NBA All-Star game 2010 results: East outlasts West 141-139

(MVP D-Wade's 28 points gives East the 2 point win)

On Sunday night, the largest crowd ever to witness a basketball game, let alone the All-Star game was on hand in Dallas. The Dallas Cowboy Stadium held 90,000 plus as they watched the 2010 NBA All-Star game. The previous record for a basketball game was back in 2003 with over 78,000 watching Michigan St. battle Kentucky at Ford Field. For an NBA All-Star game, 44,735 packed into the Houston Astrodome in 1989. And to further illustrate the large scale nature of the stadium, an 11,000-plus foot HDTV Jumbotron hung over the court to show the action. The court was set around the 50-yard line and raised up about 30 inches so the coaches and bench players could sit below it on the sides.

Intros were flashy, but nothing like Shaq dancing with the Jabberwockeez at a previous All-star affair. This time around, pop R*B star Usher did a mini-concert on a stage behind the court, then lowered into the set with his dance crew, before each squad was introduced. As guessed, the Mavs Jason Kidd and then Dirk Nowitski received the biggest applause of the bunch, although Kobe and Lebron didn't do so bad.

In the first quarter, the East shot 53% from the floor and closed out with a 37-34 lead. There weren't any particular flashy plays for a surprise start to the game, with both squads seeming to play some tight defense early on. It almost seemed like the absence of AI and Kobe may have made things a bit dry in the earlygoing, as the 90,000 plus crowd didn't seem to wake up much.

In the second half there were plenty more dunks and "ahhh" moments from the crowd, including some fancy passes and breakaways. At halftime, the East had jumped out in front by a score of 76-69 behind double digit scoring from Lebron (11), Howard (11), Wade and Bosh (10 each). Meanwhile, the Western squad was lead by Carmelo Anthony's 17 points with 8 rebounds, as well as 10 points from Kevin Durant off the bench. Hometown favorite Dirk Nowitski had 8 points despite some flat shooting early on. Steve Nash provided his own leadership in the form of 7 assists for the West.

Halftime performances made the Who's Superbowl 44 gig pale in comparison as a sexy Shakira opened with her She Wolf hit in a cage. Kenny Smith called it "sensory overload". Her performance was followed by Miss Alicia Keys who did a medley of hits including a version of "Empire State of Mind" using All-Star in place of "New York".

Dwight Howard's rebound followed by taking it all the way down the court for a one-handed jam, highlighted the third quarter as the East continued with their double digit lead. Lebron had two impressive reverse slams to get the crowd oohing and ahhing heading into a commercial break. At the 7 minute mark, the East was up by 11, after Amare Stoudemire's tip-in. Carmelo Anthony continued his hot-scoring streak to get up to 25 points in the third. TNT's Craig Sager spoke to Kobe Bryant on the sidelines who was out due to his ankle injury. Kobe mentioned it was disappointing to be just watching, and Craig Sager joked how a woman said to Kobe she had payed 8g's for his seat at the All-Star game, then was thrown out. It's unknown exactly what that incident was about. Kevin Durant's 3-point shot as time expired brought the West to within 10. The East lead 118-109.

The West closed the gap significantly in the fourth, as it was as close as 1 point. Down just two points at the final minute, "Mr Big Shot" Chauncey Billups tied it at 137 a piece with his fallaway jumpshot. Lebron lost the ball on the next possession but it went off Melo as Stan Van Gundy called a time out to draw up a play. James missed a catch-and-shoot opportunity, and his possible new teammate Amare Stoudemire fielded the rebound. Thinking the West was down by 2, Derron Williams made a big mistake fouling Dwyane Wade, putting the Heat star at the line with 12.7 to go. Wade hit both to put the East back ahead by 2. Howard fouled Nowitski on the West's play out of a timeout, putting the hometown hero at the line. The 90% shooter tied things up with 7.7 left, making for an exciting potential finish to the game.

