2011 NBA All-Star Game: Highlights & Reaction To Kobe Bryant & LeBron James

The 2011 NBA All-Star Game has come and gone, and what looked like a Western Conference blowout turned out to be quite a close game down the stretch, with the West winning in the end, 148-143. Kobe Bryant led all players with 37 points and 14 rebounds, taking home his fourth All-Star MVP trophy. The game also featured great performances from LeBron James, who led the Eastern Conference comeback and put up the second triple-double (29 points, 12 rebounds, 10 assists) in All-Star history, and Kevin Durant, who scored 34 points of his own, including five in the final few minutes to give the West some breathing room.

The game featured several highlights of course, as one might expect when the best basketball players in the world converge on the same court.

Dexter Fishmore of Silver Screen and Roll was in the house at Staples Center all weekend, and gave this report of the game and the weekend:

The West's 148 to 143 victory caps off what by all accounts, Kravitz notwithstanding, has been a very successful weekend for the league and its L.A. hosts. It won't be long before the All-Star Game returns to Staples. The rejuvenation of downtown L.A., including the construction of the L.A. Live and Marriott/Ritz-Carlton complexes that served as home base for ASW activities this year, make Los Angeles pretty much the ideal location for this event. All-Star Weekend is the yearly occasion when the league fully embraces its connections to the worlds of celebrity and pop culture. No city provides a more fitting backdrop.

Steve Perrin of Clips Nation was also covering the event, and gave this summation of LeBron's performance:

LeBron James may have waited a bit too long before caring. He seemed disinterested for the first three quarters (though he still had 15 points, 8 rebounds and 7 assists, which is pretty good for 'disinterested'). When he turned it on in the fourth, it may have been too late. He led the East back to within two a couple of times, but they never got a shot at a tying possession, as the West responded with buckets each time the lead shrunk to two.

Sean Keeley of SB Nation offered up this trivia nugget:

It's all about LeBron & Kobe: With his 2011 MVP, Kobe ensured that he or LeBron was named MVP in five of the last six seasons. It's Kobe's fourth overall, LeBron has a measly two.

All-Star Game: Kobe Bryant Wins MVP, West Wins Game 148-143

Kobe Bryant seemed to have extra motivation playing in the All-Star Game in front of his home fans in Los Angeles, as he put up a game-high 37 points to go with a game-high 14 rebounds. He led the West to an exciting 148 to 143 win, and in the process won his fourth ASG MVP, tying Bob Pettit’s 39-year-old record. The East cut the lead down to two points in the final three minutes, but Kevin Durant hit five straight to build the lead back to seven. The East then scored the next five, to reduce the lead back to two, but a Pau Gasol tip in on the next possession robbed them of the chance to tie the game, and the West made their free throws down the stretch to ice it.

Durant and Bryant were something of a two man show for the West, combining for 71 of the team’s 148 points.

LeBron James, after meandering through the first three quarters, went off in the fourth, with 14 points in the final quarter alone, including a couple of coast-to-coast forays. LeBron finished with a triple double, 29 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists. Amare Stoudemire also scored 29 for the East.

Pau Gasol finished with 17 points on 8-of-13 shooting in 24 minutes. Down the stretch, West coach Gregg Popovich went with the four starters that were voted in by the public (Chris Paul, Kobe, Durant, Carmelo Anthony and Gasol. In the end, Pop gave his guy Duncan the start, but recognized that Gasol was deserving of the minutes.

Blake Griffin of the Clippers finished with eight points, five rebounds and five assists. Popovich gave him a bit of the rookie treatment with fewer than 15 minutes of playing time despite the fact that he was playing in front of his own set of fans, and the Staples Center crowd had to resort to a “We Want Blake” chant early in the fourth quarter before Blake made a second half appearance.

But the evening certainly belonged to Kobe. As he said while accepting his MVP trophy, he just “wanted to put on a show.” Indeed he did.

