Jayson Tatum clinches victory for Shaq’s OG’s, and other All-Star observations
Tatum slammed home the game-winning dunk, but Stephen Curry won MVP.
Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown’s team, Shaq’s OGs, won the NBA All-Star Championship Sunday night.
Powered by a star-studded roster consisting of Tatum, Brown Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, Damian Lillard, and James Harden, the OG’s won both games by at least seven points.
Their first opponent, Candace’s Rising Stars, comprised of the winners from Friday’s night’s Rising Stars tournament, surprisingly put up more of a fight than Chuck’s Global Stars did in the championship round.
Even Nikola Jokic, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Donovan Mitchell, and Victor Wembanyama weren’t much of a match for Shaq’s OG’s.
Here are a few observations from the cations.
Tatum closed it out, but missed out on MVP.
Jayson Tatum clinched the tournament win for Shaq’s OG’s, slipping behind Alperen Sengun for an open two-handed dunk on the final play of the game.
Tatum scored a game-high 15 points in the finale and tied for the rebounding lead with four.
But Golden State’s Stephen Curry was named MVP. Curry scored 12 points on 4-for-8 shooting in the championship round. All of his shots were 3-point attempts. Curry also had four rebounds, two steals, and two turnovers.
Shaq’s OG’s caught fire from beyond the arc, while Chuck’s Global Stars shot a collective 12.5 percent from 3-point range.
After an 11-0 run to start the game, Shaq’s OG’s were able to overwhelm Chuck’s Global Stars with their offensive firepower and coast to a double-digit victory.
Tatum could’ve ended the first game sooner, too.
Tatum stuffed the stat sheet in the opening semifinal game, posting six points (3-for-4) from the field, two rebounds, two assists, and one block.
The block came against 7-foot-4 Zach Edey, who caught an offensive rebound and tried to put up a hook shot when Tatum knocked it away from behind.
Tatum had an opportunity to bring his team to within one point of the target score when he appeared to have an open layup as he drove down the lane, opting to pass the ball out to a teammate for a 3-point attempt that would have won the game if it had gone down.
Tatum’s only miss of the first game was on a wide-open 3-pointer that also would have sealed the win. Shaq’s OG’s still found a way to advance.
Brown bounced back nicely from a rough start.
The very beginning of Jaylen Brown’s night did not go the way he must’ve wanted it to. He spent a lengthy chunk of time on the bench, playing the fewest minutes (6:23) of his Shaq OG’s teammates.
When he did emerge from the bench, he launched an airball on a 3-point attempt that seemed like it could portend a poor outing.
But Brown made the rest of his minutes impactful, knocking down his next four shots, and tying with Stephen Curry for second in scoring with eight points.
Brown brought considerable defensive energy for an All-Star game performance. He picked off a slow pass intended for Trayce Jackson Davis. He got his fingertips on Stephon Castle’s jumper which should have counted as a block.
Brown also caught a highlight-reel alley-oop from former Celtic teammate Kyrie Irving on a fastbreak.
Brown scored six points on 2-for-4 shooting in the championship round. He also grabbed a pair of rebounds.
There were too many distractions and not enough basketball.
The new All-Star format, featuring three games each with a target score of 40 points instead of a game clock, seemed to work.
The games were, for the most part, competitive, with a level of defensive energy that had been missing in past years.
But between the lengthy pregame intros and performances, comedian Kevin Hart joking his way through the night, and a bizarre mid-game tribute to TNT’s “Inside the NBA” crew, the night was big on distractions while making fans spend a lot of time waiting for the actual basketball.
Tatum was on a tear in the championship round, leading Shaq’s OG’s to an 11-1 start when the game was paused for the TNT tribute. While it was kind of cool to see the Inside Guys get their “gone fishin'” gear, acknowledging the end of the show’s run on TNT, was it necessary to stop the flow of the game for it for such a long period of time?
The moment when a young fan won Mr. Beast’s challenge for making a 3-pointer from the logo before Damian Lillard could hit three was a fun one. But even Mr. Beast was warning the contestant that he was taking too long at the end and announced that the network was about to go to commercial break right before the shot was hit.
There were some nice moments throughout the night, and the gameplay was entertaining. But, there was a whole bunch of waiting around for the action that wasn’t entirely necessary.
To comment, please create a screen name in your profile
To comment, please verify your email address
Conversation
This discussion has ended. Please join elsewhere on Boston.com