In the closing seconds, Chris Bosh was tripped up on the inbounds play, sending him to the line. The Raptors star hit both, and once again the East was up 2. With 5 seconds left, the West gave the ball to Carmelo Anthony for an attempted 3 at the buzzer. Guarded by D-Wade, Melo's shot drew iron and bounced off the rim. The Eastern Conference takes the game 141-139, with the MVP trophy handed out by Commissioner David Stern to Dwyane Wade of the Miami Heat. Wade's 28 points and 11 rebounds helped the East win the game, and gave the star his first ever All-Star MVP award.

A massive crowd of over 108,000 witnessed tonight's close game in Dallas to set a new attendance record for a basketball game. David Stern noted it was a new Guiness Book of World Records record. They really did it BIG in Dallas, TX for All-Star Sunday night...

See more 2010 NBA All-Star game coverage at NBA.com

All-Star game 2010 roster changes

Kobe's out. So is AI. Chris Paul's on crutches. So who exactly is playing in Sunday's game? Starting for the Eastern Conference will be Dwyane Wade, Lebron James, Kevin Garnett, Dwight Howard and recent addition, Joe Johnson of the Atlanta Hawks. On the Westside of the equation, Dirk Nowitski gets the start in place of the injured Kobe Bryant (sprained ankle). He'll be the hometown hero since the game is to be played in Dallas, Texas. Joining Dirk will be the familiar All-Star faces: Carmelo Anthony, Steve Nash, Amare Stoudamire and Tim Duncan.

As for reserves we've got Derrick Rose, Chris Bosh, Al Horford, Paul Pierce, Rajon Rondo, Gerald Wallace and yes last minute replacement, David Lee of the New York Knicks. Lee received a call earlier this past week that he had just 20 minutes to go catch the NBA charter flight to Dallas so he could play in his first ever All-Star game on Sunday.

On the Western bench will be MVP candidate Kevin Durant of the OKC Thunder, Pau Gasol from the Lakers, and the Clippers Chris Kaman replacing the injured Kobe. Other reserves include Derron Williams of the Jazz, Zach Randolph (Memphis), and Nuggets guard Chauncey Billups (replacing Paul).

The big stories are the fact that Kobe and Iverson won't be part of the game. Kobe's got a legitimate injury he's been sitting out with from regular games. Iverson has been missing games recently due to an undisclosed family matter. Some are starting to speculate that Iverson will officially retire soon due to the fact he was a no-show for the big game after the fans voted him to start.

Other news is that Derrick Rose will battle through injury to play because this is a dream of his. There's been some contentions that Jason Kidd doesn't deserve a spot on the reserves with his current stats, while maybe rookie star Tyreke Evans does. The best reasoning for the Kidd inclusion is the fact the game's in Dallas where the fans will root for Kidd, and he's been amongst the All-Stars for several years, with league-leading assist numbers. Also, the Kings aren't exactly getting it done record-wise, while the Mavs are among the playoff contenders in the West. The best case for Tyreke Evans may be the fact he picked up the MVP award in today's Rookie's vs Sophomores game to prove just how good he is as the Rookies actually won.

Could this be the year Dirk picks up the All-Star MVP award? Or will a newcomer like Kevin Durant or Brandon Roy snag the honor? Don't count out the East either with Lebron and the rest of the crew.

Feel free to leave your comments about the new additions to the All-star game lineups, and your predictions on who will win the game and MVP award below.

NBA All-Star 2010 Reserves announced

Reserves for the 2010 NBA All-Star game in Dallas, Texas were announced earlier, with seven first-time players making the cut. These will include Chicago Bull Derrick Rose, Boston's Rajon Rondo, Atlanta's Al Horford, Gerald Wallace of the Bobcats, Kevin Durant of the Thunder, Zach Randolph of Memphis and Deron Williams from the Utah Jazz. Each of these players has earned their first ever spot on the All-Star team, serving as reserve players. All-star reserves are selected by the coaches from the respective Conference, while the starters are voted in by the fans. Here's a look at each conference's full All-star lineups.