All-Star Game: West Leads East, 117 To 100, After Three Quarters As Kobe Bryant Continues MVP Surge

The West has nearly put this one away. A 41-point burst in the third quarter, fueled by gobloads of East turnovers, has the Western Conference All-Stars up 117 to 100. Kobe Bryant continues his strong push for game MVP, as he's scored 34 points and collected nine rebounds. The all-time scoring record in the ASG is held by Wilt Chamberlain, who once put up 42. If Kobe wants the record and asks West coach Gregg Popovich to give him the necessary minutes, the record will be his. Oh, and this happened.

The East has committed 18 turnovers and pulled in only seven offensive boards, compared to seven turnovers and 20 offensive boards on the West's side of the ledger. LeBron James leads the East with 15 points and has made an admirable effort to jump-start their offense, but the carelessness of the East attack and their inability to hit a three-pointer (5 for 20) is doing them in. Barring a three-point hot streak from the East, the only suspense in the final period will come from Kobe's pursuit of the scoring record and Blake Griffin's efforts to throw down a few gargantuan dunks to satisfy his local admirers.

Kobe Bryant's Game High 21 Points Leads West To 12 Point Halftime Lead in All Star Game

At half time of the All Star Game at Staples Center, the West has expanded their lead to twelve points, 76 to 64. The quarter was, as you would expect in an All Star Game, very high scoring, with the West enjoying a slight 39 to 37 edge.

The quarter had a decidedly LA feel. Former UCLA teammates Kevin Love and Russell Westbrook made their first appearances of the game, alongside Blake Griffin of the Clippers to begin the quarter. Westbrook even had the highlight of the game for a time, with a nasty power dunk (can we get this guy in the dunk contest please?) But he lost the honor to his Thunder teammate Kevin Durant a minute before the half, when Chris Paul snuck along the baseline after a steal and slipped a sneaky lob pass to KD for a massive jam. Durant has 15 first half points.

A couple of other LA guys acquitted themselves well too. Kobe Bryant is well on his way to his record-tying fourth All Star Game game MVP, with 21 first half points. As if that weren’t enough, he also has a game high 6 rebounds and 3 steals! Pau Gasol is also playing very well, and finished the half with 12 points on 6 for 6 shooting. For his part, Griffin might be on his way to a triple double – if only he could get some minutes. At the half, he has 6 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists, in just 8 minutes of court time. His four assists is only one shy of the game-high honors, currently shared by Chris Paul of the West and Rajon Rondo of the East. Griffin has made three of four shots, two of them dunks.

For the East, Chris Bosh is leading the way with 12 points, and Dwyane Wade and Amare Stoudemire have 10 apiece. The East is actually shooting slightly better, at 50% for the game, compared to the West’s 47%, but the West is enjoying a significant advantage on the boards, and has taken better care of the ball so far. The West has nine steals at the break, and the East has none. That makes a difference.

2011 NBA All-Star Game: West Leads East, 37-27, After 1st Quarter

We had to sit through a badly mimed Lenny Kravitz performance, a decently entertaining series of player intros and a LeBron James-style chalk toss by the entire Eastern Conference starting squad to get there, but just before 6:00 California time tonight, the 2011 All-Star Game got underway. After one quarter of play, the host Western Conference team leads the East, 37 to 27. The pace has been fast, with about 30 possessions per side, and this being an All-Star Game, I'm obliged to point out that no defense is being played. No one here at Staples Center seems especially troubled by this.

After starting the game with an Amare Stoudemire dunk off a feed from LeBron, the East began suffering from turnover difficulties. Thanks to their better care of the ball and some hot early shooting from Kobe Bryant, who so far leads the contest with 11 points, the West built up a double-digit lead about midway through the period. Fellow Laker Pau Gasol has chipped in six points. For the East, the most potent offensive option has been Chris Bosh, who made all four of his shots in the first period. Other highlights include the entry into the game of all four Celtics (Ray Allen, Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett and Rajon Rondo), predictably met with boos from the L.A. locals, and a nice alley-oop from Deron Williams to newly minted dunk champ Blake Griffin.

