NBA All Star Game 2019 RECAP: Team LeBron BEATS Team Giannis, MVP award
NBA ALL STAR GAME 2019 RECAP - LeBron James led his team to a thrilling comeback victory over Team Giannis.
NBA: Lebron James talks about his All-Star team
NBA ALL STAR GAME 2019 RECAP
- Team LeBron beat Team Giannis 178-164 in Charlotte
- Giannis Antetokounmpo had the most points with 38 points, Kevin Durant top scored for Team LeBron with 31
- Kevin Durant was named MVP
- The half-time show was headlined by J Cole, while Meek Mill performed in the pre-game show.
- Team LeBron: LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, Kawhi Leonard, James Harden, LaMarcus Aldridge, Bradley Beal, Anthony Davis, Damian Lillard, Ben Simmons, Klay Thompson, Karl-Anthony Towns, Dwyane Wade
- Team Giannis: Giannis Antetokounmpo, Steph Curry, Joel Embiid, Paul George, Kemba Walker, Blake Griffin, Nikola Jokic, Kyle Lowry, Khris Middleton, Dirk Nowitzki, D'Angelo Russell, Nikola Vucevic, Russell Westbrook
HOLD UP! ������#NBAAllStar pic.twitter.com/PymFxUvOzG
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) February 18, 2019
NBA All Star Game 2019 RECAP - Kevin Durant wins MVP
Final score - Team LeBron 178-164 Team Giannis
Unbelievable comeback from Team LeBron in the second half. Klay Thompson, Kevin Durant and Damian Lillard going on a roll from three.
Team Giannis ran out of steam in the end.
1 min James Harden hitting a huge step-back three late on
4 mins Can see the players getting more serious now with bragging rights on the line. Team LeBron up by 10.
This is what the NBA All Star Game should be like.
5 mins Team LeBron on a 13-0 run with Durant heating up!
9 mins BRAGGING RIGHTS TO STEPH CURRY! Curry throws up a three and gets fouled by Warriors team-mate Klay Thompson AND IT DROPS
10 mins Back and forth between the two teams so far
Expect a bit more competitive spirit from both teams in this quarter now with the game so close
☝️ ✌️ ������ 4️⃣
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) February 18, 2019
Steph hits the 4-point play over Klay ������#NBAAllStar pic.twitter.com/TvGodQs6iT
Third quarter - Team LeBron 132-131 Team Giannis
Now we have a game going into the final quarter. Team LeBron up by one.
Final seconds Lillard puts up a prayer at the buzzer and almost connects.
3 mins AND LILLARD TIES IT UP WITH A DEEP THREE
AND HE DOES IT AGAIN!
4 mins And just like that Team LeBron are back within two!
7 mins Paul George hitting James Harden with the Harden step-back three!
9 mins Few more fouls in this quarter to start. Could they be starting to play some defence? Surely not
10 mins THERE IT IS! D-Wade to LeBron James with the alley-oop
We're back underway in the third quarter with Team LeBron needing to pull off a big comeback.
NBA All Star Half-time box score leaders
Team Giannis
Giannis Antetokounmpo 20 points
Paul George 14 points
Khris Middleton 17 points
Team LeBron
Kevin Durant 13 points
Klay Thompson 11 points
Kawhi Leonard 10 points
LeBron James 10 points
Second quarter - Team LeBron 82-95 Team Giannis
Kemba Walker holds the ball to run down the clock for the buzzer beater but he couldn't connect.
Team Giannis still in control but Team LeBron within striking distance. Now time for the half-time show with J Cole.
2 mins That's twice now Russell Westbrook has passed up an easy dunk.
But he's loving setting up a one-on-one situation.
4 mins KD with the little disrespect to Giannis Antetokounmpo with the Warriors star refusing to go up and defend him as he attempts and misses a three.
Team Giannis still holding a commanding lead. Durant the only player on Team LeBron in double digits so far.
6 mins Anything KAT can do, Giannis Antetokounmpo can do better!
Steph Curry with the high bounce pass and Giannis takes flight! That is All Star!
7 mins OH MY. Karl-Anthony Towns not messing around with a throwback hammer dunk! Not even Giannis wanted to get in the way of that
10 mins Dirk again with a three and he takes a seat. Go get some ice big man!
DIRK AGAIN! ������#NBAAllStar pic.twitter.com/AA21r2bwpU
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) February 18, 2019
First quarter - Team LeBron 37-53 Team Giannis
Team LeBron struggling to get going with Team Giannis having all the fun.