Eastern Conference All-Stars

Starters:
Allen Iverson G
Dwyane Wade G
Lebron James F
Kevin Garnett F
Dwight Howard C

Reserves:
Derrick Rose G
Rajon Rondo G
Joe Johnson G
Chris Bosh F
Al Horford F
Gerald Wallace F
Paul Pierce F

Western Conference All-Stars

Starters:
Steve Nash G
Kobe Bryant G
Carmelo Anthony F
Tim Duncan F
Amare Stoudamire C

Reserves:
Kevin Durant F
Pau Gasol F
Dirk Nowitski F
Chris Paul G
Zach Randolph F
Brandon Roy G
Deron Williams G

This will mark Kevin Garnett's 13th appearance in the All-Star game, with Kobe Bryant and Tim Duncan each having 12 appearances. Allen Iverson will have his 11th appearance on an All-star team, Dirk Nowitski his 9th, and Paul Pierce will make his 8th appearance on the team. If any player is unfortunately unable to play in the game, NBA Commissioner David Stern selects his choice as replacement.

The 2010 NBA All-Star game goes down on Sunday, February 14, 2010, Valentine's Day, in Dallas, Texas before an expected crowd of more than 80,000 fans.

Playoff Trash Talkers Never Win

Talk is cheap in these 2007-08 NBA Playoffs. Mike Bibby was the latest to learn this lesson the hard way on Wednesday night in Boston. Bibby decided to make comments that called the Celtics fans "fairweather fans" and said he remembered them wearing bags over their heads when he played there last year with Sacramento. Bibby's comments were in reference to last year's lackluster season for the Celtics. Unfortunately when you talk bad in Boston, the fans let you know it. Bibby was loudly booed every time he touched the ball during Wednesday's game. The result was another poor performance for Bibby and a bigtime win in Game 2 for the Celts.

The Wizards are also learning this lesson the hard way. Gilbert Arenas stated before their series against the Cavs that it would be hard for a team to beat them 3 straight years in the playoffs. Gil also said this year's Cavs team just wasn't as good as last year's. Then his teammate Deshawn Stevenson decided to get into it by calling out King James himself, saying Lebron is overrated. And Lebron and the Cavs have responded with a win in game 1, followed by a convincing Game 2 win to go up two games to nada.

The last case for trash talkers never winning in the playoffs is Dirk Nowitzki. While Dirk didn't exactly call Chris Paul overrated or say New Orleans isn't good, he said this was the team they'd rather play. Dirk said he was glad they didn't have the Lakers first round since they're on such a hot streak, and also said the Mavs would match up with the Hornets better. Well as NBA nation can see, Dallas hasn't matched up well against New Orleans either.

Talk is cheap, and it goes to show that the guys making the real statements are the players doing so by scoring points, playing well and winning playoff games.

Dirk & Arenas Return to Action!

Two NBA superstars stepped back on the court this past Wednesday night, and their teams definitely needed their presence.

Earlier on Wednesday, it appeared the Mavs All-star Dirk Nowitzki would not be suiting up against the Warriors. But Dirk was surprisingly back in action against Golden State. Nowitzki had 18 points and 5 boards as his Mavs defeated the Warriors 111-86. His newest teammate, PG Jason Kidd had an impressive 17 assists in the win. Jason Terry led the way with 31 points. A Dallas Morning News article discusses how the Mavericks will need Jason "The Jet" Terry to take off, to give them a playoff shot.

Ironically, an ESPN Sportsnation poll actually had fans voting that the Mavs will be the most likely West Conference team to not make the playoffs (of 3 choices). The other 2 choices were Denver and Golden State.

Also returning on Wednesday was Agent 0, Gilbert Arenas for the Washington Wizards who had been absent since November 16th. Gil's been out a lot longer, and in his absence both Caron Butler and Antawn Jamison made the all star game. Butler had especially stepped his game up. Arenas came back as the Wiz faced the Bucks and put in a 17 point performance, as well as 2 key free throws to give the Wizards a late lead. But it was a name you may have not heard before, Ramond Sessions, who was the difference maker though. Sessions hit a buzzer beater jumper to give the Bucks the 110-109 edge.

