Allen, LeBron lead West to victory in NBA All-Star Game

NEW ORLEANS (Louisiana)—LeBron James and Ray Allen took command late after the East squandered a big lead to spark a 134-128 victory over the West in Sunday’s 57th National Basketball Association All-Star Game.
Allen, a late All-Star injury substitute, scored 14 of his 28 points in the final 3:14 while NBA scoring leader James had 27 points, nine assists and eight rebounds to win Most Valuable Player honors for the second time in three years.
“We really wanted this win,” James said. “To add the MVP trophy with the win means a lot to me. Competitive-wise, it was the best one. You could probably see on all the guys’ faces in the fourth quarter how bad we all wanted it.”
The West fell behind 95-79 in the third quarter but Chris Paul and Amare Stoudemire ignited a comeback and German forward Dirk Nowitzki gave the West their first lead at 112-110 with 6:52 to play, completing a 17-2 West run.
Then eight-time All-Star Allen caught fire from 3-point range when it mattered most, hitting three 3-pointers to finish 5-of-9 from beyond the arc and adding a layup and three free throws in the last seconds to secure victory.
“It has probably been my best All-Star Game,” Allen said. “I was feeling good out there. I knew I was going to get some good shots off. It was just a matter of whether or not I made them.”
Allen, the backcourt star of the NBA-leading Boston Celtics, made shot after shot to keep the game tight, setting the stage for the final drama.
“Ray just got hot. I couldn’t believe how hot he was,” said West star Amare Stoudemire. “We came up with an incredible run in the fourth quarter but Ray kept them in the game.”
After Allen’s trio of 30-pointers, Cleveland Cavaliers playmaker James put the East ahead for good with a drive to the basket for a slam dunk over two defenders with 55 seconds to play.
“I wanted to try and be aggressive, go to the hole and try to get a foul or a layup,” James said. “I saw those bigs and I didn’t want to pull up. I wanted to go strong and I was able to dunk it through.”
“We did a good job of executing. Ray hit some of the biggest shots of the game and I put the finishing touch on it with the dunk.”
That was the moment when West coach Byron Scott missed injured Los Angeles Lakers guard Kobe Bryant, who played only the first 2:52 before going to the bench to stay because of a torn tendon and broken bone in his right pinky.
“Kobe would have loved that play,” Scott said. “LeBron is a freight train when he goes to the basket. It’s hard to stop him when he is going like that.”
The triumph lifted the East’s edge in the all-time rivalry to 35-22. The East won for the third time in four years after losing 153-132 last year.
“They lost in a big way last year and I don’t care what type of game it is, they remember that,” East coach Doc Rivers said.
Dwight Howard added 16 points for the East while Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh had 14 points each and Jason Kidd had 10 assists.
Carmelo Anthony, Amare Stoudemire and Brandon Roy each scored 18 points to lead the West while Chris Paul added 16 points and 14 assists.
“The fourth quarter was crazy,” Paul said. “We were down 13. We picked up the intensity. We took the lead a few times but Ray Allen was unbelievable the way he shot the ball.
“And that last dunk by LeBron, we had two people on him but that still wasn’t enough.”
The East jumped ahead 18-7 on the way to a 74-65 half-time lead with James and Howard each scoring 12 first-half points. They exchanged assists and dunks on three East possessions in a row for the biggest cheers of the first half.—Agencies