EAST CLAIMS ALLSTAR GLORY

 

(Image taken from NBA.com)

Well, the 2010 Allstar Game was ready to roll in Dallas. Slight problem, there turned out to be a few changes in the lineups mentioned in my preview. First up, for the East, Iversen found himself injured so coach Stan van Gundy(Magic) replaced him in the starting lineup with Johnson. Then for the West, Kobe was injured so coach George Karl(Nuggets) took the interesting step of having Nowitski start as a guard. Those weren't the only issues.

As far as bench players were concerned, well Johnson's promotion to the starting lineup for the East meant that NBA commissioner David Stern had to nominate a last minute replacement for their bench. That turned out to be David Lee(Knicks) someone that should have been picked first time around. As for the West bench, well along with Nowiski's promotion to the starting lineup, Roy and Parl were out with injury. So to replace them, Stern nominated Chauncey Billups(Nuggets) - not complaining, Chris Kamen(Clippers) - someone that wasn't even on the original Allstar ballot and Jason Kidd(Mavs) - bucking the trend of youngsters being picked for bench duty but he's still solid and it would keep the local fans happy.

So, showtime. Well to be honest the game started relatively flat - or at least it did for the East as the West went on a 6-0 run with the East not opening the scoring for over two minutes. After that though things became much more fired up but still, the West continued to have the edge, that was untill the East took the lead midway through the quarter and then it became a duel for the lead with the East players looking like they meant business on the occasion. The West came back late on only for the East to pull away again and this time hold on, leading a typically high scoring encounter 37-34 at the first buzzer with Howard leading the way, having grabbed 11 points.

Of course, it is nearly impossible to dominate an Allstar game and the West took advantage of their better quality bench to turn the game back around in their favour. Furthermore, the players were now really cutting loose, crazy passes and dunks ahoy and the East took the edge again. The West were seemingly being silenced though as the East built up a six point lead, based partly on some of their more defensive orientated players - I suppose some habits die hard. Either way it allowed the East to cruise their way into half time with a 76-69 lead thanks mainly to the efforts of LeBron, the leading vote grabber having picked up 11 points by this stage.

The third quarter saw the West squad seemingly playing dead at the start and that allowed the East to surge into a double digit lead in what was looking a relatively one-sided Allstar Game. The West then finally got on a run to cut the deficit down to seven but there was still a lot of work to do. Sure enough, again the West, despite local support, found themselves frozen out though they did rally again, this time cutting the deficit to six. The East were the side that looked like they meant business though. The West were certainly still in the match at the buzzer but the team in blue were leading 118-109 with LeBron on 21 points backed up by Wade on 20 points.

The fourth quarter is always where both sides get serious about winning the match at the West didn't hang around, holding the East scoreless for best part of two minutes. Scores were thin on the fround but roard on by a record number of locals, the West managed to tie the game with 6:40 on the clock. The East built up another lead though, and this time it looked to be game over, barring an amazing comeback from the men in red. Well it almost happened. With 1:35 on the clock the game was tied at 137. And then in the dying second a stupid fdoul cost the West the game. The look on Nowitski's face said it all. The East won 141-139. Wade led the scorers on 28 points, backed up by LeBron on 25 and Bosch coming off the bench for 23.

So, the East won the Allstar Game for the first time since '08 and as for the MVP award? Well that went to Dwayne Wade. He made his Allstar Game debut in '05 and has been a sure bet for the East team ever since. He was first voted in as a starter in '06 and likewise, has been a solid fan favourite ever since. It's still the first time he's made Allstar MVP though so congrats to him and the East for a classy performance.

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