Charlotte: Team LeBron lived up to their billing to rally from behind and beat Team Giannis 178-164 in the 2019 NBA All-Star game at the spectacular Spectrum Centre here on Sunday night.
‘Greek Freak’ Giannis Antetekounmpo led the scorers with 38 points but in vain as Kevin Durant of Golden State Warriors scored 31 for the winners to take the cake and MVP award.
Klay Thompson of GSW was the second highest scorer for LeBron’s side with 20 points while LA Lakers’ LeBron James and Kawhi Leonard of Toronto Raptors contributed 19 each. For Team Giannis, Oklahoma City Thunder’s Paul George and Khris Middleton of Milwaukee Bucks scored 20 each.
Team Giannis flew to a 53-37 lead in the first quarter of the match, finished three points behind in the second period (42-45) but held a 95-82 advantage at half-time.
Team James turned the heat on in the third quarter to take it at 50-36 to edge 134-131 ahead with the last leg to go. They got 46-33 in the final quarter to complete the tally.
Earlier, Hamidou Diallo of the Oklahoma City Thunder stole the thunder at the NBA All-Star Slam Dunk contest, audaciously leaping over basketball giant Shaquille O’Neal to slam the ball into the net and win the highest appreciation of the judges. The 20-year-old glided over 7-foot-1 legend as jaws dropped at the Spectrum Center and ripped his jersey to reveal a Superman logo. Jayson Tatum of the Boston Celtics won the skills challenge with a winning basket from half-court to beat the challenge of Atlanta Hawks’ Trae Young.
The 3-point contest was won by Joel Harris of Brooklyn Nets who sank balls at will to score 25 points, something that even all-time sharpshooter Stephen Curry could not match.
