NBA All-Star Game Notes (Feb. 19, 2023)
Here are the 2023 NBA All-Star Game notes.
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Tatum Sets Scoring Mark
Jayson Tatum set an NBA All-Star Game record with 55 points as Team Giannis took down Team LeBron 184-175. It’s the third 50-point game in All-Star Game history, all coming within the last seven years:
55 — Jayson Tatum (2023)
52 — Anthony Davis (2017)
50 — Stephen Curry (2022)
Tatum shot 22-31 from the field, including 10-18 from 3-point range. He’s just the second player to make at least 10 3-pointers in an All-Star Game, joining Curry (16, 2022).
Tatum tallied 27 of his points in the third quarter, the most ever scored in a single period in All-Star Game history. The previous mark of 21 points was set by Curry in the third quarter of last year’s game.
Tatum also grabbed a team-high 10 rebounds and dished out six assists. He became the first Celtic to take home All-Star Game MVP honors since Larry Bird in 1982. Overall, Celtics representatives have accounted for nine All-Star Game MVP Awards, second only to the Lakers (10).
Teammate Donovan Mitchell scored 40 points and dished out a team-high 10 assists, the first 40-point, 10-assist game in All-Star Game history. It’s just the second time there have been two 40-point scorers in an All-Star Game. The first occurrence was 2017, when Davis and Russell Westbrook scored 52 and 41 points, respectively.
Team Giannis had three players make at least eight 3-pointers: Tatum (10), Mitchell (8), and Damian Lillard (8). It’s the first time there have been three such players in an All-Star Game on both teams combined, let alone on one team.
Jaylen Brown led Team LeBron with 35 points, adding 14 rebounds and five assists. Tatum and Brown each produced at least 30 points, 10 rebounds, and five assists, the first time there have been two such players in a single All-Star Game.
Team LeBron had two other 30-point scorers: Joel Embiid (32) and Kyrie Irving (32). It’s the first time a team has had three such players in an All-Star Game. In total, five players scored at least 30 points, another All-Star Game first.
Irving also handed out a game-high 15 assists. He became the first player in All-Star Game history to record a 30-point, 15-assist game.
Team LeBron’s Nikola Jokic turned 28 years old yesterday, becoming the first player to start an All-Star Game on his birthday. The only other player to appear in an All-Star Game on his birthday is Larry Nance in 1989 (30 years old).
Team LeBron did not attempt a free throw, yet another All-Star Game first. The previous record for fewest free throws attempted in an All-Star Game was two, set by the East in 2016 and matched by Team LeBron in 2022.
Team Giannis attempted just four free throws. The combined total of four free throws attempted is the lowest in All-Star Game history. The previous mark of seven was set in 2016.
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Marc Stein, “Recommended by Marc Stein”