G League call-up Mac McClung could have “saved” the NBA Slam Dunk Contest on Saturday, but it surely now seems the NBA All-Star Game itself is in want of saving. Team Giannis defeated Team LeBron, 184-175, on Sunday in Salt Lake City in a recreation that extra intently resembled a layup line or capturing observe than a aggressive basketball recreation between the world’s greatest athletes. The Elam Ending supplied a little bit of drama within the fourth quarter as Team LeBron tried to erase a 19-point deficit, however the remainder of the sport lacked any kind of competitiveness or edge on the defensive finish of the courtroom.
Celtics star Jayson Tatum gained MVP honors after setting an All-Star Game report with 55 factors, lots of which got here with little to no resistance.
Denver Nuggets coach Michael Malone, who helmed the dropping Team LeBron on Sunday night time, did not mince phrases after the sport, talking out towards the shortage of effort from either side.
“It’s an honor to be right here. It’s an honor to be part of an awesome weekend, nice gamers. But that’s the worst basketball recreation ever performed,” Malone stated after the All-Star recreation. “I do not know for those who can repair it. I give Joel Embiid, Kyrie Irving — these guys have been like, competing. Joel was imploring a few of the guys to play tougher, to attempt to get some protection in. No one obtained damage, they placed on a present for the followers, however that may be a powerful recreation to sit down by means of. I’m not gonna lie.”
Malone wasn’t the one one who seen, as followers and media alike remarked all through the sport concerning the high quality — or lack thereof — in the course of the 2023 version.
As Malone talked about, Embiid and Irving appeared to at the least be competing, combining for 67 factors, 20 assists, 20 rebounds and 4 steals, but it surely’s simply tough to get the league’s greatest gamers to go laborious in an exhibition setting, notably with the playoffs lower than two months away.
Case in level, LeBron James tried to play protection within the first half, making an attempt to dam a layup from Pascal Siakam. In the method, he caught his hand on the rim and was dominated out for the second half as a result of harm.
With the Los Angeles Lakers scratching and clawing for a playoff spot, James will rue the day he tried to play protection in an All-Star recreation if it means lacking even one of many crew’s upcoming essential video games.
So as Malone stated, there will not be a repair, notably in a conventional format. The league applied the Elam Ending with the goal rating a couple of years in the past, which has helped within the remaining quarter, however there’s actually not a lot to do concerning the first three quarters. These are the elite of the elite, they usually’re merely not going to danger their well being for a recreation that in the end has no bearing on standings.
Unless there is a important change in mindset from the gamers, or the league by way of a revised format, do not count on future All-Star Games to be a lot completely different.
