The 2024 NBA All-Star Game was a record-setting affair, as the Eastern Conference took down the Western Conference, 211-186, Sunday night in Indianapolis. In the process, the East became the first team to ever reach the 200-point mark in the All-Star Game, surpassing the previous record of 196, set by the West in a 2016 win.
In fitting fashion, Pacers hometown star Tyrese Haliburton got the East going with five 3-pointers in a short span during the first quarter, and was the one who broke the 200-point barrier with a 3-pointer in the closing minutes.
After utilizing a captains' draft format in recent years, the NBA decided to return to the classic East vs. West matchup this year. In addition, the Elam Ending was scrapped in favor of a traditional 48-minute game. Neither change did anything to affect the intensity of the game, as it was once again a total shootout with basically no defense.
Karl-Anthony Towns of the Timberwolves went off in the fourth quarter to finish with 50 points, though that wasn't enough for the West to get the win. On the other side, Bucks star Damian Lillard -- who was named the game's MVP -- led the way with 39 points and hit multiple shots from halfcourt.
Jaylen Brown added 36 of his own and Haliburton put up 32 points, seven rebounds and six assists. Unfortunately for Haliburton and his hometown fans, that wasn't enough for MVP. Those in the building had their star's back and showered Lillard with boos during the trophy ceremony.
With another All-Star Game in the books, here's what we learned from Sunday's showcase:
Any hope that the players might take this year's game more seriously was dashed right away. Both teams hit the 20-point mark within five minutes and never looked back. The East reaching the 200-point mark was the headline record, but it was far from the only one. Here's a rundown of some of the history that was made in Indianapolis:
This was Lillard's eighth All-Star appearance, but his first ever start. He wasn't going to let that opportunity go to waste. "My first start, I'm going to be on the floor a lot... why not try go get an MVP?" Lillard said after the game.
It took Lillard over six minutes to get his first basket, but once he did, he never stopped shooting. Lillard put on a show, as he launched shots from all over the gym, including multiple half-courters that caught nothing but net. In the end, he finished with 39 points and six assists on 14-of-26 from the field. He took more shots than anyone on the East team, and was second only to Karl-Anthony Towns in attempts, but when you make that many of them it's hard to argue with the volume.
The fans in Indianapolis were not pleased with Lillard, but he knew what he was getting himself into by going for the trophy with Haliburton as his starting backcourt mate. "I expect it," Lillard said of the boos. "We're in his hometown, we're in his building. He had a great game. But it's an honor. I've been here quite a few times, to have this type of accomplishment is special."
During his press conference on Saturday, NBA commissioner Adam Silver said, "We returned to the East versus West format and the 48-minute game format because we thought what we were doing was not working. I'd say people uniformly were critical of last year's All-Star Game and felt it was not a competitive game."
He added that the league worked with the players on how to improve the experience and level of competitiveness, and concluded by saying, "I think we're going to see a good game tomorrow night."
Unfortunately, he was wrong. Once again, the game was a dud, made notable only by how many points the two teams were able to rack up while not playing any defense. The problem for the NBA is the players don't care to try any harder, and until that changes, nothing else matters.
It's hard to totally fault the players when a championship and hundreds of millions of dollars worth of contracts are going to be on the line over the next few months. No one wants to get hurt during an exhibition game and potentially miss out on those opportunities. The result, though, is an event that no longer seems to be worth anyone's time.
The Eastern Conference never let up and cruised to a 25-point win in an all-out shootout. Their 211 points were a new All-Star Game record, as were the combined 297 points. Damian Lillard, who was named MVP, Tyrese Haliburton and Jaylen Brown all put up over 30 points to lead the way for the East, while Karl-Anthony Towns went off in the fourth quarter to get to 50 points for the West
Adam Silver was hoping for and predicted a more competitive All-Star Game in 2024. That was not the case Sunday night.
Karl Anthony Towns dropped 50 points, with 31 of them coming in the fourth quarter. Towns ended the game with 35 field-goal attempts. LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Luka Doncic and Nikola Jokic had 40 field-goal attempts combined.
Damian Lillard is the only player to win All-Star Game MVP and the 3-point contest in the same year. He's also one of just five players who have won both trophies. The list:
Damian Lillard has had an up-and-down season in Milwaukee, but he was on top of his game this weekend. After winning the 3-Point Contest on Saturday, Lillard went off for 39 points to lead the East to a victory and was named All-Star Game MVP on Sunday. He is the first player in NBA history to lift both trophies in the same weekend.
The fans in Indianapolis were not pleased with the selection, and showered Lillard with boos. Not only have the Pacers and Bucks had serious beef this year, but Lillard stole the honor from Tyrese Haliburton, who had a strong game himself
The Eastern Conference is well on its way to scoring 200 points for the first time ever in the All-Star Game. They're just 40 points away, and should get there with ease given how little defense is being played this evening. The previous high is 196, set by the Western Conference in 2016
LeBron is playing in his record-setting 20th All-Star Game, and is by far the oldest player in the game at 39 years old. While sitting on the bench he cracked some jokes at his own expense about playing with Wilt Chamberlain and Bob Cousy in his first All-Star Game back in 1968.
