SMOOTHIE KING CENTER, NEW ORLEANS, LA — This is a continuation of the halftime recap of the 66th NBA All-Star Game. The West held a 97-92 lead at halftime.
Q3: Four Warriors, Russ Gets Hot
Stephen Curry yelled on a defensive rebound then fed Kevin Durant, who found Anthony Davis for a reverse slam, to start the second half.
Curry added a sweet move to split the defense and finish with a finger roll…
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[protected-iframe id=”ed78c0092b21a86262193e62e4851f1a-114320562-10106876″ info=”http://twitframe.com/show?url=https%3A%2F%2Ftwitter.com%2FJaeAzizi%2Fstatus%2F833512150215766016″ width=”360″ height=”360″ frameborder=”0″]A few sequences after that, Steph tried his own poster, but failed:
[protected-iframe id=”b99a2548300624b47eac34ac3c67522f-114320562-10106876″ info=”http://twitframe.com/show?url=https%3A%2F%2Ftwitter.com%2FJaeAzizi%2Fstatus%2F833512354390216705″ width=”360″ height=”360″ frameborder=”0″]Durant got a couple buckets, one fed by Curry, and Draymond Green came in to have all four Warriors All-Stars on the court, and Green dished to Davis, then East head coach Brad Stevens took the first timeout as the West took a 119-114 lead with 5:51 remaining.
At the timeout, TNT showed West head coach Steve Kerr mic’d up and asking Russell Westbrook what play he wanted to run:
[protected-iframe id=”48eceeeacade3b119a1f758885914771-114320562-10106876″ info=”http://twitframe.com/show?url=https%3A%2F%2Ftwitter.com%2FNBATV%2Fstatus%2F833514348156817408″ width=”360″ height=”250″ frameborder=”0″]Out of the timeout, Kerr had his four Warriors alongside DeAndre Jordan instead of Davis, and Curry immediately found Jordan for a slam on a feed from near-halfcourt.
Antetokounmpo then posterized Steph on an offensive rebound, with Draymond’s hands on his heads and a reaction from Jordan:
[protected-iframe id=”a58aac7b61872e19c1407dd36cfcd88c-114320562-10106876″ info=”http://twitframe.com/show?url=https%3A%2F%2Ftwitter.com%2FSteve_OS%2Fstatus%2F833515139479515137″ width=”360″ height=”250″ frameborder=”0″]Durant took offense (we think) to the throw-down on his teammate and attacked Giannis on subsequent possessions, getting a dunk and screaming “and one” on the contact with no call, then drilling a three, but also missing one over Antetokounmpo.
Klay Thompson finally found Durant for a dunk, Draymond fed Steph for a backdoor cut for a two-hand jam…
[protected-iframe id=”ddeb3844270726f6a3bc21ee142d8ba4-114320562-10106876″ info=”http://twitframe.com/show?url=https%3A%2F%2Ftwitter.com%2FNBAonTNT%2Fstatus%2F833514784670691329″ width=”360″ height=”250″ frameborder=”0″]…and Curry took a foul as Kerr requested to get Steph and KD out of the game to break up the string of minutes for the four Warriors, with 2:59 to play and the West still up, 130-122.
Out of the timeout, it was Westbrook, Thompson, Gordon Hayward, Green, and Jordan.
With Klay and Draymond on the floor alongside Westbrook, Russ took over and hit four triples…
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Q4: AD En Route To MVP
Kerr started the fourth quarter with Westbrook, Klay, Hayward, Draymond, and Jordan.
Russ hit his fifth triple, which help build the West’s lead to 165-153.
James Harden threw a halftcourt line drive to Davis, but the ball actually went in for three points. TNT’s crew thought it was a record-breaking 44 points for Westbrook, but eventually they figured out the bucket was credited to Harden.
Soon thereafter, Russ fed Davis with another alley-oop and that set the record for most points scored in an NBA All-Star Game, giving “AD” 44 points on the night:
[protected-iframe id=”6eb6a2b56a5f50873f6da869a1184061-114320562-10106876″ info=”http://twitframe.com/show?url=https%3A%2F%2Ftwitter.com%2FNBA%2Fstatus%2F833521827485978624″ width=”360″ height=”250″ frameborder=”0″]The West would continue to feed Davis, all but solidifying an MVP trophy for him, even though Westbrook left with this dime from Harden:
[protected-iframe id=”f0c5780f4cf608739446aff52f0507a3-114320562-10106876″ info=”http://twitframe.com/show?url=https%3A%2F%2Ftwitter.com%2FNBA%2Fstatus%2F833519126882742276″ width=”360″ height=”250″ frameborder=”0″]With 5:25 to go, Kerr had Curry back in alongside Harden, Durant, Davis, and Marc Gasol.
Steph added a three…
[protected-iframe id=”2fe49f7f00f8867ca300e099333107a5-114320562-10106876″ info=”http://twitframe.com/show?url=https%3A%2F%2Ftwitter.com%2FJaeAzizi%2Fstatus%2F833522043786190848″ width=”360″ height=”360″ frameborder=”0″]…plus a scoop off the board for a “Unibrow” two-hand smash…
[protected-iframe id=”8b11264d1ac66ae5348848fafa1eef68-114320562-10106876″ info=”http://twitframe.com/show?url=https%3A%2F%2Ftwitter.com%2FJaeAzizi%2Fstatus%2F833522199239602176″ width=”360″ height=”360″ frameborder=”0″]…and the West (29-37) cruised to a 192-182 defeat of the East (37-29).
The Warriors (47-9) coaching staff and All-Star players, including Briante Weber who played in the D-League All-Star Game, will head back to Oakland and face the Clippers at Oracle in four nights.
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(Photo: @letsgowarriors Instagram account via @djdmiles)
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