoint.” The finish was frantic. After James dunked to make it 156153, Embiid made two free throws. With that, it was nextbasketwins time.
Davis then was fouled and got the free throw to win it.
James’ team wore blue jerseys, all with the No. 2 for Gianna Bryant. Antetokounmpo’s team wore red, every player wearing No. 24 on the back for Kobe Bryant. And on their right shoulders was a black circular patch with nine stars, one for each victim of the helicopter crash that took the lives of Bryant, his daughter and their seven friends Jan. 26.
It was the first All-Star Game with a new format: The teams played a minigame in each of the first three quarters, the scores starting at 00 in each period and the winning team in each one earning $100,000 for its Chicagoarea children’s charity.
James’ team won the first quarter 5341; Antetokoumpo’s team won the second 5130.
The third quarter had downtothewire, bigmoney drama with $100,000 on the line. But the teams finished the quarter tied 4141, putting $300,000 — the undecided $100,000 from the third and $200,000 more for the win — at stake.
The cumulative score at that point was Team Giannis 133, Team LeBron 124 going into the untimed fourth quarter — with another twist. The NBA decided, as part of its Bryant tributes, that the winner of the game would be the team that added 24 points, his jersey number, to the leading total score after three quarters.
The target score became 157. The game clock was off. The stage for drama thus was set.