East upset West in NBA All-Star Game, Lillard named MVP

2 years ago - Sportingbase

A record-setting scoring tally was enough to propel the Eastern Conference All-Stars to a 211-186 win over their Western Conference counterparts to wrap up All-Star Weekend in Indianapolis.

Fresh off a 3 Point Contest crown, Milwaukee’s Damian Lillard was named the All-Star Game MVP for the first time in his career having put up 39 points on 14-of-26 from the field and 11-of-23 from three.

Much to the dismay of the Pacers-leaning crowd, local hero Tyrese Haliburton (32 pts, 7 reb, 6 ast, 10/14 3PM) was unable to beat out Lillard in the race for the game’s MVP despite a 92-second span in the opening quarter in which he made five threes.

Jaylen Brown (36 pts, 8 reb, 6/12 3PM), Giannis Antetokounmpo (23 pts, 7 reb), and Jayson Tatum (20 pts, 4/9 3PM) were among the other standouts for the East.

A clearly lackadaisical West team were led by Karl-Anthony Towns (50 pts, 8 reb, 23/35 FG) along with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (31 pts, 6 ast, 12/16 FG) and Kevin Durant (18 pts, 5 reb, 5 ast).

The reintroduction of the East-versus-West format did little to increase the intensity of the game which, from the opening tip, was devoid of any type of attention on the defensive end.