JAYSON Tatum waxed hot in the second half as Team Giannis prevailed over Team LeBron, 184-175, in the 2023 NBA All-Star Game on Sunday night (Monday in the Philippines) at the Vivint Arena in Salt Lake City, Utah.
The Boston Celtics forward converted an NBA All-Star record of 55 points, with 38 coming in the last two quarters, to go with 10 rebounds and six assists to be hailed as the Kobe Bryant NBA All-Star Finals Most Valuable Player.
Donovan Mitchell of Cleveland Cavaliers and Damian Lillard of Portland Trail Blazers drilled eight three-pointers each to end up with 40 and 26 markers, respectively, with the former adding in 10 assists for Team Giannis.
Lauri Markannen of host team Utah Jazz also made his presence felt with 13 points and seven rebounds as Paskal Siakam chipped in 12 points, seven rebounds and four assists for the winning team.
From a tight battle in the opening quarter until midway in second period before Team Giannis pulled away to a 99-92 halftime lead on consecutive three-pointers from Lillard and a dunk by Tatum.
Team Giannis pulled away further in the third quarter with Tatum dropping 27 points, while Lillard and Mitchell catching fire from outside for a 158-141 lead and set up a target score of 182 points.
Team LeBron made a huge run in the untimed fourth quarter as they cut the deficit to 175-181 on three-pointers of Tyrese Haliburton and inside hits by Jaylen Brown before Lillard sealed the win for Team Giannis with a long triple.
Brown tallied 35 points and 14 rebounds, Kyrie Irving and Joel Embiid finished with 32 markers apiece, while Haliburton, Anthony Edwards and Julius Randle had 18, 12 and 11, respectively, for Team LeBron.
Team captains Giannis Antetokounmpo of Milwaukee Bucks and LeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers played just limited time on the exhibition game due to injuries.
Antetokounmpo only played the first 20 seconds of the game and finished with two points on a dunk before being subbed out as he is still recovering from a wrist injury.
James, on the other hand, suited up for 14 minutes to end up with 13 points, four assists and one rebound before sitting out the second half due to a hand injury./PN
BOX SCORE:
TEAM GIANNIS 184 — Tatum 55, Mitchell 40, Lillard 26, Markannen 13, Siakam 12, Gilgeous-Alexander 9, DeRozan 8, Morant 6, Sabonis 6, Adebayo 4, Holiday 3, Antetokounmpo 2.
TEAM LEBRON 175 — Brown 35, Irving 32, Embiid 32, Haliburton 18, James 13, Edwards 12, Randle 11, George 8, Jackson 6, JokiÄ 4, Doncic 4, Fox 0.
Quarterscores: 46-46, 99-92, 158-141, 184-175.
