Irving helps East rally past West
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}New Orleans, LA (SportsNetwork.com) - Kyrie Irving's fellow All-Stars joked that he didn't give a proper pose after receiving the game's MVP trophy.
"They were telling me to hold it above my head," Irving said.
The 21-year-old may still have some things to learn, but his performance was no joke.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Irving netted 15 of his 31 points in the fourth quarter and the East defeated the West, 163-155, in the 63rd edition of the NBA All-Star Game.
Irving was 14-of-17 from the field and added 14 assists for the East, who scored the game's final 10 points after trailing by as many as 18 in the third quarter.
The 318 combined points set an All-Star Game record, as did the 163 points that the East recorded.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The West had won three straight All-Star Games and five of the last seven.
"We took this one personal," Irving said of the win.
Carmelo Anthony made an All-Star record eight 3-pointers and finished with 30 points, LeBron James registered 22 points, seven rebounds and seven assists and Paul George chipped in with 18 points for the East.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"They beat us the last three years and they had a lot of bragging rights, so to be able to come through being down 18 was huge," James said.
Kevin Durant and Blake Griffin netted 38 points apiece -- four shy of Wilt Chamberlain's All-Star Game record -- to lead the West. Griffin shot 19-of-23 from the field, while Durant also had 10 rebounds and six assists.
Durant, who at one point this year netted 30-or-more points in 12 straight games, has gone for 30-or-more in four consecutive All-Star Games.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"I was just going out there trying to have fun with the game," Durant said. "Of course you want to win. We were up 18, but leads in this game come and go."
It was the first All-Star Game since 1996 that didn't feature a Los Angeles Laker. Kobe Bryant had made 16 straight All-Star Game appearances and was voted in as a starter, but was unable to participate due to a left knee fracture.
The players wore sleeved jerseys for the first time during an All-Star Game.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Durant's deep step-back left wing triple staked the West to a 155-153 edge with 1:59 remaining, but George was fouled on a 3-point attempt at the other end and sunk all three free throws to give the East the lead for good.
Durant then missed a driving layup before Irving pulled down an offensive rebound at the other end and hit Anthony, who knocked down a left wing trey to give the East a 155-159 cushion with 1:04 to go.
Durant misfired on a triple from the top of the key on the West's next trip down the floor and Irving set up James for a game-clinching layup.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Neither team led by more than four in the fourth until the James basket.
It was the East that got off to a fast start as James threw down a pair of dunks early on before his reverse layup gave his conference a 17-9 lead.
Griffin led the way for the West from there, putting on most of his dunking exhibition in the opening frame. He tallied eight slams on his nine made field goals over the first 12 minutes.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}After Durant threw down Stephen Curry's over-the-backboard lob on an out-of-bounds play, Curry then tossed a one-handed underneath alley-oop pass to Griffin for a dunk.
James answered with a spectacular jam of his own less than a minute later after playing give-and-go with Anthony. James took in his lob pass from the lower left block and windmilled the ball home with his left hand to make it 19-13 in favor of the East.
Griffin then threw down a trio of ferocious slams in a one-minute span.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Midway through the frame after some fancy dribbling from Chris Paul, his pass hit Griffin speeding through the lane and he slammed down a thunderous windmill. Griffin then finished a pair of alley-oop passes from his teammate Paul, the second which cut the margin to 30-27.
Tony Parker's driving layup gave the West their first lead, 44-42, with 29 seconds to go in the stanza.
The tilt was tied 56-56 a little before the midway point of the second before the West used a 16-4 run to open up the game's first double-digit lead.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Hometown hero Anthony Davis highlighted the burst by slamming down two more Paul alley-oop passes in a 16-second span. The second dunk came off a Paul dish off the backboard. Durant capped the surge with a 3-pointer for a 72-60 West margin with 4:09 left in the quarter.
The West led 89-76 at the break.
Back-to-back triples by James Harden and Kevin Love extended the West advantage to 123-105 with 4:39 left in the third, but Joe Johnson and George nailed 3-pointers during a 16-0 East swing, which was concluded on a DeMar DeRozan jumper to cut the deficit to 123-121.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The West held a 126-121 spread going into the fourth.
Game Notes
The 318 points surpassed the previous mark of 303 set in 1987, while the 163 points topped the East's 155 set in 2003 ... The 100 total 3-pointers attempted set a record, although neither team shot better than 32 percent from beyond the arc ... The East shot 60.9 percent (70-of-115), while the West finished 51.2 percent (65-of-127) from the field ... One of the game officials included Violet Plamer, who became the first female to referee one of the four major sports' All-Star Games.