The Dominican Karl Anthony Towns He was the top scorer of the All-Star this Sunday with 50 points, but his team, the one from the West, was completely surpassed by the one from the Is (211-186) on a night that marked the new scoring record in the history of the all-star game.
Towns He scored 50 points, 31 of them in the fourth quarter, in 27 minutes off the West bench, but his team never had a chance of victory, overwhelmed by a rain of 42 triples from the East.
Damian Lillard was done with MVP after dominating with 39 points and eleven triples, two of them directly from the center of the field to remind the public that he is the king of the three-point shot in Indianapolis. The star of the Milwaukee Bucks He had revalidated his crown on Saturday in the three-point contest by beating, among others, Towns himself.
At eleven triples Lillard was joined by Tyrese Haliburton’s 10 (32 points), the idol of the Indiana Pacers fans. Jaylen Brown also excelled with 36 points, while Jayson Tatum, after last year’s record 55 points, settled for twenty points without breaking a sweat.
It is All-Star, qwhich returned to Indianapolis for the first time since 1985, marked the return of the traditional East versus West format, a decision by the NBA to try to recover a competitive level on the track after the much criticism received in recent years of the Team LeBron against him Team Giannis.
There were many points and many great individual plays, but there is no doubt that the defenses and defensive attention are still very far from the game of the stars. The public did not hesitate to make it known in the most chaotic moments, when lost balls were chained, with a few whistles.
And the commissioner himself NBA, Adam Silver, He didn’t seem particularly pleased when he presented Giannis with the champions’ trophy.
It was the twentieth All-Star of LeBron James’ career, who played only in the first half and scored eight points, delighting the crowd with his powerful dunks.
They returned to All-Star Steph Curry (16 points) and Kevin Durant (18 points), after missing 2022 due to injury.
The East was made up of Giannis, Damian Lillard, Haliburton, Jayson Tatum, Bam Adebayo, Paolo Banchero, Scottie Barnes, Tyrese Maxey, Donovan Mitchell, Julius Randle, Jalen Brunson and Trae Young.
The West was led by LeBronaccompanied by Devin Booker, Steph Curry, Anthony Davis, Luka Doncic, Kevin Durant, Anthoy Edwards, Paul George, Shia Gilgeous Alexander, Nikola Jokic, Kawhi Leonard y Karl Anthony Towns.
Was Haliburton to delight fans with a simply stellar start. He hit his first five shots, all three-pointers, and scored 15 of the first twenty points for an East that was always ahead in the game.
The triple was the dominant element of the game. Haliburton He connected six of his first seven attempts and, another number 0, Dame Lillard, He participated in the festival with another six shots from the arc for 22 points at the halfway point of the game.
LeBron He showed off some powerful trademark dunks, although he managed minutes as he continued to deal with ankle discomfort.
In it West, Curry y Durant, both with twelve points, and Karl Anthony Townswith ten, illuminated from the triple, although their team was already fifteen points behind at halftime, with 104 points received (104-89).
The third period, in which the competitive level was very low, with defenses completely absent, left an anecdote between Giannis and the public. When the Greek went to the free line, the fans began to count the seconds in a joking tone, a nod to the long time the doble MVP It is taken before throwing.
Towns He was practically the only one to step on the accelerator in the last quarter, in which he scored 31 points and finished with 50 in total, five points away from the scoring record of Tatum. EFE
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