2011 NBA All-Star Game: Who Will Win MVP?

To culminate an exciting All-Star Weekend, the 2011 NBA All-Star Game will be played later today at Staples Center in Los Angeles. The 60th annual All-Star game features a host of former game MVP winners, including multiple winners Kobe Bryant and LeBron James, who are among the favorites to be the 2011 All-Star MVP. Dwyane Wade is the defending MVP, trying to become the first back-to-back winner since Bob Pettit in 1958 and 1959. Here are the former game MVP winners playing in today's game:

• Kobe Bryant (2002, 2007, 2009*)
• LeBron James (2006, 2008)
• Dwyane Wade (2009)
• Kevin Garnett (2003)
• Tim Duncan (2000*)

*denotes shared award

Charles Barkley, who won the 1991 All-Star MVP while with Philadelphia, will of course be in the house as well, as part of the TNT pregame and postgame broadcast crew. Here are the favorites to win All-Star Game MVP today, per our friends at Bodog:

• Bryant +500
• James +500
• Derrick Rose +600
• Kevin Durant +750
• Dwyane Wade +1000
• Dwight Howard +1000
• Carmelo Anthony +1000
  

The 60th NBA All-Star Game will be televised on TNT beginning with a 4 p.m. PST pregame show on TNT. The game broadcast begins at 5 p.m. PST.

2011 NBA All-Star Game: Kobe Bryant Climbing The Scoring List

Staples Center is the host of the 2011 NBA All-Star Game, and the Los Angeles fans will be rooting for their favorite son today. Kobe Bryant  of the Los Angeles Lakers has been named a starter for the 13th time, and he will play his 12th All-Star Game. Kobe has been steadily moving up the all-time NBA scoring chart this season, and is currently in eighth place with 27,222 points in his illustrious career. Already this season, Kobe has passed John Havlicek, Dominique Wilkins, Oscar Robertson, and Hakeem Olajuwon.

Kobe is also moving up the list of all-time scorers in All-Star history as well. Bryant has scored 207 points in his 11 career All-Star Games, which is good enough for seventh place in NBA history. With a good game, Kobe could be in fourth place by the end of the day.

Kobe has taken home the All-Star MVP trophy three times in his career: 2002 in Philadelphia, 2007 in Las Vegas, and 2009 in Phoenix (shared with Shaq). Those three games are also the only All-Star Games in which Kobe has taken more than 20 shots. The lesson here: if Kobe is shooting early and often, don't be surprised if the hometown favorite takes home his fourth All-Star MVP award.

For more news and Kobe Bryant and the Lakers, be sure to read Silver Screen and Roll.

2011 NBA All-Star Game: Time, Broadcast Info, Rosters, Etc

The 2011 NBA All-Star Game is finally here, as the 60th annual game will take place later today at Staples Center in Los Angeles. Kobe Bryant, Blake Griffin, LeBron James and more take the biggest stage tonight on TNT, the culmination of what has been a very entertaining All-Star Weekend. What are the details of tonight's event? Glad you asked...

• Official Name: 2011 NBA All-Star Game (a surprisingly normal name, although a title sponsor is KIA, in case you didn't know)
• Location: Staples Center, downtown Los Angeles
• TV Broadcast: TNT, with Marv Albert, Steve Kerr, Reggie Miller, Craig Sager, and Craig Sager's suit on the call
  
• Time: 5 p.m. PST
• Pregame Show: 4 p.m. PST, also on TNT, featuring a performance by Lenny Kravitz!
• Teams: View the rosters for the Western Conference and Eastern Conference.
• Local Competitors: Griffin continues his magical weekend with his third day of being the crowd favorite; Kobe Bryant is comparatively the elder statesman among local hosts; Pau Gasol is here, as are former UCLA Bruins Kevin Love and Russell Westbrook.
• Gambling Notes: Per our friends in Las Vegas, the Eastern Conference is a 2.5-point favorite. Kobe Bryant, who has won All-Star MVP in 2002, 2007, and 2009, is the favorite to win his fourth award, at +400. LeBron James and Kevin Durant are at +500 to win MVP, with Derrick Rose at +600 and Dwyane Wade at +700.
  
• History: The All-Star Game has been held in Los Angeles four previous times, with a future Hall of Famer winning MVP each time: 1963 (Bill Russell), 1972 (Jerry West), 1983 (Julius Erving), and 2004 (Shaquille O'Neal)
• What This Means For The Lakers: The good news for the Lakers is that in each of the four previous times Los Angeles has hosted an All-Star Game, the Lakers made the NBA Finals that season. The bad news is that in three of those years, the Lakers lost in those Finals, with their title coming in 1972.

