Giannis Antetokounmpo shone more on Sunday night than any other star.
He arrived with the gift and that touch in his photographs that he seemed impossible to miss, in the paint, outside, and behind the threefold arch.
He finished perfectly on 16 shots to the rim, including three 3-pointers, for 35 points on his team, Team LeBron’s 170-150 win over Team Durant and earning the MVP nomination.
And if you add to that, the greatest shooter in NBA history, Stephen Curry, helped out with seven threes, including six in the first half, under his 28 total points.
And Damian Lillard teamed up with 32, including 11 in the last and final stint, the Team LeBron team lived up to expectations since LeBron James and Kevin Durant chose their players.
Winners don’t even need their captain more than two quarters of an hour. James only played 13 minutes in the first two periods, scoring four runs and as many assists.
For the rest of the game, he just sat down to watch his team, which is arguably the NBA ideal at the height of the season …
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The Bucks power forward’s 35 points earned him the individual award in the 70th NBA All-Star Game.
LeBron James’s won the first three quarters, including the second, which ended with a streak of 22-2 as bursts with the best stars. And they never returned, although the third was complicated.
They hit 146-125 in the last period, that is, with only the need to score 24 points to hit 170 and win, in the exotic equation the league uses in its most recent All-Star game format.
Team LeBron dominated everything, even assists, with Chris Paul’s 16, who are now the new NBA brand in these types of games, after beating Magic Johnson.
For Team Durant, Zion Williamson, of the New Orleans Pelicans, had to start the game to replace Joel Embiid, who, like his partner Ben Simmons, was separated from the game by Covid protocols because they had been in contact with a hairdresser in recent days. who tested positive for Covid.
Prior to the All-Star Game this Sunday, Domantas Sabonis won the Skills Challenge and Stephen Curry, of the Golden State Warriors, won the Three-Point Competition
So in a tighter fashion than ever on Sunday, the NBA celebrated its traditional All-Star Game and next Wednesday it will resume the regular season with two games, which will be 72 games this time.