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Tim BontempsESPN
Thanks to a perfect 16-for-16 performance off the field – including banking in multiple jump shots – Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo won his first NBA All-Star Game Most Valuable Player Award, while Team LeBron went on to win a 170-150 sails victory over Team Durant Sunday night in Atlanta.
‘You know, it’s usually closed [on Sundays]”Antetokounmpo said with a smile when asked about the built – in jumpers,” but for me it was open hours. “
In a match that LeBron controlled from start to finish, it was Antetokounmpo (who finished with a match highlight of 35 points), Stephen Curry (28 points and eight three-pointers) and Damian Lillard (32 points and the match sealing 3-pointer) which led the way. The three fought to the end for the MVP trophy, with Antetokounmpo eventually winning it.
At 100%, Antetokounmpo recorded the best field goal percentage in an All-Star match ever with a minimum of 10 attempts. The previous record for most brands without a miss belonged to Hal Greer, who went 8-for-8 in the 1968 All-Star Game.
“It’s nice,” Antetokounmpo said. “It’s fun. I was happy, my teammates had fun, and just to play good players, they’re just easy to play with.”
This All-Star Game, like everything about this season, has inevitably been changed by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Originally it would be in Indianapolis, but was moved to Atlanta. Only a handful of fans were in the stands and there were strict quarantines for all involved.
However, that did not stop the virus from entering the event, as the detection of contact forced Philadelphia 76ers stars Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons both to pull out of the game through the league – and possibly kept out of the Sixers when the second half of the season begins Thursday.
The situation in which Embiid and Simmons were involved was the exact example NBA commissioner Adam Silver cited on Saturday when he discussed why, he believes, most NBA players would eventually get the vaccine. While Silver said the NBA should not give players the vaccine, they will no longer have to quarantine – and therefore be unable to play – if they come in contact with someone who is positive about COVID. – 19.
But when LeBron James was asked on Sunday afternoon to be vaccinated during the availability of the media, he did not want to say whether he would get it.
“This is a conversation my family and I will have. Just keep it for a private thing,” James said. “I saw clearly that Adam had his remarks about the vaccination. But such things, if you decide to do something, it’s a conversation between you and your family and not for everyone. I’ll keep it that way.”
James, who said early last month that the NBA prefers to hold an All-Star Game amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, was a “slap in the face” last month, the other quote he on the day, lived up to.
“I will be there if I am elected,” James said. “But I will be there physically, but not mentally.”
James, who has scored no less than 13 points in any of his previous 16 All-Star appearances, had just 4 points on 2-for-7 shooting in 13 minutes – including the result of two open line-ups. However, his teams are now 4-0 as the league has switched to the current format that the top two voters had to pick their teams in 2018.
Team LeBron donated more than $ 1 million to the Thurgood Marshall College Fund for its victory, while Team Durant donated $ 500,000 to the United Negro College Fund.
Atlanta resident Jaylen Brown started with a three-point lead in the first quarter to finally make Team LeBron win in the first quarter. The second was much less competitive, as a 27-8 run over the final 3:54 second enabled Team LeBron to take an overall lead of 20 points at halftime.
Team LeBron also won the third quarter by a single point and took a 21-point lead in the fourth quarter – meaning that, with the “Elam Ending”, Team LeBron only had to score 24 points before Team Durant scored 45 points.
The only drama left at that point would be whether Antetokounmpo, Curry or – after a late charge, Lillard – would eventually win the All-Star MVP trophy. But while Curry had the chance to end the game with a three-point semifinal and miss out, Lillard on the next ride pulled himself off the halfway line and buried it.
In the end, however, it was the Greek Freak, and his perfect night, who won the day.