Tuesday – 30 Rajab 1444 AH – 21 February 2023 AD Issue Number [16156]
Los Angeles: «Asharq Al-Awsat»
Jason Tatum scored 55 points to lead Yannis Antetokounmpo’s team to defeat LeBron James 184-175 in the traditional “All-Star” match that annually brings together the most prominent players in the NBA.
And in Utah, Salt Lake City, Boston Celtics star Tatum, who was named player of the match, broke the record for points in a major exhibition game, which was registered as Anthony Davis (52 points in 2017), and also broke the record in Number of points in one quarter by scoring 27 points in the third period.
“It’s an incredible achievement for me,” Tatum said. I’d be lying if I said I thought about scoring 55, but in the third quarter I was excited and kept scoring. Records are made to be broken, I will keep the record as long as I can but for sure someone will try to break it in a matter of years.
And he also starred in the ranks of the “Yannis” team, Damian Lillard, the star of the Portland Trail Blazers, who won the three-point competition on Saturday, by scoring 26 points, including 8 triples, the last of which was the winning triple, but the most prominent of which was a wonderful long triple from about 15 meters.
Their teammate Yannis, Cleveland Cavaliers star Donovan Mitchell, was the second-best scorer in the match, with 40 points and 10 rebounds, thus contributing to LeBron’s first loss in the new all-star match system adopted since 2018; Where the two captains choose their players from the All-Star list. James, who played the All-Star game for the nineteenth time in his professional career, breaking the record for the number of posts he shared with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, scored 13 points with 4 assists and one follow-up in 14 minutes. “I’ll be fine,” LeBron said of his injury. I don’t think it’s a worrying injury and it’s just a matter of precautionary measures, he should have been rested for the rest of the night.
The substitute, Celtics star Gaylen Brown, was the best scorer in the ranks of LeBron, with 35 points and 14 rebounds, and the Cameroonian Joel Embiid and newcomer to the Dallas Mavericks Kyrie Irving added 32 points with 7 rebounds and 15 assists for the second.
Denver Nuggets giant Nikola Jokic, who became the first player to start the All-Star Game on his birthday, added just 4 points.
The match witnessed some funny moments, when James played the ball to the backboard to take advantage of the rebound and score a basket, which Tatum responded to immediately using the same method.
The Greek giant of the Milwaukee Bucks, Antitokonmo, scored the first basket in the match, then left the field immediately, so that his right wrist injury that he suffered last week would not worsen, and he said after the match: “I could not participate in the entire match, but I wanted to play even for 10 seconds.” I’m sweating a little bit in the shirt because I want to be part of this big show.