Led by Cleveland Cavalier and NBA phenom, Lebron James, the eastern conference all-stars rallied in the second half to come back and defeat the western conference all-stars 122-120. James, who scored 29 points and was also named the game’s MVP, was one of the key components in the eastern conference’s 21 point comeback, but the defense exhibited from the four members of the Piston’s squad, Chauncey Billups, Richard Hamilton, Rasheed Wallace, and Ben Wallace, in the fourth quarter are what held the west back for the two point victory.
The first quarter ended with the score tied at 28, but by the end of the first half, the western conference embarked on a 23-8 run, and led the east 70-53 at halftime. Houston’s Tracy McGrady, who put up game MVP numbers, led all scorers with 17 points in the first half.
In the second half the western conference came out of the locker room as if attempting to go on another scoring tangent with McGrady scoring the first four points of the half, but James brought the lead down to the low double digits by scoring 13 points in the first six minutes of the third period. At the beginning of the fourth quarter the west’s lead was down to only three points, 97-94.
The fourth quarter was highlighted throughout by the defensive intensity of the four members of the Pistons who all graced the floor at the same time. Pistons guard Hamilton said, “We went out there and did us, that’s how we play.” Laker guard Kobe Bryant just coming off a career high 81 points wasn’t a dominant force throughout the game, but he hit a jumper with 31 seconds left to tie the game at 120. The tie didn’t last long as the acrobatic Wade drove through the lane of a rebound and scored with 16 seconds left. The east held on to the win as final shot attempts by the west failed.
McGrady led all scorers with 36 points. James became the youngest all star game MVP in history with the east’s victory.