Los Angeles (United States) (AFP) – Anthony Edwards and Tyrese Maxey sparked the USA Stars over USA Stripes 47-21 in Sunday’s final of the 75th NBA All-Star Game tournament. Maxey scored nine points while Edwards and Chet Holmgren added eight each as young Stars talent overwhelmed the veteran-laden USA Stripes in the championship game at Intuit Dome, home of the Los Angeles Clippers. “We chose to compete today and we came out on top,” said Edwards, the Minnesota Timberwolves guard who won the NBA All-Star Game Most Valuable Player award.
The Stars began the final with a 12-1 run, powered by seven points from Maxey, as the Stripes missed their first 10 shots. The Stars later added a 15-0 run for a 33-9 advantage and the Stripes could not muster a rally. Donovan Mitchell had six points and NBA all-time scoring leader LeBron James, an All-Star for a record 22nd time, added five for the Stripes in the final. Instead of the usual two-team event, NBA stars played a tournament of four 12-minute games between two US sides and a World group of global talent.
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Concerns about lackluster effort in past All-Star contests were eased in the new format, which produced hustle, defensive effort, plus competitive spark and a high-energy hunger to win. “I know a lot of people have been concerned about the All-Star Game, not seeing as much effort. Today we saw it,” said former US President Barack Obama, who was seated at courtside. “Whenever you get an international team against an American team, they want to compete — and you’ve got some young guys I think want to prove something out here.”
The World needed to beat USA Stripes in the round-robin finale to advance, but Kawhi Leonard scored 31 points, including the deciding three-pointer with 3.5 seconds remaining, for a 48-45 Stripes triumph. “I made my first one, kept on from there and they just kept falling,” said Leonard, who hit 6-of-7 three-point shots. Frenchman Victor Wembanyama led the World with 19 points.
In the round-robin opener, Edwards scored 13 points and Scottie Barnes sank the winning three-pointer in overtime as the USA Stars beat the World 37-35. Wembanyama had 14 points, six rebounds, and three blocks in an intense contest. “I ain’t going to lie, Wemby set the tone,” Edwards said. “He came out hard and we had to follow that. We had to pick it up and we did that.” A tying Edwards three-pointer forced overtime at 32-32. With the first team to score five points winning, Edwards hit a basket, Wembanyama answered with a three-pointer, and Barnes made the game winner.
“Once it got a little tight, the competition picked up, guys wanted to win,” World’s Norman Powell said. “We were going to compete every single possession.” Game two saw more drama when De’Aaron Fox sank a three-pointer at the buzzer to give USA Stripes a 42-40 triumph over USA Stars. An Edwards three-pointer gave the Stars a 40-39 edge until Fox answered from the left wing. “You live for these moments,” James said. “That’s a big time play for us older heads… We know how to keep our heads and execute.” Jaylen Brown scored 11 points and James added eight to lead the Stripes while Edwards and Cade Cunningham led the Stars with 11 points each.
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