NBA All-Star Game rewind: 3-point shots, dunks, J Cole and a killer national anthem.
Well, NBA All-Star Weekend seemed to be hit in Charlotte, and the big finale, the All-Star Game, didn’t feature much defense (as expected) but featured plenty of fan-pleasing highlights (as expected).
Ultimately, Team LeBron beat Team Giannis 178-164 with a 40-9 run in the second half. But not before Steph Curry got a reverse two-handed dunk to cap it off for Team Giannis.
The teams took 168 3-point shots.
Kevin Durant was named MVP after scoring 31 points to go with six rebounds. Giannis Antetokounmpo led his team with 38 points, 11 rebounds and five assists.
Late in the third quarter, Damian Lillard and Klay Thompson shot Team LeBron (which was heavily favored) back into the game from 18 points back. Usually there isn’t much defense played until late in the game, but the guys appeared to ratchet up the play during that stretch.
That carried over in the fourth quarter, especially in the final minutes when both teams appeared to be turning up the defensive effort.
Of course, the game wasn’t popular with everyone. This type of basketball never is.
Wade to LeBron for old time’s sake
In the third quarter, Dwyane Wade found his old teammate LeBron James for the type alley-oop play that Miami Heat fans probably remember. And this was James hit Wade with one.
Curry-Giannis alley oop
Did you see the Steph Curry to Giannis Antetokounmpo alley oop in the first half?
Curry came down and slammed the ball hard on the floor, sending it impossibly high. Except Antetokounmpo - a 6-foot-10 forward called the “Greek Freak” because of his amazing athletic ability - simply jumped higher than most humans could ever think of to catch it and slam it down.
Yes, this was one of the best highlight plays we’ve seen in many an All-Star Game.
Look.
J Cole halftime performance
If Maroon 5 didn’t do it for you at the Super Bowl, did you like North Carolina’s own, rapper J Cole performing at All-Star halftime?
Cole performed a series of his hits, wearing an old-school Hornets Starter jacket, and the sound mix was very clean, allowing all of his words to be heard, and the crowd seemed to know every one.
The stripped-down set seemed to play well inside Charlotte’s Spectrum Center. How did it play at home? Well...let’s let one of the best point guards in history kick off the reaction.
Dirk ain’t too old
Dallas Mavericks star Dirk Nowitzki made back-to-back 3-point shots at the end of the first quarter that brought the crowd to its feet.
Nowitzki and Dwyane Wade were made extra All-Stars by NBA Commissioner Adam Silver this season. This is the final season for two of the league’s most popular and oldest stars.
Except for three All-Star Games from 1971-73, which had 14 players, the All-Star Game has mostly had rosters with 10-12 players. In the past 36 games, there had been 12-man rosters. This year there were 13.
And Dirk - who didn’t exactly shoot well during Saturday’s 3-point contest - buried a couple high-arcing shots that got him, and the crowd, pretty excited.
Then in the second quarter, after Wade made his first 3, Nowitzki made another, his third in a row.
Anthony Hamilton’s national anthem
Local singing sensation Anthony Hamilton did a very Anthony Hamilton-style version of the national anthem, and unlike Fergie’s a year ago, this one didn’t bring forth bemused expressions from the players or inspire social media memes-a-many.
And it really sat well with a lot of people, including one of the biggest rap stars of all time.
Of course, Hamilton’s version was a little reminiscent of the famous 1983 Marvin Gaye version, as he inserted a little R&B, and a little jazz into the Star Spangled banner, and that didn’t sit well with everyone.
And just for giggles, here’s Fergie’s
This story was originally published February 17, 2019 at 10:54 PM with the headline "NBA All-Star Game rewind: 3-point shots, dunks, J Cole and a killer national anthem.."
