The critics regularly blasted the NBA All-Star Game as an event in which very little defense was being played.
On Sunday night, Stephen Curry was named MVP for scoring 20 points — over two games.
The NBA’s new format drew mixed reviews on a night in which Team Shaq prevailed as the winner of the three-game event in San Francisco.
Curry was happy with the format after helping Team Shaq to a 41-25 victory over Team Chuck in the championship game.
“I had a lot of fun,” Curry said. “The intensity was definitely different than last year, a step in the right direction. It’s something new, everybody is still trying to figure it out. …
“There are ways to tinker with the product, but I think this was a step in the right direction.”
Draymond Green, Curry’s Golden State Warriors teammate, didn’t play in the All-Star Game but is very much against the format.
He didn’t like that there was a team of non-All Stars playing among the four squads, and he pointed out that nobody can make a run at single-game scoring records in such a format.
“You work all year to be an All-Star and you get to play up to 40 (points) and then you’re done,'” Green said on TNT, the network televising (and promoting) the contest. “This is so unfair to Victor Wembanyama, who just took this game really seriously, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who just took this game really seriously.”
Asked to rate it on a scale, Green said, “Ten being the best? A zero. It sucks. Awful.”
Jayson Tatum scored 15 points and Curry added 12 on four 3-pointers in Team Shaq’s easy 16-point victory in the title game.
Tatum made 6 of 7 shots from the floor and converted the decisive dunk to end the game for Team Shaq, coached by former NBA star Shaquille O’Neal.
Curry was named All-Star Game MVP for the second time in his career. He also won in 2022, when he scored 50 points and set an All-Star Game record with 16 3-pointers in Cleveland.
Team Shaq’s LeBron James (ankle) sat out Sunday night’s festivities.
Wembanyama scored 11 points to pace Team Chuck, which was coached by former NBA star Charles Barkley.
Team Shaq was seven points away from the target score of 40 when Curry hit two treys to pull it within one.
Tatum soon threw down his dunk to end the first All-Star Game played under this format.
Milwaukee Bucks guard Damian Lillard, a native of Oakland, was also on the winning side. He felt like this year’s event was an improvement over recent years’ All-Star Games.
“I think they’re just looking for a more competitive game and trying to find ways to create that and I thought tonight was a little bit more competitive than they have been the last few years,” Lillard said. “That’s the No. 1 thing, just to provide the entertainment and that competitiveness on the floor, and I thought it was a little bit more of that tonight.”
Team Shaq shot 57.1 percent from the field, including a 9-of-17 mark from 3-point range.
Team Chuck shot 35.5 percent overall and was a lowly 2 of 16 from behind the arc.
Team Shaq scored the first 11 points of the game.
Curry hit a game-opening 3-pointer, and Tatum followed with the next eight points on a dunk and two treys.
Team Chuck finally got on the board when Gilgeous-Alexander split two free throws.
After missing its first 10 field-goal attempts, Team Chuck ended its drought on a layup by Karl-Anthony Towns. Wembanyama followed with a 3-pointer to pull Team Chuck within 11-6.
Team Chuck was down 12 before creeping within 23-15 on consecutive dunks by Towns and Wembanyama.
But Curry let it fly from the midcourt line and swished a shot to push Team Shaq’s lead to 11 and provide one of the biggest highlights of the night.
The contest was the second of the night for both teams under the new format.
Team Shaq qualified for the title match with a 42-35 win over Team Candace, coached by former women’s star Candace Parker. Team Candace was made up of first and second-year NBA players who played their way into the bracket through Friday’s Rising Stars competition.
Team Chuck reached the final with a 41-32 victory over Team Kenny, coached by former NBA player Kenny Smith.
–Field Level Media
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