3 topics like Celtics Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum shine in the All-Star Game

3 topics like Celtics Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum shine in the All-Star Game

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Team LeBron overtook Team Durant in the NBA All-Star game on Saturday when Giannis Antetokounmpo, Stephen Curry and Jaylen Brown took a big lead over Bradley Beal, Jayson Tatum and Kyrie Irving in the fourth period and ended the game with a 170-150 victory.

Here’s what happened.

The big picture

It is an All-Star game. There is very little general picture. No real defense was played, some highlights were created and no one was hurt. Sunday’s action was not the most exciting All-Star Game, but if everyone remains healthy, the league will likely consider it a huge success.

Game player

Giannis Antetokounmpo: 35 points, 16 to 16, 3 to 3 out of three.

Steph Curry had some viral moments, which makes him the real winner, but it is impossible to choose a different player when Antetokounmpo literally did not miss a shot (even though his 3 points were correct).

Celtics game player

Jaylen Brown: 22 points, 8 out of 12 from the ground, 5 out of 7 out of three.

Brown helped Team LeBron to recover with several shots in the fourth period and converted a four-point play. Tatum’s 21-point performance was good, but a little less flashy, and the All-Star game is all about flash.

Game Highlight

Both Damian Lillard and Stephen Curry left the middle of the court in the first half, and both buried their attempts. Lillard later ended the game with a 3-point half-court.

The best professional basketball players are incredible.

Game highlight for the Celtics

Brown took some ambitious photos, including this twist on James Harden that caught the attention of the TNT booth.

Three takeaways

1. The new format with Elam Ending can be great, but it requires a more competitive score when entering the fourth period. Team Durant (who, of course, did not have Kevin Durant, who lost the game due to an injury) seemed discouraged and disinterested in the fourth period, while Team LeBron continued shooting 3 open points and burying them. The Durant team was also without Joel Embiid, who – along with Ben Simmons of the LeBron team – was dropped before the game due to contact tracking.

2. The All-Star game was very long, with lots of interruptions and fanfare, but the format – with Skills Challenge, 3-Point Contest and Dunk Contest interspersed throughout the night – actually seemed like a reasonable structure. Saturday’s All-Star nights often seem incomplete. All-Star Sunday, when it only presents the game, is a little anticlimactic. Putting it all together brought a lot of content, but having too much in one night actually resulted in a better product.

3. The dunk contest was not great. Anfernee Simons won by flying through the air and almost kissing the hoop, and Obi Toppin had a couple of nice dunks, but this was certainly not a final showdown between Zach LaVine and Aaron Gordon.

The dunk contest usually appears to be electric or bad, with little space between them. Fans probably need to accept that while electric years are a rarity, they are worth watching when they arrive.

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