By Stephen Ur –
The 2023 NBA All-Star Game featured two of the league’s top stars as captains as Team Lebron, led by Lebron James, and Team Giannis, led by Giannis Antetokounmpo, faced off in Salt Lake City, UT Sunday night. Both teams chose their players prior to tip-off of the game, something never done in All-Star Game history before.
TEAM LEBRON ROSTER
Joel Embiid
Kyrie Irving
Luka Doncic
Nikola Jokic
Anthony Edwards
Jaylen Brown
Paul George
Tyrese Haliburton
Julius Randle
De’Aaron Fox
Jaren Jackson Jr.
TEAM GIANNIS ROSTER
Jayson Tatum
Ja Morant
Donovan Mitchell
Lauri Markkanen
Damian Lillard
Jrue Holiday
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
DeMar DeRozan
Pascal Siakam
Bam Adebayo
Domantas Sabonis
Unfortunately for team Giannis, their captain aggravated a wrist injury he suffered earlier in the week and took himself out early on in the game.
After a first quarter in which the two teams tied at 46, Team Giannis outscored Team LeBron 53-46 and led by seven at halftime. A 59-49 third quarter extended that lead to 17 by the end of the third quarter.
Despite Team LeBron outscoring Team Giannis 34-26 in the fourth quarter, it wasn’t enough. Team Giannis won the 2023 NBA All-Star Game by a final score of 184-175.
Both leading scorers came from the top team in the East, the Boston Celtics. Jaylen Brown led Team LeBron with 35 points, shooting 16 of 27 from the field.
Jayson Tatum not only led the way for Team Giannis, but he also set a new NBA All-Star record. He scored 55 points, going 22 of 31 from the paint. Both also led their respective teams in rebounds as Brown had 14 with Tatum right behind him at 10.
Donovan Mitchell added 40 points of his own for Team Giannis, shooting 15 of 25 from the floor and 8 of 17 from three. Three-point champion Damien Lillard scored 26, shooting 8 of 26 from three.
Kyrie Irving and Joel Embiid both scored 32 points for Team LeBron. Embiid went 14 of 19 from the floor and 4 of 8 from three while Irving shot 14 of 21 from the floor and also 4 of 8 from three.
Tatum, who scored 27 of his record 55 in the third quarter, was named the game’s MVP.
“I found out midway through the fourth (about the record),” Tatum said. “I think I had like 49 and Dame [Lillard] was like, ‘Yo, the record’s 52.’ He was like, ‘Go get it.’
“It’s extremely special to me,” Tatum, 24, said on being named the game’s MVP. “My first All-Star Game was in Chicago in 2020 when they renamed the MVP after [Kobe] and I remember telling myself that someday I got to get one of those.”
The NBA will begin the second half of their season Thursday, with the regular season ending on April 9.
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