Towns Drops 50, East All-Stars Still Win with Ease
The 2024 NBA All-Star Game took place in Indianapolis, Indiana on Sunday, February 19 in the Indiana Pacers' very own Gainbridge Fieldhouse. The starters for the Eastern Conference All-Stars were as follows: The Pacers' very own point guard Tyrese Haliburton joined in the backcourt by Milwaukee Bucks point guard Damian Lillard, Boston Celtics small forward Jayson Tatum at the three-position joined by Bucks power forward Giannis Antetokounmpo at the four-position, and Miami Heat center Bam Adebayo finishing off the starting lineup for the East. The Eastern Conference All-Star reserves in this game were Orlando Magic power forward Paolo Banchero, Toronto Raptors small forward Scottie Barnes, New York Knicks point guard Jalen Brunson, Atlanta Hawks point guard Trae Young, Philadelphia 76ers point guard Tyrese Maxey, Cleveland Cavaliers shooting guard Donovan Mitchell, and Boston Celtics shooting guard Jaylen Brown.
The starters for the Western Conference All-Stars were Oklahoma City Thunder point guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander joined in the backcourt by Dallas Mavericks point guard Luka Doncic, Los Angeles Lakers small forward LeBron James, and Phoenix Suns power forward Kevin Durant rounding out the three and four positions. Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic finished off the Western Conference All-Star starters. Meanwhile, the Western Conference All-Star reserves were Los Angeles Lakers power forward Anthony Davis, Los Angeles Clippers forward Paul George, Los Angeles Clippers small forward Kawhi Leonard, Minnesota Timberwolves center Karl Anthony Towns, Golden State Warriors point guard Stephen Curry, Phoenix Suns shooting guard Devin Booker, and Minnesota Timberwolves shooting guard Anthony Edwards.
The first quarter was a close one as the East All-Stars were able to jump out to a little bit of a lead but were not able to stretch it into double digits as they ended the quarter with a 53-47 lead as Tyrese Maxey knocked down a triple with two seconds remaining in the period. They continued to extend their lead in the second quarter as Jaylen Brown made a two-point shot on their last possession to put the East up 104-89 as both teams headed into the locker room.
Coming out of the break it would be more of the same for these two squads as the East would continue to extend their lead. A 28-foot three-pointer made by Trae Young with one second remaining in the period would give the East a 160-136 lead as the game headed into the last period of play. If you know anything about our modern-day NBA All-Star Game you know it is all offense, no defense so once a team gets up by a considerable margin and continues to score at a steady pace, there is no coming back for their opponent. This was the case in this one from the very tip-off as the East was easily better than the West. A 44-foot three-pointer by Damian Lillard on the East’s last possession of the game would give this game its final score of 211-186.
While Karl Anthony Towns had an amazing game scoring 50 points on the night as did Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scoring 31 points, they could not stop the insane scoring by the Eastern Conference All-Stars. Antetokounmpo had 23 points, Tatum had 20, Brown had 36, Haliburton had 32 and ten triples, and Lillard led the way with a team-high 39 points and 11 triples. Lillard also took home his first NBA All-Star Game MVP, joining legend Michael Jordan as the only two players ever to win an event on Saturday night and be named NBA All-Star Game MVP. While this NBA All-Star Game saw the most points ever scored in an NBA All-Star Game with the East scoring 211 points, we will all expect that record to be broken once again next year as most if not all of these guys will be back again to play against each other in the Golden State Warriors very own Chase Center in San Francisco.
