CLEVELAND (AP) — The Latest on Sunday's NBA All-Star Game:
Memphis Grizzlies star Ja Morant started for Team Durant, but in the end his dazzling dunks and group couldn't beat the shooting of Curry's Team Lebron collective.
Steph Curry nearly upstaged LeBron James’ homecoming weekend by scoring 50 points with a memorable shooting display to lead Team LeBron to a 163-160- win over Team Durant in the NBA All-Star Game on Sunday night.
But while Curry made 16 3-pointers and was named the game's MVP, it was James' fadeaway that gave his team the win in his 19th All-Star appearance.
James finished with 24 points.
Joel Embiid led Team Durant with 36 points.
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Steph Curry put on a jaw-dropping 3-point display in the third quarter of the NBA All-Star Game with seven 3-pointers.
Moments after being honored as one of the league's best 75 players, Curry showed how he's helped change the game. Curry launched several of his 3-pointers from just feet inside the half-court logo.
On one of his makes, Curry already turned and was running back to the other end before the ball swished through the net.
Curry has scored 45 points — all on 3-pointers — through the first three quarters and is upstaging LeBron James' return to Cleveland.
The teams tied in the third quarter. Team Durant enters the fourth quarter leading Team LeBron 139-138 with the first team to 163 getting the win.
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Steph Curry ignored the booing from Cleveland's crowd and knocked down six 3-pointers in the second quarter of the NBA All-Star Game.
Curry, who was born in nearby Akron in the same hospital as LeBron James, was greeted with negativity from the moment he walked onto the stage for pregame introductions. Curry and the Golden State Warriors beat the host Cavs in three Finals.
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Team Durant won the second quarter 49-46 over Team LeBron. The score is reset after each quarter until the fourth.
Curry scored 24 points in the first two quarters to lead Team LeBron. James has 13 and Giannis Antetokounmpo 12.
Joel Embiid leads Team Durant with 17 points and Devin Booker has 16.
During a timeout in the second quarter, Phoenix guard Chris Paul was presented with the inaugural Kobe & Gigi Bryant WBNA Advocacy Award for his contributions to the advance of women’s basketball and advocacy for the league.
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LeBron James and Giannis Antetokounmpo combined for 17 points as Team LeBron won the first quarter of the NBA All-Star Game 47-45 over Team Durant.
Welcomed with a roaring ovation by Cleveland fans before the game, James didn't disappoint his former home crowd with a thundering dunk in the period.
NBA scoring leader Joel Embiid scored 11 points in the first to lead Team Durant.
The score will reset after the first two quarters to zero. After the third quarter, the teams will play to a target score to determine the winner.
Grizzlies high-flying guard Ja Morant had one of the flashiest moments of the first quarter, catching an alley-oop pass and completing a dunk that might have won the underwhelming Saturday night dunk contest.
Chicago’s Zach LaVine also delivered a 360-degree dunk for Team Durant.
Cleveland’s crowd got what they came for as Cavaliers guard Darius Garland and center Jarrett Allen -- both first-time All-Stars on Team Durant — both checked in during the first quarter.
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The NBA All-Star Game has tipped off in a sold out Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse, where LeBron James is again the main attraction.
James spent 11 seasons with the host Cavaliers, winning a title in 2016 and taking Cleveland to five Finals appearances in two stints. The 37-year-old has won All-Star MVP honors three times and he's expected to put on a show in front of his home state fans.
James received a thunderous ovation during pregame introductions. The Cleveland crowd booed Golden State's Steph Curry, who defeated the Cavs in three Finals.
Ohio native Macy Gray performed the national anthem accompanied by a guitarist. Ryland James sang “O Canada.”
Phoenix guard Chris Paul is expected to play despite a thumb injury. TNT announced before the game that the 12-time All-Star will be out 6-8 weeks.
The league will honor its 75th Anniversary Team during a special halftime ceremony. Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Julius Erving and Oscar Robertson are among the legends expected to participate in the tribute.
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Back where he began his professional career, LeBron James will lead a powerhouse, handpicked team in the All-Star Game, during which the league also honors its 75th Anniversary Team.
James is 4-0 since the league switched the game’s format in 2018, allowing two captains to select teams from a pool of All-Stars. James’ Team LeBron squad includes three other former league MVPs: Steph Curry, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Nikola Jokic.
James, now in his fourth season with the Los Angeles Lakers, played 11 years in Cleveland and led the Cavaliers to the 2016 title. The 37-year-old may add another MVP to his collection.
He will have to do it without Utah Jazz guard Donovan Mitchell, who will miss the game because of an illness. Mitchell had been set to play for Team LeBron in his third All-Star appearance, but said he has an upper respiratory illness.
