NBA All-Star Game: West Beats East 196-173, Westbrook Named MVP

By virtue of his 31 points, Russell Westbrook captured that honor for the second straight year.

Bob Pettit was named MVP for the 1958 game and shared the honour with Elgin Baylor in 1959.

“Any time you can be able to be in the history books, it always means something to me, man, ” Westbrook said.

“Well, I think it’s the stories of when they first came into the league and they were matching up against me, and just kind of the little things that – an elbow here or a steal here, and then wanting to earn my respect at an early age, right?” Embrace it all.’ He said, ‘You would have never thought that at Michigan State.

Curry added 26 for the West – the final three on a 42-footer.

“It was a little imaginary tug of war for that ball and the decision whether to shoot or not”.

Bryant is unquestionably one of the greatest of all-time, now the league’s elder statesman.

-San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich has the task of chasing the Warriors in the Western Conference, but he talked Sunday about how much fun he had as coach of the West team.

Fiercely competitive, Bryant, who once scorched the Toronto Raptors for 81 points, admitted it is not in his nature to pull punches when on the court but added he was not looking to put an exclamation mark on his All-Star career, at peace with his decision to retire.

“It was fun”, Thompson said before joking about his off night.

Dwyane Wade might have had the most unique All-Star sneaker of the evening as he hit the hardwood in the Li-Ning Way of Wade 4 which was highlighted by its platinum-toned metallic iridescent upper.

And most of the attention will be focused on Bryant’s All-Star farewell. To hear those stories now, you have such a deep sense of appreciation and such a brotherhood from all the years of competing against each other.

The East’s Paul George ended the game with 41 points – one point shy of Wilt Chamberlain’s single-game record, which Chamberlain set in 1962. The team’s bench players are Chris Bosh, Andre Drummond, Pau Gasol, Paul Millsap, Isaiah Thomas, John Wall and DeRozan. James has 291, Bryant leaves with 290.

“God, as a younger player I couldn’t even see the next day”. The East still leads the all-time series, 37-28. “It was just bittersweet being out on the floor with him, knowing the matches between us two are coming to an end soon”.

Kobe Bryant made the biggest stop of his farewell tour on Sunday as he played the last NBA All-Star Game of a remarkable career in which he established himself as arguably the best player of his generation. The West led 92-90 at halftime as both teams combined for an All-Star record for most points tallied in a half, easily eclipsing the 165 established the previous two years.

The opening tip was delayed until 8:40 p.m. EST, following an extensive tribute to Bryant’s final All-Star Game appearance. He thanked his millions of fans as the other All-Stars lined up in the background to salute him.

“I don’t believe he had surgery, personally”, the East’s LeBron James said, laughing. “It’s all well-deserved”. Notably, the first ever National Basketball Association game was actually held in Toronto on November 1, 1946.

In between the fast-paced action on the court, there was plenty of Canadian content, including a tribute to Dr. James Naismith, the Canadian who invented the game.

ALL-STAR GAME. Stephen Curry handles the ball against Isaiah Thomas.