How to watch SGA, Thunder at NBA All-Star Weekend
SALT LAKE CITY — A Thunder delegation of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Josh Giddey and Jalen Williams landed in Salt Lake City on Thursday for NBA AllStar Weekend 2023.
The league’s All-Stars are gathering in the valley of the Wasatch Mountains on the 30th anniversary of the last time Salt Lake City hosted the event. Jazz teammates John Stockton and Karl Malone were co-MVPs of that 1993 AllStar game.
From Giddey and Santa Clara Williams in the Rising Stars tournament to Gilgeous-Alexander in the big game, here’s everything Thunder fans should know about All-Star weekend:
Thunder’s Josh Giddey, Jalen Williams in Rising Stars challenge
WHEN: 8 p.m. Friday at Vivint Arena in Salt Lake City (TNT)
The NBA’s top rookies, sophomores and G League players will compete in a four-team, three-game tournament.
One team will be entirely composed of G Leaguers, featuring guard Scoot Henderson, the projected No. 2 pick in the 2023 NBA Draft.
Former NBA players Pau Gasol, Deron Williams and Joakim Noah drafted the other three teams of seven from a pool of 21 first-and second-year players.
Noah drafted both Williams and Giddey, who played in the event last season.
They’ll be joined on Team Joakim by Evan Mobley (Cavaliers), Jeremy Sochan (Spurs), Quentin Grimes (Knicks), Jabari Smith Jr. (Rockets) and Jalen Duren (Pistons).
There will be a “target score” in each game (more on that below). The winners will meet in the finals. There won’t be a consolation game.
Giddey and Santa Clara Williams are the 12th and 13th Thunder players to participate in Rising stars: Kevin Durant (2009), Jeff Green (2009), Russell Westbrook (2009-10), James Harden (2010-11), Serge Ibaka (2011), Steven Adams (2014-15), Domantas Sabonis (2017), Alex Abrines (2017), Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (2020), Luguentz Dort
(2021) and Theo Maledon (2021).
Thunder’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander to make All-Star debut
WHEN: 6:30 p.m. Sunday at Vivint Arena in Salt Lake City (TNT) Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has taken the leap from star to superstar this season, which made him a lock for the AllStar game.
It’s the first All-Star appearance for the 24-year-old, fifth-year guard.
Gilgeous-Alexander is fifth in the NBA in scoring at 30.8 points per game, and he’s doing it on 51% field goal, 34% 3-point and 91% free-throw splits.
On the defensive end, SGA ranks fifth in deflections per game, eighth in steals per game and 24th in blocks per game.
Gilgeous-Alexander is the fifth AllStar in Thunder history, joining Russell Westbrook, Kevin Durant, Paul George and Chris Paul.
Which All-Star team is Shai Gilgeous-Alexander on?
That won’t be known until 30 minutes before tip-off, when All-Star captains LeBron James and Giannis Antetokounmpo draft their teams.
They’ll first pick from a pool of starters, voted in by fans, players and media, before selecting the reserves, voted in by the league’s coaches.
James and Antetokounmpo don’t have to pick players from their own conference. It’s Team LeBron vs. Team Giannis.
The playground-style draft is a fist. It’ll be interesting to see how high SGA is selected among the reserves.
What is the format for the All-Star game?
For the fourth straight year, the game will be decided by an Elam Ending target score.
Here’s how it works. The first three quarters, a standard 12 minutes, all start at 0-0. But at the beginning of the fourth quarter, the clock is turned off and a target score is set.
To find the target score, 24 points (in honor of Kobe Bryant) will be added to the leading team’s cumulative total through the first three quarters.
For example, if the cumulative score is 125-120 through three quarters, the target score in the untimed fourth quarter will be 149, with the leading team starting with a five-point advantage.
With the Elam Ending, games can only end on a made basket or free throw.