Kevin Durant is the other team captain, but won’t be able to play because Brooklyn’s superstar is still dealing with a knee injury. Team Durant will feature NBA scoring leader Joel Embiid of the Philadelphia 76ers.
At halftime, the league will pay tribute to the game’s legends with up 50 members of the 75th Anniversary in attendance at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.
CLEVELAND (AP) — One by one the names of the NBA's greatest players were called, bridging basketball's past and present.
And as each walked onto the floor, LeBron James found himself in further disbelief.
The posters on his bedroom wall as a kid came to life.
“Allen Iverson and Jason Kidd, Gary Payton, Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Oscar Robertson,” James said, still trying to grasp the experience. “To see those guys today and then be on stage with those guys — it’s just crazy.”
On Sunday night, the league celebrated its diamond anniversary with a sparkling tribute to honor 75 years on the hardwood floor.
During a moving halftime tribute at Sunday's All-Star Game, 45 members of the 75th Anniversary Team — including Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and James — stood elbow to elbow on a giant circular stage in the middle of Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.
This was a chance for the game's greatest to take a bow and be saluted for cutting the path for today's players.
For James, who made a fadeaway jumper — the kind Jordan made famous -- to send Team LeBron to a 163-160 win over Team Durant, the chance to be around players he idolized, was overwhelming.
“Every time they would announce another name, I didn’t even get an opportunity to like rejoice in the player that they had named,” he said. “It was, like, Gary Payton. I was, like, wow.! Then J Kidd showed up, and then A.I. (Allen Iverson) showed up, and then it was D. Wade, C.P. (Chris Paul), and Steph (Curry). I was just tripped out.”
James wasn't the only one.
Each wearing blue blazers with a 75th logo on their chests, the best of the NBA's best were introduced to huge ovations, with the loudest cheers going to Jordan, the last player to walk onto the raised podium at center court.
The forwards were brought out first with Charles Barkley leading the way. Giannis Antetokounmpo, one of six current All-Stars on the 75th team, changed out of his Team LeBron uniform for the on-court tribute.
During the TV broadcast, Barkley said being amongst the NBA’s elite hit him harder than he expected. Antetokounmpo, one of the two Europeans on the squad, also was awed by being part of the ceremony.
“When you start playing basketball when you are young, you never imagine to be next to all these all-time greats,” said Milwaukee's star. "Your name being called, going out there to shake their hands and just stand next to them, interact with them, it was amazing.
“I kind of teared up on stage because I’m not supposed to be here, man. Being among those guys is — man, it’s crazy.”
Julius “Dr. J” Erving bowed to the sellout crowd, and the always entertaining Dennis Rodman strutted down the wine-colored carpet wearing a basketball cap and hooded sweatshirt under his jacket.
James was the last of the forward group to be welcomed, and the former Cleveland star spun in a circle to return the love coming from every corner of the arena. This was his homecoming weekend, and it coinciding with the 75th anniversary made it even more special.
Once James took his spot on the star-studded stage, he tried to soak in the moment.
“It would be like going to your favorite musician’s concert in the greatest stadium, and you are literally on stage with them while they’re performing, and the sense of “I can’t believe that I’m here,'” he said. That’s the best way that I can put it.”
"I can’t believe I’m sitting next to Bruce Springsteen while he is playing in a stadium in London with 160,000 people. Or I’m in the Garden with Jay-Z. I’m sitting here with Whitney Houston on stage in a coliseum with 90,000 people.
“That’s kind of what it felt like for me. I just couldn’t believe it.”
When it was the centers' turn to be welcomed, Shaquille O'Neal stuck out his tongue toward the camera and posed while Abdul-Jabbar, the league's career scoring leader, mimicked his signature “sky hook” before the 74-year-old took a seat at the stage's edge.
Iverson, who once scored 54 points in the building, led the guards out and was followed soon after by George “Iceman” Gervin, who made sure the crowd remembered his famed finger roll.
Before Jordan's entrance, Kobe Bryant's photo on the giant scoreboard touched off an emotional response and chants of “Ko-be, Ko-be” for the late Lakers superstar who died tragically in a 2020 helicopter crash with his young daughter, Gianna.
Even Curry, who got booed by Cleveland's crowd before scoring 50 points and winning MVP honors, got a nice hand.
Jordan's appearance was something of a surprise as the league kept a tight lid on any details of the celebration.
Following the game, James made sure to reconnect with Jordan, who inspired the young kid from Akron to chase greatness.
“The way he wore his shoes, the way he wore his uniform, I mean, all the way down to some of the cars that he drove,” James said.
The still living members of the 75th team who didn't attend were shown on video, with each saluting the fans with a wave.
This is the second time the league has honored its greats in Cleveland, after the 50th Anniversary Team was honored in 1997.