According to an AP report, Arenas was ready to go 10 days earlier but a team doctor wouldn't give the go ahead. With Gilbert & Dirk back on the hardwood, both their teams have renewed optimism as we head into the final games of the season, and the playoff race heats up.

Be Cool Kobe!

Wednesday night saw Kobe Bryant ejected from a crucial game, against the Charlotte Bobcats. It's crucial because in the West a loss puts a team like the Lakers from first down to a 3 way tie for second. LA now trails New Orleans by 1 game for first. Another loss or two could send the Lakers to the middle of the pack, about fourth or even worse. That's how tough the West has become this season.

According to the San Fransisco Chronicle, Kobe earned his two techs within just 29 seconds. The T's came due to Kobe not liking a foul call and jawing with the officials. Sometimes star players aren't afforded too much talking time.

More about Lakers v. Bobcats here

You can now see how simple events could really hurt some West Coast teams. Dirk's recent injury is far from simple and it's unfortunate, but that injury according to Sportscenter could see Dallas not a part of the playoffs. Kobe is in dangerous territory because he's close to the max number for techs, before he starts having to sit out games. So Kobe basically needs to keep his emotions in check, and the rest will follow. If he doesn't, the Lakers could lose homecourt advantage in the playoffs, or even their playoff spot. I expect the Lakers will be in the playoffs, but again the slightest player lost from the roster, or a loss of Kobe could hurt them.

I still give Kobe props because his sick move against the Warriors several nights ago was one of the best I've seen in terms of 2007-08 NBA season highlights. Spinning through traffic and floating towards the basket only to give a no look wrap-around, backwards style pass to teammate Ronnie Turiaf for the basket? That's definitely where Amazing happened.

Dirk Nowitzki Out for 2 Weeks

An unfortunate injury came to Dirk Nowitzki in Sunday's Dallas Mavericks vs. San Antonio Spurs game. The 7 footer went down awkwardly on his left leg with just 3:18 remaining in the 3rd quarter. According to Mark Cuban the forward/center will be out of action for 2 weeks time.

From Sporting News:

Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban has confirmed that superstar forward Dirk Nowitzki will be out about two weeks after suffering a lower leg injury Sunday afternoon, the Dallas Morning News reports.

The Mavericks lost the game to the Spurs, 88-81. Nowitzki was injured with 3:18 remaining in the third quarter when he came down awkwardly after blocking a shot by Ime Udoka.

"I fell awkwardly, and my left leg got caught underneath me," Nowitzki said in a news release.

Sources close to Nowitzki indicated Sunday night that a post-game MRI exam, like earlier X-rays, turned up no immediate issues with the knee, ESPN.com reported.

The Mavs will need to rely on a "step-up" in play from Josh Howard and Jason Kidd now as they'll be facing some tough upcoming games. According to ESPN Sportscenter, they may get some relief from 2 games against the LA Clippers though..

No Easy $ on NBA Contenders

It's definitely still looking wide open in the NBA title chase. As of this point it's going to come down to which team gets an unfortunate injury, or which star player steps it up come the playoffs. Tim Duncan, Kobe Bryant, Dirk Nowitski, even Shaq could all help elevate their teams to the promised land. The West still claims to be the best.

One guy who definitely has elevated his play out West is Jason Kidd. When you see his recent assist totals at numbers like 17, it's apparent he's happy where he is, distributing the ball in a much higher scoring, potent offense with the Mavs. It would be pretty impressive to see Kidd break Scott Skile's all time assists in a game record this season.

The Pau Gasol-Kobe Bryant tandem also seems to be working very well in LA. Either Kobe's become a lot less selfish, or Pau Gasol doesn't complain a lot. Either way, it's been working nicely for the Lakers who are up top in the Western Conference. When you add Andrew Bynum back into the equation, the Lakers are that much better.

I hate to jinx Houston but they really seem to be in a "seen it before" almost Groundhog day like performance. We see flashes of how great T-Mac, Yao and the Rockets can be each season, then they falter, and get knocked out of the playoffs early. This season many analysts continue to place them in the candidates for NBA Finals team or champs.

