Damian Lillard, the winner of the triples contest, was named MVP

 

The Eastern Conference team won the 73rd edition of the NBA All Star Game on Sunday, beating the Western Conference team by 'countless' 211-186, at Gainbridge Fieldhouse, in Indianapolis.

In a match with a combined record of 397 points, surpassing the 374 in 2017, Damian Lillard, the winner of the triples contest, was elected 'Most Valuable Player' (MVP), with a total of 39, including 11 converted triples, two of the which are on the midfield line.

The 33-year-old Milwaukee Bucks baseman won the award to the chagrin of local Indiana Pacers fans, who wanted the 'coronation' of Tyrese Haliburton, who 'finished' with 32 points and was the author of the triple that put the This one with 'round' 200.

Jaylen Brown also surpassed three dozen points, adding 36, while Greek Giannis Antetokounmpo contributed 23 and Jayson Tatum added 20.

The East team, which broke the record for points held by the West (196, in 2016), also added a maximum of 42 triples, out of 97 attempts (43.3%), with only Giannis and Paulo Banchero failing to hit the target. one less.

On the West team, the best was, by a large margin, Karl-Anthony Towns, who scored 50 points, five points shy of the record set in 2023 by Jayson Tatum, and who was only not named MVP due to his team's defeat. He hit 23 of 35 shots from the field (65.7%), including four of 13 triples.

Newcomer Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, with 31 points, was also very prominent in the East team, which fell behind in the second period and at half-time was already losing 104-89, a difference that even increased after three periods (160- 136).

For his part, 'captain' LeBron James, 39 years old, finished in his 20th All Star Game with eight points, having only been on the field for 13.48 minutes, not playing in the second half.

The 2023/24 edition was marked by the return to the East versus West format - which hasn't happened since 2017 -, after five triumphs for LeBron James' team and one, last season, for the team led by Giannis Antetokounmpo.

On Saturday, Mac McClung, from the G-League's Oscelo Magic, and Damian Lillard, from the Milwaukee Bucks, reclaimed their titles in the dunk and triple contestsrespectively, and a trio from the Pacers, made up of Tyrese Haliburton, Bennedict Mathurin and Myles Turner, gained the 'skills'.