Jayson Tatum scores a record 55 in All-Star Game as Team Giannis defeats Team LeBron 184-175 | NBA News

Team Giannis won 184-175 in the 2023 NBA All-Star Game against Team LeBron on Sunday night with the Boston Celtics’ Jayson Tatum scoring a game-high 55 points en route to earning MVP honors.

Tatum, who was Antetokounmpo’s first pick in the starters portion of the All-Star Draft, had 27 third-quarter points in Salt Lake City, another All-Star Game record for any stretch.

The MVP award that Tatum received is named after Kobe Bryant, one of his heroes.

“It means the world,” Tatum said. “You think of all the legends and all the great players who have played this game, and in all honesty, records are made to be broken. I’ll hold it for as long as I can, but I’m sure someone will come in a few years and try to break it.”

Tatum broke Anthony Davis’ All-Star record by 52 points. He was 22 of 31 from the floor, plus 10 rebounds and six assists.

It was James’ first loss in six times as captain. Antetokounmpo moved to 1-2 in his All-Star captaincies and became the first captain to lift a new trophy awarded to the winners of the All-Star Game.

Antetokounmpo said he had a reason for choosing Tatum. “I knew he would take it seriously. It was a no-brainer,” he said.

Donovan Mitchell added 40 points for Team Giannis, who got 26 points from Damian Lillard – including the game winner to push his team past the target score.

Jaylen Brown scored 35 points and 14 rebounds for Team LeBron, while Kyrie Irving had 32 points and 15 assists and Joel Embiid finished with 32 points.

James also scored 13 points, including an incredible backboard dunk:

Brown and Tatum — Boston teammates — reveled in a back-and-forth duel for part of the second half.

“It was a normal day for us,” Tatum said. “Just millions of people watching.”

Lillard, the 3-point contest winner on All-Star Saturday Night, made eight threes – including a third-quarter half-court pull-up.

“It was the worst basketball game I’ve ever seen,” said LeBron team coach Michael Malone, clearly mocking the defense’s optional event.

Team Giannis winning coach Joe Mazzulla said he had a very simple strategy.

“Stay away, enjoy it, have fun, let the guys be themselves,” Mazzulla said. “I think it’s important, especially in this league, that guys are able to be themselves.”

The league held a ceremony before the second half to honor the top three scorers in NBA history: No. 3 Karl Malone, No. 2 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and now career leading James gambling after turning 75. old earlier this month.

Malone and Abdul-Jabbar were brought on stage and then Dwyane Wade – James’ former Miami teammate and now co-owner of the Jazz – introduced the LA Lakers star to bring him to the platform.

“We all witnessed it,” 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 standing ovation and hugged Abdul-Jabbar and Malone.

He finished with just 13 points as a first-half chasing block against Pascal Siakam saw him jam a finger in the rim and then go off at half-time.

After the game, James told reporters he had no concerns about the injury.

“I tried to get a little chasing block and got my finger stuck in the rim, but it’ll be fine,” James said. “It’s not too worrying. For precautionary reasons, I just took the rest of the night.”

James played one half. The other game captain didn’t play half a minute.

Antetokoumpo drafted his squad before the game, did warm-ups (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 the All-Star skills event on Saturday and limited him to 20 seconds in it. He got an uncontested dunk to open the game, then fouled and headed for the bench.

“Everything I have I will give away,” Antetokounmpo said. “This is who I am. That will never change.”