2011 NBA All-Star Game: Western Conference Roster & Overview

The 2011 NBA All-Star Game will have quite a local flavor, as the Staples Center will have many Los Angeles players to root for, especially on the Western Conference. Kobe Bryant of the Lakers has his annual spot in the starting lineup, but will be joined by four others with local ties, including rookie and highlight machine Blake Griffin of the Clippers.

Pau Gasol of the Lakers has made his fourth NBA All-Star team, including his third with the Lakers, all in a row. The Western Conference squad is full of players with All-Star experience, but the three players making their All-Star debut all have Los Angeles roots. In addition to Griffin, fellow first-timers Russell Westbrook and Kevin Love were teammates for one season, in 2007-2008, at UCLA, helping the Bruins to reach the Final Four.

Love was a selection by NBA commissioner David Stern to replace the injured Yao Ming of the Rockets, who was voted to start but is out for the season. While Love took Yao's All-Star roster spot, Tim Duncan of the Spurs was picked to start at center by his coach, Gregg Popovich, making this the 12th consecutive All-Star start for the future Hall of Famer. Here is your full Western Conference All-Star Roster:

Starters

• Guard: Chris Paul, New Orleans (4th All-Star selection, 3rd game 2nd start)
• Guard: Kobe Bryant, Lakers (13th selection, 12th game, 12th start)
• Forward: Carmelo Anthony, Denver (4th game, 3rd start)
• Forward: Kevin Durant, Oklahoma City (2nd game, 1st start)
• Center: Tim Duncan, San Antonio (13th game, 12th start)

Reserves

• Guard: Manu Ginobili, San Antonio (2nd game)
• Guard: Deron Williams, Utah (2nd game)
• Guard: Russell Westbrook, Oklahoma City (1st game)
• Forward: Blake Griffin, Clippers (1st game)
• Forward: Pau Gasol, Lakers (4th game)
• Forward: Dirk Nowitzki, Dallas (10th game)
• Forward: Kevin Love, Minnesota (1st game)

Coach

Gregg Popovich, San Antonio

The 60th NBA All-Star Game will be televised Sunday at 5 p.m. PST on TNT, with the pregame show, NBA Tip-Off, on TNT at 4 p.m. PST.

2011 NBA All-Star Game: Eastern Conference Roster & Overview

The 2011 NBA All-Star Game is held at Staples Center in Los Angeles, so by default the Eastern Conference is the road team. The majority of the roster of the Eastern Conference All-Stars, coaches included, are likely to receive boos from the L.A. crowd, as there is a heavy Celtcs and Heat influence on the squad. Seven of the 12 players are on the Boston Celtics are Miami Heat, the teams with the two top records in the East.

Here is your full Eastern Conference All-Star Roster:

Starters

• Guard: Derrick Rose, Chicago (2nd All-Star Game for Rose, 1st start)
• Guard: Dwyane Wade, Miami (7th game, 6th start)
• Forward: LeBron James, Miami (7th game, 7th start)
• Forward: Amare Stoudemire, New York (6th game, 3rd start)
• Center: Dwight Howard, Orlando (5th game, 4th start)

Reserves

• Guard: Rajon Rondo, Boston (2nd game)
• Guard: Ray Allen, Boston (10th game)
• Guard: Joe Johnson, Atlanta (5th game)
• Forward: Paul Pierce, Boston (9th game)
• Forward: Kevin Garnett, Boston (14th selection, 13th game)
• Forward: Chris Bosh, Miami (6th selection, 5th game)
• Center: Al Horford, Atlanta (2nd game)

Coach

Doc Rivers, Boston

The 60th NBA All-Star Game will be televised Sunday at 5 p.m. PST on TNT, with the pregame show, NBA Tip-Off, on TNT at 4 p.m. PST.

NBA All-Star Weekend: Carmelo Anthony Rumors Dominate Day One

The first day of basketball activity is upon us for NBA All-Star Weekend, but all everyone wanted to talk about on Friday was Carmelo Anthony of the Denver Nuggets. Anthony, the disgruntled forward in the final year of his contract in Denver, has been the subject of trade discussions for weeks, mostly centering around the New Jersey Nets and New York Knicks. The Los Angeles Lakers have been rumored to be interested Anthony as well, though just about everybody has denied that on record.