Luka Doncic has never been known as a high-flyer, and even in the All-Star Game he had some trouble at the rim. Out alone on the fastbreak, he tried to set himself up with an off-the-backboard alley-oop but got stuffed by the rim. That's going on Shaqtin-a-fool
Damian Lillard reminded everyone that he truly has unlimited range by pulling up from halfcourt and draining his ninth 3-pointer of the game; no one else has even made nine shots tonight. Lillard is up to 33 points and barring a late run by someone else, he likely has the MVP locked up.
One of the best moments of the first half came late in the second quarter when Nikola Jokic picked off a pass and took off the other way on the fastbreak. He started laughing as he approached the rim, and faked like he was going to throw down a big slam before laying the ball in
The two teams only combined 93 points in the second quarter, but that was still enough to set an All-Star Game record for most points in a half with 193. Just for comparison, the final score 30 years ago in the 1994 event was 127-114 in favor of the East.
Damian Lillard has taken over the game for the East and leads all scorers with 22 points. Tyrese Haliburton has turned into a passer after the first few minutes and is still stuck on 18. Steph Curry and Kevin Durant each have 12 points to lead the West.
Last night, Damian Lillard became the first player in over a decade to go back-to-back in the 3-Point Contest, and he's carried that rhythm over into tonight. He's hit five 3s and suddenly has a game-high 17 points to lead the East
So much for LeBron taking it easy tonight. He just got loose on the fastbreak again and threw down the alley-oop off the bounce pass feed from Paul George. Even after all these years, it's still fun to watch LeBron put on a show
If you were hoping for more effort on defense this evening, you are out of luck. There were 100 combined points in the first quarter, and the East has already made 13 3-pointers. Tyrese Haliburton leads all scorers with 15 points, while six different players on the West have put up at least six points.
The good news is that the game is still close, and if that continues for the rest of the night the energy and effort should improve
LeBron said during his press conference this afternoon that he's not going to play a ton of minutes because of a sore ankle. His ankle clearly isn't feeling too bad, though, as he stormed down the lane for a thunderous slam on the fastbreak.
Tyrese Haliburton made his first All-Star start tonight, and he's putting on a show in front of his hometown fans. The Pacers star was on fire in the opening few minutes, and has already poured in five 3-pointers. His game-high 15 points have the East out to an early lead at the first timeout.
Giannis Antetokounmpo pulled down a rebound, pushed the ball in transition and whipped a pass out to Jayson Tatum in the corner. The Celtics star obliged with a 3-pointer that caught nothing but net, and we're underway in Indianapolis
More than 40 minutes after tonight's scheduled start time, the players are finally on the court and the ball is ready to be tipped. This is simply too long of a delay, especially after Adam Silver said yesterday during his press conference that they were going to speed up the ceremonies in order to facilitate a more competitive game
Reggie Miller, Oscar Robertson and Larry Bird have taken center stage with an opening message about the importance of basketball in Indiana. Now, it's time for the long-awaited player introductions. Thankfully, there's slightly less production than previous years, so it shouldn't take too long
With a Deion Sanders twist.
Larry Bird has been front and center this weekend with the All-Star Game in his home state. Prior to Sunday's main event, he met up with current Celtics legend Jayson Tatum to share a few words. If everything goes to plan for Tatum and the Celtics this summer, he'll join Bird as an NBA champion
The NBA All-Star Game jerseys this year draw inspiration from Indiana's basketball heritage. Here's a closer look before the stars take the court.
LeBron James is playing in his 20th All-Star Game this weekend. He skipped out on Saturday night's festivities to watch his son, Bronny, play for USC. LeBron made it to Indy on Sunday and he addressed the media. James can be a free agent after the season and his future was the source of the conversation when he met with reporters on Sunday evening.
"I am a Laker and I am happy and have been very happy being a Laker the last six years and hopefully it stays that way," James said.
Tyrese Haliburton of the hometown Pacers has become the All-Star Game MVP favorite less than an hour before tip-off. Haliburton, as of 7:10 p.m. ET, has the shortest odds of any player at +325 on Caesars Sportsbook. Giannis Antetokounmpo and Stephen Curry are among the other favorites. LeBron James had better odds earlier in the day but has dropped to a longer shot at +2000, per Caesars.
NBA legend and Indiana native Larry Bird has been on hand at this weekend's festivities in Indianapolis. Larry Legend had some thoughts about the game, too. Specifically he wants to see some effort out there.
"The one thing I would really like to see is they play hard tonight in this All-Star Game," Bird said. "I think it's very important when you have the best players in the world together, you've gotta compete, and you've gotta play hard, and you've gotta show the fans how good they really are."
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Tip-off is just about an hour away in Indianapolis, and the West enters the 73rd annual NBA All-Star Game as slight favorites over their Eastern Conference counterparts. The 2024 game is about a return to traditional All-Star Games. There was no All-Star draft this year. There is no Elam Ending. Just 48 minutes of basketball with the best players in the league on the same court.
