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Tim BontempsESPN
Thanks to a perfect 16-to-16 performance on the field – including inclination on multiple shots – Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo won his first NBA All-Star Game Most Valuable Player Award, with Team LeBron crossing for 170-150 victory about Team Durant on Sunday night in Atlanta.
“You know, it’s usually closed [on Sundays]”Said Antetokounmpo with a smile, when asked about the deposited jumpers,” but for me, it was open at extended hours. “
In a game that Team LeBron controlled from start to finish, it was Antetokounmpo (who finished with 35 points), Stephen Curry (28 points and eight 3 points) and Damian Lillard (32 points and hit the game to seal 3-pointer) who led the way. The three fought for the MVP trophy to the end, with Antetokounmpo winning.
With 100% in good health, Antetokounmpo recorded the best percentage of field goal in an All-Star game with a minimum of 10 attempts. The previous record for most brands without losing belonged to Hal Greer, who went from 8 to 8 in the 1968 All-Star Game.
“It’s fun,” said Antetokounmpo. “It’s fun. I was happy, my teammates had fun and, being close to great players, they are easy to play.”
This All-Star Game, like everything else this season, has been inescapably altered by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Originally scheduled to be in Indianapolis, he was transferred to Atlanta. Only a handful of fans were in the stands, and strict quarantines were in place for everyone involved.
This, however, did not stop the virus from infiltrating the event, as contact tracking forced the league to take Philadelphia 76ers stars Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons out of the game – and potentially stay away from the Sixers in the second half of the season. tournament the season starts Thursday.
The situation involving Embiid and Simmons was the exact example that NBA commissioner Adam Silver mentioned on Saturday when discussing why, he believes, most NBA players will end up getting the vaccine. Although Silver said the NBA will not force players to get the vaccine, if they get vaccinated, they will no longer have quarantine – and therefore will not be able to play – if they contact someone who tests positive for COVID -19.
But when LeBron James was asked about being vaccinated on Sunday afternoon during his pre-match media availability, he declined to say whether he would receive it.
“This is a conversation that my family and I will have. Practically keep it a private matter,” said James. “Obviously, I saw that Adam had comments about the vaccination. But things like that, when 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 at the beginning of last month that the NBA’s choice to host an All-Star Game in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic was a “slap in the face”, did justice to the other quote he made about the game that day.
“I’ll be there if I’m selected,” said James. “But I will be there physically, but not mentally.”
James, who had not scored less than 13 points in any of his 16 previous All-Star appearances, had just four points in 2-of-7 shots – including whiffing in two open layups – in 13 minutes. Their teams are now 4-0, however, since the league changed in 2018 to the current format of having the first two voters choose their teams.
The LeBron team, due to their victory, donated more than $ 1 million to the Thurgood Marshall College Fund, while Team Durant donated $ 500,000 to the United Negro College Fund.
Atlanta native Jaylen Brown hit a 3-pointer with 1:33 left in the first quarter to give Team LeBron a victory in the first quarter. The second quarter was much less competitive, with a run of 27-8 in the final 3:54 of the quarter, allowing Team LeBron to take an overall advantage of 20 points in the interval.
The LeBron team also won the third quarter by a single point and got a 21 point advantage in the fourth period – meaning that, with “Elam Ending”, the LeBron team simply had to score 24 points before the Durant team scored 45.
The only drama left at that moment would be whether Antetokounmpo, Curry or – after a late charge – Lillard would end up winning the MVP All-Star trophy for the first time. But while Curry had a chance to end the game with a 3-point half-court and make a mistake, on the next downhill, Lillard stepped off the half-court line and buried it.
In the end, however, it was the Greek Freak, and his perfect night, that won the day.