Giannis Antetokounmpo was voted the best MVP of the All-Star game on Sunday, after hitting 16 out of 16 to 35 points, even hitting three attempts in addition to the three-point stripe.
“I’m just having fun,” said the Greek star. “Sometimes, when you’re having fun and not thinking about the outcome, you just let your instincts take over.”
Stephen Curry scored 28 points, while Damian Lillard had 32. At one point, Lillard pulled for a three-point basket on the half-court line. Not to be outdone, Curry dropped one from practically the same place.
“It was really fun,” said Lillard. “Me and Steph shot a lot of trios. We shoot in deep threes. It was three, three, three, three. ”The LeBron team beat the Durant 170-150 team on the night.
Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, this All-Star Game was a one-night event, with two skill competitions held just before the game and the Dunk Contest squeezed in the interval. The players flew on Saturday afternoon and were confined to a nearby hotel, except for their time on the court.
At the Dunk Contest, Anfernee Simons said goodbye to the competition, almost closing his lips with the rim in a grand final that was considered good enough to defeat Obi Toppin by the 2021 crown.
The 21-year-old Portland Trail Blazers shared the spotlight in the All-Star Game playoff with Curry, who needed to take his last chance to defeat Mike Conley in the Three Point Contest, and Domantas Sabonis, who won a great men’s battle over Nikola Vucevic for the crown of the Skill Challenge.
After winning the first round of the three-man competition with 95 points, one more than New York Knicks rookie Toppin, the two had just one more dunk to determine the 2021 champion.
Toppin, who had dived on top of his father, Obadiah, and teammate Julius Randle to eliminate Cassius Stanley in the first round, completed his final dunk first, setting the stage for Simons to do better. He did, jumping high enough that his puckered lips almost touched the edge as he hit the ball in the hoop.
In a new scoring system, Simons was considered the best dunk in the finals by three judges, while the other two opted for Toppin.
Curry joined Jason Kapono, Peja Stojakovic, Jeff Hornacek and Mark Price as two champions in long range. Craig Hodges and Larry Bird won three each.