Jayson Tatum wins NBA All-Star Game MVP, Team Giannis tops Team LeBron

Milwaukee Bucks’ Giannis Antetokounmpo lift the trophy after his team won the NBA All-Star game between Team Giannis and Team LeBron at the Vivint arena in Salt Lake City, Utah, February 19, 2023. (Photo by Patrick T. Fallon / AFP)

Jayson Tatum of the Boston Celtics scored an All-Star Game record 55 points, knocked down 10 3-pointers and earned MVP honors while leading Team Giannis to a 184-175 victory over Team LeBron on Sunday night in the annual showcase game at Salt Lake City.

Damian Lillard of the Portland Trail Blazers drained the decisive 3-pointer to get Team Giannis past the target score of 182.

The Cleveland Cavaliers’ Donovan Mitchell, formerly of the Utah Jazz, made eight 3-pointers while delivering 40 points and 10 assists for Team Giannis. Lillard also made eight 3-pointers while scoring 26 points.

Jaylen Brown of the Celtics led Team LeBron with 35 points and a game-high 14 rebounds. Kyrie Irving of the Dallas Mavericks had 32 points and 15 assists and Joel Embiid of the Philadelphia 76ers also scored 32 points for Team LeBron.

Tatum split two free throws to get point No. 53 and make it 177-162. He surpassed the 52 points set by Anthony Davis in 2017.

Tatum was 22-of-31 shooting and also contributed 10 rebounds and six assists. His 10 treys are second in All-Star history behind the 16 that Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors made in last season’s game.

LeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers missed the second half after injuring his right hand in the first half. James hit his pinky finger on the rim while trying to block a shot by Pascal Siakam of the Toronto Raptors.

James, who scored 13 points in 14-plus minutes while serving as captain of Team LeBron, shares the All-Star selections record of 19 with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. He fell to 5-1 as an All-Star captain.

Also, Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo scored the game’s first points on a dunk 15 seconds into the contest and then exited for the night. The captain of Team Giannis sprained his right wrist in Milwaukee’s final regular-season game before the break on Thursday night. He is now 1-2 as a captain.

Tatum (27 points), Mitchell (14) and Lillard (14) combined for 55 of Team Giannis’ 59 third-quarter points as the squad took a 158-141 advantage.

Tatum was 10 of 14 from the field in the quarter, including 7 of 11 from 3-point range.

Another third-quarter highlight was Lillard stopping just short of the halfcourt line and swishing the long-range shot to make it 142-125 with 4:10 left in the period.

Team Giannis led 99-92 at halftime with Tatum scoring 17 points and Mitchell adding 16. Irving had 18 on 8-of-9 shooting to pace Team LeBron.

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