Giannis Antetokounmpo leads the way with 16 points. But that doesn't matter because Dirk Nowitzki hit two threes in the final minute!
AND DIRK ENDS THE QUARTER WITH ANOTHER THREE! This time from deep! Everyone loving that!
1 min Another crowd pleaser from Griffin off the feed from Kyle Lowry.
Dwyane Wade and Dirk Nowitzki enter the floor now to rousing applause from the crowd. AND DIRK MAKES A THREE!!!
3 mins First stuff for Blake Griffin off the pass from Russell Westbrook.
A host of changes but Team LeBron still not able to get going. They are 4-17 from three.
KD dances on Embiid and hits the and-1! ������#NBAAllStar pic.twitter.com/yz0BwApboK
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) February 18, 2019
5 mins Back-to-back-to-back threes from Khris Middleton as he settles in for his first All Star appearance!
Team Giannis with an early 14-point lead and Mike Malone takes a timeout for Team LeBron.
7 mins Giannis Antetokounmpo wants this MVP. He's basically just staying up the other end of the floor to get buckets and he has 12 after five minutes.
9:00 mins As is normal in an All Star game, defence is an option, not a necessity.
At the moment it's a three-point/ dunk showdown.
11:30 mins Giannis with the first bucket of the All Star game and it had to be an alley-top dunk.
- Oh wow! They've pulled in Michael Buffer to get get the game underway with his famous 'Lets get ready to rumble!'
- A lot of people have predicted an easy win for Team LeBron but personally I like the team Giannis has put together.
My pick for MVP will either by Giannis or Russell Westbrook. Got to love the attitude Westbrook brings to every All Star game!
- Looks like we won't have any Kevin Hart pre-game show this time around.
National anthems over and the players are out on the court warming up for tip-off. Not far from getting underway now!
- Anthony Hamilton gets a big cheer from the Charlotte crowd.
He's turning the Star Spangled Banner into a soulful kumbaya moment but I'm a fan of this. That may say more about me than anything else.
- Now time for the national anthems and I'm suddenly sad that Fergie isn't returning to sing the American anthem again!
Carly Rae Jepsen not taking the Fergie route for the Canadian national anthem.
- And now for Team LeBron to be introduced to the crowd, with Denver Nuggets head coach Mike Malone in charge.
No points for who guesses which player received the biggest cheer on Team LeBron. But a lot of love for Dwyane Wade from the Charlotte crowd.
- We're straight in to the player introductions with Team Giannis up first, coached by Mike Budenholzer.
Charlotte-born Steph Curry certainly receiving the most cheers from the crowd. Not so much for poor old Vucevic...
- We're now live for the 2019 NBA All Star game with Meek Milll opening the night!
Last year's pre-game show with Kevin Hart was a bit awkward, off to a better start here already.
12:55am: There is always at least one storyline away from the court which dominates NBA headlines at the All Star break and this year has been no different with Anthony Davis' future a constant topic.
He publicly stated on Saturday that the Celtics are in fact on his list, along with every other team not named New Orleans Pelicans.
LeBron James picked him with his first selection from the reserve pool, sparking 'tampering' claims even from Giannis Antetokounmpo.
And it's hard to think that Davis and LeBron wouldn't have spoken at some point about the possibility of the two teaming up on the Lakers.
12:45am: Another nice touch in this year's NBA All Star Game is of course the "honorary" selections for Dwyane Wade and Dirk Nowitzki.
Every basketball fans wants to see Wade throwing up one more alley oop pass to LeBron James.
And just seeing Nowitzki defying his age and hobbling up and down the court as an All Star one last time will be something to behold.
12:30am: This is the second year of this new format and the NBA definitely deserves credit for addressing the need to change.
The Eastern vs Western Conference format didn't excite the fans, but the new All Star Draft with two captains picking their teams, irrespective of conference affiliation, is brilliant TV.
We get to see more camaraderie among the players in the game and it actually made the game more competitive last year, while also putting on a show.
Here's hoping the 2019 All Star Game continues that trend.
12:15am: Hello, good evening and welcome to Express Sports' live blog for the 68th NBA All Star Game in Charlotte this evening.
LeBron James is once again the captain, although this time for the Western Conference, while Giannis Antetokounmpo represents the East.
Stay tuned for updates throughout the evening with the NBA's best talent set to put on a show!