Stephen Curry and Jayson Tatum on Sunday combined for 27 points as Shaquille O’Neal’s “Team Shaq” cruised to victory in the new-look NBA All-Star game in San Francisco.
Curry, playing on his home court at Golden State’s Chase Center, reeled off a string of trademark three-pointers to help his star-studded lineup coast to a 41-25 victory over Charles Barkley’s “Team Chuck.”
Boston Celtics star Tatum finished with 15 points after delivering a dominant performance in a starting lineup that also included Kevin Durant, Damian Lillard and James Harden.
Photo: Cary Edmondson-Imagn Images
Team Shaq’s preparations for the game had been dealt a blow shortly before tip-off when Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James withdrew from the lineup, citing a nagging foot and ankle injury, but even without the 40-year-old, the veteran lineup was always in control against opponents spearheaded by Nikola Jokic, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Donovan Mitchell.
Curry was named Most Valuable Player of the All-Star Game, the second time he has achieved the accolade after winning the honor in 2022.
“It’s a celebration of a lot of great things — to be able to play with these guys for as long as we have,” Curry said after being handed his award.
“It’s our responsibility to come out and put on a show, and I thank them for helping me do that,” Curry added, gesturing to his teammates.
The NBA opted to shake up the format for this year’s All-Star game after mounting criticism of the annual celebration as being a meaningless exhibition game lacking in competitive edge.
The old Eastern Conference v Western Conference format was scrapped in favor of a four-team mini tournament, with each team managed by basketball greats O’Neal, Barkley, Kenny Smith and Candace Parker. Each game was played on a first-to-40 basis rather than in the conventional four-quarter format, but this year’s new format failed to impress everyone.
Curry’s Golden State teammate Draymond Green — working as a television analyst — lambasted the competition during Sunday’s broadcast.
“You work all year to be an All-Star and you get to play up to 40 and then you’re done. C’mon, what are we doing? This is ridiculous,” Green said. “This sucks. It ain’t basketball.”
However, Milwaukee star Lillard voiced approval for the format after helping O’Neal’s team complete victory in the final.
“I think they were just looking for a more competitive game and trying to find ways to create that,” Lillard said. “I thought tonight was a little bit more competitive than it had been the last few years. I think that was the No. 1 thing — provide a bit of entertainment and a little bit more competitiveness on the floor, and it felt like we did that tonight.”
‘DEVASTATED’: Argentina’s win was a reversal of their 28-24 defeat last week, with Australian forward Fraser McReight adding that ‘we did the same thing last week’ Argentina flyhalf Santiago Carreras punished an undisciplined Australia with 23 points off the tee as the Pumas held on grimly for a 28-26 win in Sydney yesterday to breathe new life into their Rugby Championship campaign. A try-fest beckoned in afternoon sunshine at Sydney Football Stadium, but Argentina needed only one through captain Julian Montoya, with Carreras doing the damage with seven penalties and a conversion in front of a sell-out crowd. A week after letting a 14-point lead slip in a 28-24 defeat to Australia in Townsville, Argentina saw most of a 21-point advantage erased in the final quarter as the
Captain Vijay Kumar led the way yesterday as the Hsinchu Titans claimed the Taiwan Premier League title at the Yingfeng Cricket Ground in Taipei’s Songshan District (松山), beating PCCT by 27 runs. The weather was a topic again, but not the rain that played a role in previous matches in the often-delayed tournament. Kumar, who made 80 not out from 63 deliveries, and teammate Vishwajit Kumar (58 from 43) rescued the Titans from a precarious state at the end of the power play in the T20 match. The visitors were put in to bat and struggled to 26-3 as PCCT
China’s state-run People’s Daily newspaper on Monday published an essay about Chinese basketball it said was written by LeBron James, but a representative for the NBA star said on Thursday that the article was based on a series of interviews. The paper, better known as the mouthpiece of the Chinese Communist Party, had said James authored the essay, “Basketball is a Bridge that Connects Us,” a tribute to Chinese players and fans of the sport written in the first person. “LeBron James Pens an Article in the People’s Daily,” read a post published on the newspaper’s official WeChat account. On Thursday, a representative
San Francisco Giants pitcher Teng Kai-wei impressed against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Monday despite an 8-1 loss in the opener of the team’s nine-game road trip. Teng, the only Taiwanese pitcher active in MLB, struck out five while allowing two hits and one walk over four innings at Chase Field to finish with a no decision, as the teams were tied 1-1 when he finished his outing. He surrendered the lone run of his outing in the bottom of the first, which began with a walk, a hit-by-pitch and two strikeouts. Diamondbacks leadoff hitter Geraldo Perdomo advanced to third on
RSS