2024 NBA All-Star Game: Damian Lillard leads East to record win, named MVP
The Milwaukee Bucks' eight-time All-Star nets 39 points in the Eastern Conference's 211-186 victory over their Western counterparts.
Basketball
Damian Lillard was named MVP of the 2024 NBA All-Star Game after scoring 39 points behind 11 3-pointers to lead the Eastern Conference to a 211-186 victory in Indianapolis on Sunday (19 February).
The 211 points scored by the East were an All-Star record, shattering the 196 put up by the Western Conference in 2016.
Lillard, who won the 3-point contest a day earlier, became the only other player ever since Michael Jordan in 1988 to win a Saturday event and the All-Star MVP in the same weekend. Jordan won the dunk contest in 1988.
“Anytime you’re mentioned in the same category as Mike it's an honour and it's a major accomplishment even if it's All-Star weekend,” said eight-time All-Star Lillard, who is in his first season with the Milwaukee Bucks and capped his night with a shot from half-court before receiving the award named after Kobe Bryant.
“Because if it was that simple, more people would have done it since 1988. So I mean that's a major accomplishment for me to be mentioned in the same conversation.
"I just told myself I'm going to be aggressive and I'm going to keep firing. I saw a couple go in and after that it was just like, I'm going after it.
"So that was it."
Also for the East, Tyrese Haliburton from the hometown Indiana Pacers had 32 points on 10 3s along with seven rebounds and six assists. The Boston Celtics’ Jaylen Brown came off the bench to chip in 36 points.
The Minnesota Timberwolves’ Karl-Anthony Towns led the West with a game-high 50 points. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander of the Oklahoma City Thunder added 31 points.