How Damian Lillard led East to scoring record in anticlimactic NBA All-Star Game – The Athletic
Tyrese Haliburton never explicitly said he wanted to win the NBA All-Star Game MVP on Sunday. But with the game in his team’s city and having earned his first All-Star Game start, Haliburton quickly made himself the early favorite for the award.
The Pacers guard drilled his first five 3s to elicit a thunderous roar from a Gainbridge Fieldhouse crowd he’s wowed several times before. He finished with 15 points and two assists in the first quarter of the Eastern Conference’s eventual 211-186 victory over the West.
“I was gonna keep shooting until I missed,” said Haliburton, who entered the All-Star break nursing a left hamstring injury. “But I think (I was) just having fun, playing basketball. I didn’t know how many minutes I was gonna play, didn’t know how my leg would feel. But I felt good.”
Haliburton played 27 minutes and poured in 32 points, six assists and seven rebounds in a game where both teams seemed allergic to defense. However, Haliburton’s performance wasn’t enough for the two-time All-Star to take home MVP. That honor belonged to Bucks star Damian Lillard, who also made his first All-Star Game start and drilled 11 3-pointers en route to a team-high 39 points.
Despite being beat out by Lillard, Haliburton still wore a huge smile after completing a jam-packed schedule as the league’s unofficial All-Star Weekend host. The Pacers, who are in sixth place in the East and are eyeing their first playoff berth since 2020, will resume their season Thursday at home against the Detroit Pistons. Gainbridge Fieldhouse will be back to normal by then, which Haliburton looks forward to, but he was thrilled to soak in being at the center of the basketball universe for a few days.
“There was a lot of energy in the building, a lot of energy for Pacers fans,” Haliburton said of Sunday’s game. “There’s a lot for us to be excited about.”