Phoenix may still be a question mark. While many praise the Shaq move, they seem to forget the Suns lost a stat sheet filler with Shawn Marion. Having that "does it all" type player is always an advantage to any team. Lately the Suns couldn't seem to keep up with the East Coast favorite, Detroit Pistons, but the Suns were able to take out Boston. A question mark indeed.

Let's not forget the East because as much flack as they get, they will be sending a competitor to the Finals, and that team will not be a pushover. Lebron's new look Cavs are impressive now that Ben Wallace, Wally Sczerbiak and Delonte West have joined the crew. The knock had been Lebron was all they had going, and that he desperately needed a supporting cast. Now he has it, and that puts Cleveland along with Boston, Detroit and even Orlando as NBA Finals potentials.

At this point, there's no easy money made by betting on any single NBA team...so keep your wallets tight and stay tuned.

J-Kidd Returns to Dallas

Call it a come back. According to ESPN.com, the Jason Kidd trade is a done deal. Kidd will be moving back to Dallas where he began his career, and the Nets will acquire Jerry Stackhouse with Devin Harris.

"Dallas is sending 24-year-old point guard Devin Harris, veteran swingman Jerry Stackhouse, the expiring contracts of center DeSagana Diop and swingman Devean George and guard Maurice Ager to New Jersey for Kidd and forward Malik Allen.

Sources say Dallas will also send the Nets the league-maximum $3 million, the Mavs' first-round draft pick this June and a first-rounder in 2010."(SOURCE: ESPN.com)

So now the Mavs improve with the services of J-Kidd, who is coming full circle. Kidd will definitely help Dirk and Josh Howard compete for a title with the West's elite teams, such as the Lakers and Suns who both made big moves.

Read the full ESPN.com story here.

Your 2008 All-Star Reservers

The 2008 All-Star reserves have been announced. Here's who made the teams in each conference.

East Reserves
Chauncey Billips (Detroit)
Chris Bosh (Toronto)
Caron Butler (Washington)
Richard Hamilton (Detroit)
Antawn Jamison (Washington)
Joe Johnson (Atlanta)
Paul Pierce (Boston)

West Reserves
Carlos Boozer (Utah)
Steve Nash (Phoenix)
Dirk Nowitzki (Dallas)
Chris Paul (New Orleans)
Brandon Roy (Portland)
Amare Stoudemire (Phoenix)
David West (New Orleans)

The only noticeable or glaring snub in the East is Ray Allen, since the Celtics have been having a great season thanks to him, but KG and Pierce make sense too. New Orleans will have two hometown heros playing with David West and Chris Paul. Congratulations to all of the all-stars who will play in the 2008 game in Louisiana. All Star Weekend kicks off February 15, 2008.

View the NBA.com All Star section for more info.

IGN's 2007 NBA Player of the Year

IGN.com, a popular video game resource site, has chosen Dirk Nowitski for its 2007 NBA Player of the Year award. According to the site:

"Although the Spurs were the consummate team and came together in the playoffs, no one stood out more in 2007 than Dirk Nowitzki, who took huge steps forward as a defender and as a teammate, scoring more efficiently while setting a career-high in assists. Shooting 50% from the field as a jump shooter is absurd, and while the Mavericks were shocked in the playoffs by the Warriors, if we had to win one game tomorrow, there's no player we'd rather start our team with than the German star." (Source: IGN.com)

Runners-up for the award were the San Antonio Spurs' Tim Duncan and the Cleveland Cavs' Lebron James. Both these players enjoyed a trip to the NBA finals, with Duncan's team recapturing the title and perhaps etching its name amongst the NBA's great dynasties. Lebron James continues to improve, and there's no doubt that this still young phenom is going to win at least a few awards before his career is over.

For it's 2007 Team of the Year, IGN chose the NBA champion Spurs over all other major sports teams. IGN states the Spurs team and organization is one that any pro team would love to embody. Read more here