Kobe Bryant – the man who would own the night, regardless of the outcome – was above the 3-point line midway in the first half, leaning down, swinging the ball right to left and sizing up LeBron James. James accepted the challenge, slapped the floor with both hands and stretched out his arms daring Bryant. Laughing the whole way through, James swiped at the ball, then crowded Bryant, forcing him into an errant fadeaway that hit the front of the rim.
Even by All-Star Game standards, the defensive effort by both teams Sunday at Air Canada Centre was abominable, with a mind-boggling 369 points scored and 139 3-pointers attempted. But for Russell Westbrook and Paul George – two Southern California natives who grew up idolizing and mimicking the ultra-competitive Bryant and were unconcerned about simply surviving the game unharmed – the turnstile defense served as an invitation to assault the scoreboard and the record book.
“That’s the only way I know how to go,” Westbrook said after scoring 31 points with eight rebounds and five assists to lead the Western Conference to a 196-173 victory over the Eastern Conference.
George scored a game-high 41 points for the East, coming one point shy of matching Wilt Chamberlain’s single-game record and matching Westbrook’s output from last season, when the Thunder guard took advantage of the previous low standard for defensive apathy. But Westbrook would emerge from Sunday’s game as the first player to win outright MVP honors in consecutive years.
Westbrook plays with a fury, raging against the world and waging war on rims every time he steps on the court. That intensity remained Sunday, but Westbrook also revealed another side of his personality, reveling in being elected an All-Star starter for the first time in his eight-year career.