February 20, 2005
The East Won the 54th NBA All-Star
Game In an Exciting Overtime
East 144 - West 140
[ Box Score: -
East- -
West- -
Team Stats- ]
The best of the best gathered in Denver, Colorado for the 54th annual NBA
All-Star Game. The most exciting event of the season was worth every penny
that was invested in it, the audience got a fabulous show to watch.
The West started big: they opened the game with a 7-0 run and shot over 60%
throughout the first quarter. Ray Allen and Baron Davis took care of the scoring,
at the same time pulling off some wicked dunks. The duo combined 21 in the
opening period. The Eastern All-Stars were in a deep hole until Vince Carter
came in. He helped his team to pull back from a 19 to 13 in a few minutes as he
scored 10 points at 5/5 shooting. The first ended at the score 42-29 for the West.
The East started a furious rally towards the lead. They out rebounded the West
13-8 and shot 67% . Jason Kidd was the most productive player on the court,
he had 10 points, 3 assists and two steals. Kobe Bryant Pulled off a wild dunk on
Ricky Davis and Vince Carter, at the other end Ben Wallace was rocking the
rim. The difference decreased to 5 as the West was still on top 71-66. The best
performances were put up by Hornet's Baron Davis (12pts, 3rebs, 3asts, 2stls) and
Detroit's Ben Wallace (12pts, 6rebs, 2stls).
Kevin Garnett scored the first two in the second half and let everybody know that
West isn't going to give the lead away. The third quarter turned out to be a two
man battle between the pointguards Gilbert Arenas and Baron Davis. The two
players scored a combined 14 consecutive points during the period. The top candidate
for the season MVP, Kevin Garnett had been shy in the first two quarters but this
didn't stop him from scoring in the third. The West Grew it's lead back to 13
thanks to great shooting from the field. With 12 minutes to go the score was 107-94
for the Western All-Stars.
The Eastern All-Stars were in front of a tough assignment. A 13-point deficit to
come back from. They played some good defense and managed to hold the West
to 22 points, which is a quite low score for an All-Star Game. Ray Allen and
Baron Davis combined 13 in the fourth quarter and 65 throughout the whole game.
Arenas nailed 3 very important 3-pointers down the stretch and forced the game to
overtime. The score was 129-129.
Both of the teams shot poorly in the overtime. The West managed to pull ahead,
but only for a few minutes. The key figures of the OT were guards Paul Pierce and
Richard Hamilton. They scored 13 of the teams 15 points in the OT and posted a
144-140 victory for the Eastern All-Stars.
There were a lot of options for the game MVP: Minnesota's forward Kevin Garnett
(18pts, 11rebs, 3asts, 2blks, 3stls), Seattle's Ray Allen (32pts, 4rebs, 3asts, 5stls),
New Orleans' Baron Davis (33pts, 6rebs, 8asts, 4stls), Richard Hamilton who
dominated OT (7 of his 18pts), Gilbert Arenas (26pts, 2rebs, 5asts, 2stls) or Jason
Kidd (20pts, 2rebs, 6asts, 3stls).
But the one to lift the trophy was Washington's Gilbert Arenas. Most of his points
came in the third and fourth quarter, he nailed 6 3-pointers, 3 of them late in the 4th
period to force the game to OT.
Arenas on his game: “A great weekend for me! I would have never thought that I'd
pull this off. Some of the guys really deserved the trophy more than me but what can
I do? (laughs) I will dedicate this award one to two of my biggest fans, my father and
mother, who have been with me through the bad and the good. Special thanks to all
of my other fans, you mean as much to me! Thank you all!”
Ingame Photos
Baron Davis went all out tonight, he was one of the top MVP candidates.
Tim Duncan at his usual level - great game in the paint. - - - Vinsanity was East's last hope in the first period.
Ben Wallace dominated the paint at both ends of the floor. - -Kobe Bryant has never been shy while going towards the rim.
Kevin Garnett opened the second quarter with a slamdunk. - -Arenas scored 20 of his 26 points in the second half.
This great block by Big Ben wasunfortunately called a foul. - -Paul Pierce was one of the main forces in the overtime.
Washington's Gilbert Arenas was awarded highly for his fantastic second half.
His second trophy of the All-Star Weekend, The All-Star MVP Award.
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