NEW ORLEANS: The two previous times New Orleans hosted the NBA All-Star Game, a Cavaliers player picked up the MVP award.
LeBron James earned the honor in 2008, Kyrie Irving in 2014.
That streak came to an end Sunday night in the 66th NBA All-Star Game at Smoothie King Center. The award went to the hometown Pelicans’ Anthony Davis as the West claimed a 192-182 victory over the East.
Davis set an All-Star single-game record with 52 points, surpassing Wilt Chamberlain’s 42 in 1962.
While the West improved to 6-1 in the past seven games, both Cavs made their presence felt.
Playing 20 minutes, James finished with 23 points for the East, while adding three rebounds and one assist, hitting 10-of-17 field goals and 3-of-8 from 3-point range.
Irving contributed 22 points, seven rebounds and a game-high 14 assists, connecting on 8-of-12 field goals and 6-of-8 from beyond the arc in 22 minutes of action.
The All-Star Game’s all-time leading scorer with 314 points, James also stands first in 3-pointers made (31) and 3-pointers attempted (90). He was tied with Kobe Bryant for the most field goals made (119), but broke that deadlock with a 3-pointer for the East’s second field goal and finished the night with 129.
James became the fifth player to make at least 13 All-Star starts, joining Bryant, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Bob Cousy and Michael Jordan. Also the 2006 MVP, James is tied with Dirk Nowitzki for the most selections among active players.
Irving made his fourth All-Star appearance, his second as a starter.
Many of the young All-Stars consider James, 32, their trailblazer and used the weekend to pick his brain on leadership and the inner workings of the game.
“It’s pretty cool. I saw a couple guys named me all-time starting five in All-Star,” James said Saturday. “It’s like, ‘Wow, I played that long?’ But I remember when I was a first-time All-Star. Seeing how big their eyes are right now, just enjoying it and appreciative of the opportunity.”
The first-timers were the Milwaukee Bucks’ Giannis Antetokounmpo, the Charlotte Hornets’ Kemba Walker, the LA Clippers’ DeAndre Jordan and the Utah Jazz’s Gordon Hayward.
Among the celebrities in attendance were Beyonce with husband Jay Z and daughter Blue Ivy, actors Michael B. Jordan and Anthony Anderson, musicians Zac Brown, Troy “Trombone Shorty” Andrews and John Legend (who performed at halftime) and wife Chrissy Teigen, restaurant owner and television personality Guy Fieri and comedians Dave Chappelle and Chris Tucker.
Oklahoma City’s Russell Westbrook had been the Kia MVP the past two years and the only player to win it outright in back-to-back years. Bob Petit, the 1958 winner, shared the honor with Elgin Baylor in 1959.
Much was made in the lead-up to the game about the fractured relationship between former Oklahoma City teammates Kevin Durant, who departed in free agency to join the Warriors, and Westbrook. When the teams first took the floor for warmups, Durant was at one end of the court and Westbrook at the other. But West coach Steve Kerr put the two on the court together in the first quarter and not long after Westbrook entered, Westbrook passed to Durant, who fed it back to Westbrook for an alley-oop that was celebrated on the bench.
Kerr told ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne he showed a pregame video to defuse the beef, but was unsure of its effect.
In the third quarter, Kerr played all four Warriors selected — Durant, Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green — with the Pelicans’ Davis. The Warriors matched an All-Star record for selections from the same team. The last time it happened was in 1997-98, when the Lakers were represented by Shaquille O’Neal, Bryant, Eddie Jones and Nick Van Exel.
Marla Ridenour can be reached at mridenour@thebeaconjournal.com. Read her blog at www.ohio.com/marla. Follow her on Twitter at www.twitter.com/MRidenourABJ.