The revitalised NBA All-Star format has proven a raging success as a superstar exploded against a “pissed off” rival on Monday morning AEDT.
Three teams — two from the United States and one ‘world’ outfit — competed in a round-robin tournament comprising four 12-minute games in the revamped All-Star showpiece.
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Kawhi Leonard, playing in his native Los Angeles, was the night’s standout performer — going against a “pissed off” Victor Wembanyama — but it was Team Stars who took home the championship in the fourth and final game.
Stars, led by Tyrese Maxey, Devin Booker and Anthony Edwards — who claimed MVP honours — cruised to the title in a 47-21 win over Stripes, which boasted LeBron James, Kevin Durant and Jalen Brunson.
Earlier, Leonard scored 31 points in under 12 minutes on a scintillating 11-13 shooting and 6-7 from three-point range as Team Stripes beat Team World 48-45 in their second game, with the evening also featuring buzzer-beaters.
The Clippers star went toe-to-toe with Spurs phenom Wembanyama, who dropped 19 points on 6-8 shooting in his best efforts to match his counterpart.
‘Wemby’ couldn’t hit a game-tying three-point attempt and “did not look happy” walking off the court as World finished 0-2.
And while the championship game was unfortunately uncompetitive in comparison to the previous three clashes, several NBA pundits considered the rejigged festivities — after numerous tries to get it right — a win.
“(The) final game didn’t carry it through, but this format was a win this year,” The Athletic’s Zach Harper said after the round-robin’s completion.
“We got a lot of competitive play for most of the night before one team went cold … It’ll be interesting to see if it carries over to future All-Star Games. That’s the key to it all.
“It has to begin a trend, rather than be a blip.”
Stripes’ De’Aaron Fox hit a game-winning three-pointer on the buzzer in Game 2 to beat the Stars, after a back-and-forth closing sequence that saw Edwards hit a go-ahead three just seconds earlier.
Earlier in Game 1, Toronto’s Scottie Barnes hit the game-winner from distance for the Stars, in what was the first of multiple devastating endings for Team World.
Edwards and Maxey sparked the Stars over the Stripes in Monday’s decider.
Maxey scored nine points while Edwards and Chet Holmgren added eight each as young Stars talent overwhelmed the veteran-laden Stripes in the championship game at Intuit Dome, home of the Los Angeles Clippers.
“We chose to compete today, and we came out on top,” said Edwards.
The Stars began the final with a 12-1 run, powered by seven points from Maxey, as the Stripes missed their first 10 shots.
The Stars later added a 15-0 run for a 33-9 advantage, and the Stripes could not muster a rally.
Donovan Mitchell had six points and NBA all-time scoring leader LeBron James, an All-Star for a record 22nd time, added five for the Stripes in the final.
Instead of the usual two-team event, NBA stars played a tournament of four 12-minute games between two US sides and a World group of global talent.
Concerns about lacklustre effort in past All-Star contests were eased in the new format, which produced hustle, defensive effort plus competitive spark and a high-energy hunger to win.
“I know a lot of people have been concerned about the All-Star Game, not seeing as much effort. Today we saw it,” said former US President Barack Obama, who was seated at courtside.
“Whenever you get an international team against an American team, they want to compete — and you’ve got some young guys I think want to prove something out here.”
World needed to beat Stripes in the round-robin finale to advance, but Kawhi Leonard scored 31 points, including the deciding three-pointer with 3.5 seconds remaining, for a 48-45 Stripes triumph.
“I made my first one, kept on from there and they just kept falling,” said Leonard, who hit 6-of-7 three-point shots.
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In the round-robin opener, Edwards scored 13 points and Barnes sank the winning three-pointer in overtime as the USA Stars beat the World 37-35.
Wembanyama had 14 points, six rebounds and three blocks in an intense contest.
“I ain’t going to lie, Wemby set the tone,” Edwards said. “He came out hard and we had to follow that. We had to pick it up and we did that.”
A tying Edwards three-pointer forced overtime at 32-32. With the first team to score five points winning, Edwards hit a basket, Wembanyama answered with a three-pointer and Barnes made the game-winner.
“Once it got a little tight, the competition picked up, guys wanted to win,” World’s Norman Powell said. “We were going to compete every single possession.”
Game two saw more drama when De’Aaron Fox sank a three-pointer at the buzzer to give USA Stripes a 42-40 triumph over USA Stars.
An Edwards three-pointer gave the Stars a 40-39 edge until Fox answered from the left wing.
“You live for these moments,” James said. “That’s a big time play for us older heads… We know how to keep our heads and execute.”
Jaylen Brown scored 11 points and James added eight to lead the Stripes while Edwards and Cade Cunningham led the Stars with 11 points each.
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