From current NBA All-Stars Kobe Bryant and LeBron James to legends Magic Johnson and Larry Bird, the NBA All-Star Game always has been a showcase of basketball's greatest players. The result of talent-stuffed rosters on both sides has been a history of high-scoring contests. Where will the 2011 All-Star Game rank among the highest-scoring in league history? Kevin Durrant, Dwight Howard, Dwayne Wade and the rest of this year's NBA All-Stars will have to run up the score to make this year's showcase one of the five highest-scoring All-Star games in NBA history.
5. 1961: West 153, East 131 -- Bob Pettite led all scorers with 29 points, but MVP Oscar Robertson had 23 points and 14 assist, as the West won a shootout in front of only 8,016 fans at the Onondaga County War Memorial Coliseum in Syracuse, New York. Bill Russell scored 24 points for the East, which featured all-time greats Wilt Chamberlain and Bob Cousy. Chamberlain had 12 points and 18 assists, while Cousy chipped in with four points and eight assists. Legendary coach Red Auerback coached the East, but that didn't stop the West from taking a commanding 47-19 lead after the first quarter.
4. 2007: West 154, East 132 -- In the highest-scoring regulation All-Star Game in NBA history, MVP Kobe Bryant poured in 31 points and added six assists and six steals, as the West blew out the East in front of 15,694 fans at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. Amare Stoudemire added 29 points and Carmelo Anthony chipped in with 20 for the West team, which raced out to a 79-59 lead in the first half. All-Star vote-leader LeBron James led all East scorers with 28 points and Dwight Howard had 20 points and 12 rebounds. The two teams combined for 78 points in a wild fourth quarter.
3. 1984: East 154, West 145 (OT) -- Isiah Thomas and the East worked overtime to defeat the West before 17,400 fans at McNichols Sports Arena in Denver, Colorado. Julius Erving went off for 34 points, but Thomas delivered 21 points and 15 assists to capture MVP honors. Bernard King hit for 18 points and Larry Bird dropped in 16 as the East came back from a 76-62 deficit at halftime. Nine West All-Stars scored in double figures, including Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who led his team with 25 points. Magic Johnson benefited from the wide-open game by dished out a staggering 22 assists.
2. 2003: West 155, East 145 (2 OT) -- The 20,325 fans in attendance at Philips Arena in Atlanta, Georgia were treated to extra basketball and the second-highest scoring game in NBA All-Star history. When it was all said and done, Kevin Garnett finished with a West-high 37 points and MVP honors. Kobe Bryant added 22 points and Tim Duncan did just enough damage with 19 points and 15 rebounds for the West, which scored only 14 points from the free throw line. For the East, Allen Iverson scorched the nets with 35 points, Tracy McGrady had 29 points and Michael Jordan added 20 points. Jordan was off most of the game; he finished 9-for-27 from the field.
1. 1987: West 154, East 149 (OT) -- The highest-scoring NBA All-Star Game in league history also was one of the strangest. Tom Chambers scored a game-high 34 points -- more than Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (10), Hakeem Olajuwon (10) and Magic Johnson (nine) combined -- to win MVP before 34,275 spectators at the Kingdome in Seattle, Washington. Rolando Blackman added 29 points for Pat Riley's West squad, which outscored the East 54-42 in the fourth quarter and overtime. Moses Malone led the East with 27 points, Julius Erving added 22 points and Michael Jordan, in only his fourth year in the league, finished with 11 points. The two teams combined for only six made three-pointers (five by the West), but an astounding 71 made free throws.
Sources:
NBA & ABA All-Star Game History and Statistics. Accessed February 11, 2011.
Adam Martini - Adam Martini is a freelance sports writer based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. He has more than 15 years of writing experience, most recently as ...
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