by EDWARD PINTO Section editor
From high flying dunks to deep three pointers, the NBA All-Star game held in New Orleans on February 14-16 was more than action packed.
Kyrie Irving took home MVP honors as he, and of course LeBron James, led the East to a comeback win 163-155 against a strong West team. Both teams set the record for most points scored in an all-star game, but lacked a lot of defense.
The East, being down by almost 20 points at half time, ramped up their game with alley-oops, dunks and shots from downtown thanks to Carmelo Anthony. Anthony also set a record for most three-pointers in a game with eight.
As soon as the game started, fans were already jumping out of their seats for a fast break dunk from James or Blake Griffin. Not only did they get it in the first half, but throughout the whole game they were jamming it through the net.
The match up that most people wanted to see was the two best players in the game today – Kevin Durant and James. Unfortunately, they did not go up against each other head-to-head much, but did perform great individually.
Other players on the West, like Los Angeles Clipper teammates Blake Griffin and Chris Paul, put up outstanding numbers with Griffin scoring a game high 38 points and Paul with a team high 13 assists.
“The All-Star game was so much fun. Stephen Curry is my favorite player and I’m so glad he made the starting five for the West. He didn’t do so hot in the game, but everyone else did amazing so I’m still pretty happy,” said sophomore Josh Lee.
Not only was there the main event on Sunday night, but on Saturday night was the dunk contest, skills challenge, three point contest, and the shooting stars.
The dunk contest, which was the primary activity on Saturday night, introduced a new format that fans described as strange and different from past events. Nevertheless, John Wall of the Washington Wizards, took home dunker of the night with an exceptional reverse dunk.
“My favorite part had to be the dunk contest. I look forward to that every time all star weekend comes around and it didn’t disappoint at all. The new format was okay, nothing special I just liked seeing the players creative dunks,” said sophomore Jarrett Bacon.
This time, the All-Star game was missing a few superstars, like Kobe Bryant and Derrick Rose, due to injuries. What was supposed to be Bryant’s last All-Star game, if he had been healthy all season, turned out to be rehab, but we will most likely see him again next year.
As for Rose, his future is unpredictable with him being injured these past three seasons. One thing for sure is that all athletes are fighters and hopefully they will be back on the court soon.
What did you guys think of the NBA All-Star game? Did you tune in the whole weekend or just for the extraordinary game on Sunday night?