The future Hall of Famers on Team Shaq advanced to the All-Star Game final, but the Rising Stars kept the game close up until Damian Lillard‘s game-winner.
Lillard scored a team-high nine points, all on three-pointers, as Team Shaq squeaked by Team Candace. Team Candace’s group of first- and second-year players hung tough, though the final result was mainly close thanks to the veterans’ attempts to win the game in dramatic fashion.
The game was played to 40 points, but when Team Shaq took a 37-31 lead, the players kept trying to win the game dramatically. The team missed six jump shots in a row trying to hit 40 points exactly, scoring only on an easy Kevin Durant dunk before Lillard finally nailed his triple.
The referees also helped out. Durant was hacked by two Rising Stars on his way to the game-winning hoop, with no call. Jayson Tatum missed a wide-open corner three, but Lillard tied up Keyonte George to set up his winning possession.
Team Shaq went 6-of-18 on three-pointers, while shooting 12-of-18 on two-pointers. Much of that was due to attempts at logo threes, fallaway jumpers — and also the defensive efforts of Ryan Dunn and Stephon Castle.
One telling moment happened with Team Shaq up 37-31. Stephen Curry found Tatum with a behind-the-back pass cutting to the hoop, but he passed up the easy two in favor of passing out to Durant behind the arc, who missed his three. When the veterans surged, it was due to hitting Jaylen Brown (eight points, 4-of-5) for easy buckets.
While the Rising Stars acquitted themselves, it still felt strange to see future Hall of Famers facing off against the likes of Dalton Knecht (eight points) and Trayce Jackson-Davis. The idea was to make the All-Stars play hard for fear of embarrassment, but it felt like the only thing keeping the game competitive was the stars trying for crowd-pleasing highlights.
The solution feels simple: Expand the All-Star rosters. With 30 NBA teams, having an extra four All-Stars to form four teams of seven players solves the issue of competitiveness, without including a group of players who often don’t start on their own teams.
Lillard made sure it wasn’t embarrassing, but beating the international stars of Team Chuck in the final will require better shot selection.
