Damian Lillard on Sunday scored 39 points to lead a record scoring performance by the Eastern Conference in a 211-186 rout of the Western Conference in the 73rd NBA All-Star Game.
Boston’s Jaylen Brown added 36 points off the bench and Indiana’s Tyrese Haliburton had 32 to help spark the East past the old All-Star Game one-team record of 196 set by the West in 2016.
“Once we came out in the third and we made a lot of shots, it was like what’s the record,” Lillard said. “We found out and we went after it.”
Photo: Trevor Ruszkowski-USA Today
Milwaukee guard Lillard, who sank a pair of half-court shots, made a game-high 11 three-pointers off 23 attempts and went 14 of 26 overall to earn the game’s Most Valuable Player (MVP) award.
“It’s an honor,” the eight-time NBA All-Star said. “I’ve been here a few times, so to be able to have this kind of accomplishment is special.”
East captain Giannis Antetokounmpo, the 2021 All-Star Game MVP who had 23 points, knew his Bucks teammate Lillard was set for a big night.
Photo: EPA-EFE
“I knew he was going for it,” Antetokounmpo said. “When he has that twitch in his eye, when he’s locked in, you’ve got to pass him the ball and just get out of his way.”
It was a night of spectacular slam dunks, astounding passes and amazing shotmaking by elite players from around the world in a relaxed atmosphere, delighting a sellout crowd in Indianapolis.
“Everybody played hard. We had fun,” Antetokounmpo said. “The ball was moving. We made a lot of threes. We scored a lot of points. I’m happy.”
Minnesota’s Karl-Anthony Towns came off the West bench to score a game-high 50 points, 31 of them in the fourth quarter, while Oklahoma City’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander added 31 in a losing cause.
The 397 combined points shattered the old mark by 23. The East shot 83 of 146 (56.8 percent) from the floor and made a record 42 three-pointers, six over the old mark by Team LeBron in 2019, in 97 attempts (43.3 percent).
Lillard hit a jaw-dropping mid-court shot with 6 minutes, 54 seconds remaining in the third quarter and the East closed the period on a 16-4 run to seize a 160-136 advantage entering the fourth.
Haliburton, who made 10 three-pointers in 14 attempts and shot 11 of 15 overall, sank a three-pointer to lift the East to the milestone 200 points with 87 seconds to play.
A 13-0 East run brought a 70-51 lead early in the second quarter on the way to a 104-89 halftime edge.
The East took a 53-47 lead after the first quarter as Haliburton scored five three-pointers in a 92-second span, putting them ahead 20-14.
Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James, a four-time NBA champion and four-time NBA MVP, was selected to a record 20th All-Star appearance at age 39, but he was hampered by an ankle injury and scored only eight points in 14 minutes, and did not play in the second half.
Reigning NBA MVP Joel Embiid of Philadelphia and New York’s Julius Randle were out for the East with injuries, replaced by Atlanta’s Trae Young and Toronto’s Scottie Barnes.
Shohei Ohtani and Clayton Kershaw on Friday joined their Los Angeles Dodgers teammates in sticking their fists out to show off their glittering World Series rings at a ceremony. “There’s just a lot of excitement, probably more than I can ever recall with the Dodger fan base and our players,” manager Dave Roberts said before Los Angeles rallied to beat the Detroit Tigers 8-5 in 10 innings. “What a way to cap off the first two days of celebrations,” Roberts said afterward. “By far the best opening week I’ve ever experienced. I just couldn’t have scripted it any better.” A choir in the
After fleeing Sudan when civil war erupted, Al-Hilal captain Mohamed Abdelrahman and his teammates have defied the odds to reach the CAF Champions League quarter-finals. They are today to face title-holders Al-Ahly of Egypt in Cairo, with the return match in the Mauritanian capital, Nouakchott, on Tuesday next week. Al-Hilal and biggest domestic rivals Al-Merrikh relocated to Mauritania after a power struggle broke out in April 2023 between the Sudanese army and a paramilitary force. The civil war has claimed tens of thousands of lives and displaced more than 12 million people, according to the UN. The Democratic Republic of the Congo-born Al-Hilal
Shohei Ohtani, Teoscar Hernandez and Tommy Edman on Thursday smashed home runs to give the reigning World Series champions the Los Angeles Dodgers a 5-4 victory over Detroit on the MLB’s opening day in the US. The Dodgers, who won two season-opening games in Tokyo last week, raised their championship banner on a day when 28 clubs launched the season in the US. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts shuffled his batting lineup with all four leadoff hitters finally healthy as Ohtani was followed by Mookie Betts, then Hernandez and Freddie Freeman in the cleanup spot, switching places with Hernandez. “There’s a Teoscar tax to
Matvei Michkov did not score on Monday, but the Philadelphia rookie had a hand in both goals as hosts the Flyers earned a 2-1 victory over the Nashville Predators. Ryan Poehling and Jamie Drysdale got the goals for the Flyers (31-36-9, 71 points), who won their third straight. Michkov and Travis Konecny assisted on both. Ivan Fedotov stopped 28 shots to earn his first win since March 1, ending a personal six-game losing streak. Zachary L’Heureux got the lone goal for Nashville. Michael McCarron and Brady Skjei got the assists for the Predators (27-39-8, 62 points), who have just four goals in their
RSS