Until today, that is. Anthony, speaking to reporters today after an NBA Cares charity event, shot down rumors of a reported deal in place between the Nuggets and Nets, subject to Carmelo signing an extension with New Jersey. At the same time, Anthony acknowledged the Lakers and Nuggets have in fact talked about a possible trade, telling reporters, "A couple days ago, [the Nuggets] were talking with the Lakers."

Also, per the Associated Press:

"Whether it’s Prokhorov or Dolan or (Lakers owner Jerry) Buss, the third team that just came out last week, whoever it is, you would want to sit down and have eye contact with him and get a feeling for him," Anthony said.

Anthony is an All-Star for the fourth time in his career this season, the third time as starter.

2011 NBA All-Star Game: Tim Duncan Named Starting Center For Western Conference

In a move that wasn't surprising at all, San Antonio Spurs head coach (and Western Conference All-Star head coach) Gregg Popovich named San Antonio Spurs center Tim Duncan the All-Star starter at center for the Western Conference on Sunday. Duncan will replace Yao Ming in the starting lineup, as Yao is out for the season. Kevin Love of the Minnesota Timberwolves was named earlier this month to replace Yao on the All-Star roster.

This move ensures that Duncan will start his 12th consecutive All-Star game. Duncan is averaging career lows in several categories this season (Duncan is averaging 13.4 points and 9.2 rebounds per game), but the Spurs are off to one of the best starts in NBA history, at 46-9. Popovich had no problem rewarding his center, per Jeff McDonald of Spurs Nation:

"I think it’s totally appropriate, and obvious he should be the starter," Popovich said. "I don’t have any problem with it."

Popovich also considered Pau Gasol or the Lakers and Dirk Nowitzki of the Mavericks to start at center, but the Duncan lifetime achievement award won out instead.

2011 NBA All-Star Weekend Schedule: The Best Players In The World Descend On Los Angeles

The 2011 NBA All-Star game is in Los Angeles this year, and the entire weekend kicks off earlier than you might think. Here is a full list of events, when you can catch them, and what you should know about them.

Friday:

• BBVA Celebrity Game, 4, ESPN: Because watching an entire 3d film dedicated to the life of Justin Beiber isn't enough for some of you people. You have to watch him play basketball too.
• T-Mobile Rookie Challenge, 6, TNT: The Rookies beat the Sophomores last year for the first time in recent memory. That winning team returns to face a new Rookie squad featuring Blake Griffin and others who intend to make life difficult for them. Eric Bledsoe of the Clippers is also on the rookie squad.
  

Saturday:

• D-League All-Star Game, 2, NBA TV: Check this game out if you want a preview of what NBA basketball is going to look like if the big boys go on strike next year. Not pretty.

• Haier Shooting Stars, 5, TNT: This is the most hodge-podge event the All-Star game puts together every year, including the Celebrity game. For some reason, they put a current player together with a WNBA player from the same city, and a legend of the franchise together to shoot from some spots on the floor. You can probably skip this one. 
• Taco Bell Skills Challenge, 5:30, TNT: This is when it starts to get good. The best point guards in the game try to weave their way around a basketball-centric obstacle course in the shortest amount of time. It sounds complex, but you kind of have to see it. Lots of good young talent on display in this one.
• Foot Locker 3-Pt Contest, Whenever the Skills Challenge is over, TNT: The best shooters in the game, or at least the best shooters willing to compete, try to earn bragging rights for the next calendar year. Ask Paul Pierce, he hasn't stopped talking about it since he won last year.
• Sprite Slam Dunk Contest, Whenever the 3-pt contest is over, TNT: This is the big show, or so we hope. It hasn't been good in a while, no matter what the hype says, but this year it should be good. Please save this event, Blake Griffin. No pressure though.

Sunday:

• 60th Annual All-Star Game, 4, TNT: This is what you've all been waiting for. All offense, no defense, and lots of dunks. Should be a good one this year, and the conclusion of an awfully busy weekend for Blake Griffin.