Jayson Tatum put on a record-setting show, and made Giannis Antetokounmpo look like a genius.
Tatum scored an All-Star Game-record 55 points, and Team Giannis ended LeBron James’ hold on All-Star captain supremacy by beating Team LeBron 184-176 in the NBA’s annual showcase exhibition on Sunday night.
Tatum had 27 points in the third quarter, another All-Star Game record for any period. He was the first pick by Antetokounmpo in the starters’ portion of the All-Star draft, and in the end, that pick proved to be the right one.
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It was James’ first loss in six times as captain. Antetokounmpo improved to 1-2 in his All-Star captaincies.
Donovan Mitchell added 40 for Team Giannis, which got 26 points from Damian Lillard — including the game-winner to push his team past the target score.
Jaylen Brown scored 35 points and had 14 rebounds for Team LeBron, while Kyrie Irving had 32 points and 15 assists and Joel Embiid finished with 32 points.
Lillard, the winner of the 3-point contest on All-Star Saturday Night, made eight 3s — including a halfcourt pullup in the third quarter.
The league had a ceremony before the second half to pay tribute to the three leading scorers in NBA history: No. 3 Karl Malone, No. 2 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and James, now the game’s career leader after he passed Abdul-Jabbar earlier this month.
Malone and Abdul-Jabbar were brought to the stage, and then Dwyane Wade — James’ former teammate in Miami and now a part-owner of the Jazz — introduced James to bring him onto the platform.
“We’ve all been witnesses,” Wade said. “No matter the challenge, no matter the noise, he was relentless.”
With the number 38,388 displayed behind him, James then raised his hand to thank the fans for their ovation, hugged Abdul-Jabbar and Malone. He didn’t return to the game, his night ending with a right hand contusion.
He finished with 13 points, and said a chasedown block in the first half led to him getting a finger caught in the rim.
“Precautionary reasons,” James said.
James played a half. The game’s other captain didn’t play a half-minute.
Antetokoumpo drafted his team before the game, went through warmups (such as they were) and started the game as planned.
But his right wrist was wrapped, and that was an ominous sign. The injury kept him out of All-Star Saturday’s skills event, limited him to 20 seconds in this one. He got an uncontested dunk to open the game, then took a foul and headed to the bench.
“Whatever I have, I’m going to give,” Antetokounmpo said. “That’s who I am. That’s never going to change.”
As in past years, the teams played for charity, with Team LeBron raising money for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Utah and Team Giannis for Raise the Future, which connects youth waiting in foster care with stable adults. Each team started with $150,000, with the first three quarters worth another $100,000 apiece and the All-Star Game winner getting another $150,000.
The teams were tied at 46-46 in the first quarter, and Team Giannis took the second quarter 53-46. Team Giannis also won the third quarter 59-49, and the cumulative score to that point — 158-141, Team Giannis — meant 182 would be the score to reach in the untimed fourth quarter with a target-score ending.
Team Giannis won $700,000 for its charity, and Team LeBron won $200,000.
Team captains LeBron James and Giannis Antetokounmpo chose their respective sides on the court playground style in a tweak to the format after the squads had previously been chosen well before the game itself, first picking from the reserves pool and then their starters.
James’ day came to an early end though after the Lakers superstar suffered a right hand contusion after hitting it on the rim.
Antetokounmpo picked first – and there was something of an early twist – with the Bucks star naming Damian Lillard over his star teammate Jrue Holiday.
“See Giannis has changed this weekend. He always talks about loyalty and being loyal and all that stuff, right? So I knew for sure his first pick was going to be Jrue,” James responded.
James added with a laugh: “So I don’t know what’s going on with Giannis. OK, OK, he messed up my whole draft board now.”
It was not the only hilarious moment, with Antetokounmpo mistakenly selecting Memphis Grizzlies Ja Morant despite he and James only picking reserves at that stage.
“My third pick is going to be one of the most exciting rising stars, superstar in the league right now, Ja Morant,” Antetokounmpo said.
TNT analyst Ernie Johnson, who was emceeing the event, quickly corrected the former MVP, telling him Morant was a starter as the players on stage waiting to be picked had a good laugh about it. James joined in the fun, too.
“You see what I’m saying, he’s trying anything yawl,” the Lakers star said. “Giannis is trying anything y’all.”
Antetokounmpo ended up selecting the Thunder’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander instead and got a ribbing from Johnson after the round ended.
“You may still have a chance to draft Ja when it’s appropriate,” he said.
That is exactly what Antetokounmpo did, joking he had to make sure Morant was on stage before picking him as a starter. Knicks star Julius Randle was picked as a reserve for Team LeBron. James also took former Cavaliers running mate Kyrie Irving, who went from the Nets to the Mavericks and not the Lakers at the trade deadline.
Irving could still end up in L.A. after the season if he opts for free agency. The Grizzlies’ Jaren Jackson Jr. was the last reserve taken.
TEAM LEBRON
Starters
LeBron James (LA Lakers) [captain]
Joel Embiid (Philadelphia 76ers) [replaced Kevin Durant as a starter)
Kyrie Irving (Dallas Mavericks)
Nikola Jokic (Denver Nuggets)
Luka Doncic (Dallas Mavericks)
Bench
Anthony Edwards (Minnesota Timberwolves [injury replacement for Zion Williamson]
Jaylen Brown (Boston Celtics)
Paul George (Los Angeles Clippers)
Tyrese Haliburton (Indiana Pacers)
Julius Randle (New York Knicks)
De’Aaron Fox (Sacramento Kings) [injury replacement for Stephen Curry]
Jaren Jackson Jr. (Memphis Grizzlies)
TEAM GIANNIS
Giannis Antetokounmpo (Milwaukee Bucks) [captain]
Jayson Tatum (Boston Celtics)
Donovan Mitchell (Cleveland Cavaliers)
Ja Morant (Memphis Grizzlies) [replaced Steph Curry as a starter]
Lauri Markkanen (Utah Jazz) [replaced Zion Williamson as a starter]
Bench
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (Oklahoma City Thunder)
Damian Lillard (Portland Trail Blazers)
Domantas Sabonis (Sacramento Kings)
Bam Adebayo (Miami Heat)
DeMar DeRozan (Chicago Bulls)
Jrue Holiday (Milwaukee Bucks)
Pascal Siakam (Toronto Raptors) [injury replacement for Kevin Durant]
— with New York Post
