Damian Lillard on Sunday nailed a game-ending three-pointer from just inside half court as LeBron James improved to 4-0 as an NBA All-Star Game captain with a 170-150 win over Team Durant.
Two-time NBA Most Valuable Player Giannis Antetokounmpo captured the Kobe Bryant Award after going a perfect 16 of 16 from the field for a game-high 35 points in Atlanta, Georgia.
“It’s fun. I was happy,” Antetokounmpo said. “I just love being around great players. It makes it easier to play with them.”
Photo: Dale Zanine-USA Today
Antetokounmpo’s 16-of-16 game easily eclipsed the previous All-Star record of the Philadelphia 76ers’ Hal Greer, who went eight of eight in 1968. Antetokounmpo also made all three of his three-point attempts.
James improved to 4-0 in All-Star games he has served as a team captain. He finished with four points in just 13 minutes of playing time.
“I always try to pick the right team, and I’ve been lucky enough for four years to pick the right team,” James said. “Guys go out and compete, and play to win. I’ve been on the winning side of all four.”
James’ participation in the annual showcase was at one time in doubt. James last month criticized the NBA for holding the contest during the global COVID-19 pandemic, calling it a “slap in the face.”
NBA commissioner Adam Silver responded to the criticism from James and others at a weekend news conference, saying that the players he spoke to this week were in favor of holding the contest.
“It would have been a bigger deal not to have it,” Silver said. “I know that some players have made public comments suggesting they’d rather not be at All-Star. Many have told me directly they’re thrilled to be All-Stars. It should be judged, when people are looking back, as to what this meant to them as opposed to what some of the initial reactions were from the players.”
Antetokounmpo becomes just the second winner of the award named in honor of Bryant, who died in a helicopter crash outside Los Angeles in January last year. Kawhi Leonard was the first recipient at last year’s All-Star Game in Chicago.
“To have the trophy with the name of Kobe Bryant, it’s amazing, and I know he would be happy. Yeah, I know he’d be happy,” Antetokounmpo said. “I wanted to win the one last year really bad and I had a chance to win.”
The 70th All-Star Game had a different feel to it because there were no fans in the arena due to the pandemic, but that did not stop the players from putting on a show at the State Farm Arena, including a healthy dose of dunks, alley-oops, behind the back passes and long-range threes like the one by Lillard, who finished with 32 points.
Stephen Curry, who won the three-point shooting contest earlier in the day, hit six three-pointers in the first half en route to a 28-point night for Team LeBron.
Jaylen Brown tallied 22 points and Chris Paul dished out 16 assists. Both Curry and Lillard finished with eight baskets from beyond the arc.
Bradley Beal scored a team-high 26 points, while Kyrie Irving delivered 24 points and 12 assists for Team Durant.
In a sign that defense took the night off no player from either team grabbed more than nine rebounds.
“When you’ve got Steph, Dame, those guys shooting half-court threes, threes from the timeline, there’s not much you can do. So give credit to them,” Irving said.
Four-time NBA all-star DeMarcus Cousins arrived in Taiwan with his family early yesterday to finish his renewed contract with the Taiwan Beer Leopards in the T1 League. Cousins initially played a four-game contract with the Leopards in January. On March 18, the Taoyuan-based team announced that Cousins had renewed his contract. “Hi what’s up Leopard fans, I’m back. I’m excited to be back and can’t wait to join the team,” Cousins said in a video posted on the Leopard’s Facebook page. “Most of all, can’t wait to see you guys, the fans, next weekend. So make sure you come out and support the Beer
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was