The West won the NBA All Star game for the second year running. Al Dannity looks back on a big weekend of action.
Durant comes big as Black Mamba makes history Injury concerns blighted an otherwise entertaining NBA All Star game on Sunday night. The most notable knock of the night came as Kobe Bryant busted his nose and suffered a mild concussion. Considering Black Mamba is already playing through the pain, NBA Basketball betting fans know the last thing the Lakers need is for their star to carry more knocks through the rest of the regular season. It wasn’t all bad news for Kobe as he eclipsed Michael Jordan’s all-time scoring record in All Star games.
Luol Deng paid tribute to his African roots with a warm-up t-shirt featuring an outline of the continent. Deng will represent Britain at the London 2012 Olympics but was born in South Sudan and wanted to shine a positive light on Africa at the game. Unfortunately for the Bulls, Deng landed badly after a fall and may have suffered a significant wrist injury.
The on-court highlights were dominated by the Oklahoma City Thunder. Russell Westbrook was a human highlight reel whenever he hit the floor while his team-mate Kevin Durant took home MVP honors. Durant, who described winning the award as fulfilling a childhood dream, scored 36 points and had 7 boards as the West won out 152-149. Despite coming out on the losing end, it was still a good night for LeBron James. The Miami Heat star, and MVP front-runner, had 36 points and 7 assists. His Heat team-mate Dwayne Wade was second top scorer for the East with 24 points.
Jeremy Evans goes big and Morrow shows class The highlight of All Star weekend, outside of the main event, was the Sprite Slam Dunk Contest. Jeremy Evans won over fans with his mix of props and elaborate jams to take home the honors. The highlight for Evans was his double-dunk over Gordon Hayward.
In the three-point contest, Anthony Morrow may not have won any trophies but he certainly won the crowd. Morrow paid tribute to former New Jersey Nets’ star Drazen Petrovic by wearing the Croat’s jersey for the contest. Petrovic died aged just 28 in a car accident back in 1993. One of the first Europeans to break through on the NBA stage, Petrovic had a memorable duel with Michael Jordan in the 1992 Olympic final and was a noted threat from beyond the arc in his brief NBA career.
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