After the first quarter, at 43:40, the Western Stars led the Eastern Stars by three points.
Wang Zelin only scored 6 points, 4 rebounds and 2 assists, which made the commentators Yu Jia and Zhang Lili shake their heads.
"It seems that Zelin doesn't have much desire for the All-Star MVP award this year. In four years, it's the first time I've seen him win like this in the All-Star Game."
"In fact, this is understandable. After all, the king has two major goals this season, namely to win three consecutive MVP awards and to establish the Blazers dynasty with three consecutive championships.
So far, he has averaged 37.5 points, 17.7 rebounds, 5 assists, 4.5 blocks and 1.5 steals per game during the regular season. His scoring average has surpassed the 37.1 points created by Michael Jordan in the 1986-87 season;
The average of 17.7 rebounds per game is also the highest in a single season since Dennis Rodman averaged 18.3 rebounds per game in the 1992-93 season;
The average of 4.5 blocks per game is also directly chasing the 4.5 blocks per game created by Mutombo, the block leader in that season, in the 1995-96 season.
So we have reason to guess that he really came to the All-Star Weekend this time with a playful attitude, and then adjusted his mentality to sprint for the second half of the season!"
Hearing Yu Jia's analysis, Zhang Lili nodded repeatedly: "Well, this is what we have been talking about for a long time. But in this way, without Zelin's suppression, it is estimated that there will be many stars in the West this year who are ready to make a move. After all,
The All-Star MVP is also an MVP trophy!"
Soon, the game entered the second quarter.
Everything was as expected by the two commentators. Wang Zelin only played for three minutes and scored 4 points and 2 rebounds before coach Terry took him off the court to rest.
Today, he has positioned himself as a spectator, let others compete for trophies and so on.
In the following time, Wang Zelin's presence in the game was visibly reduced. But fortunately, more than 20 stars took turns to play, and the All-Star Weekend was still full of joy.
Not only that, but new records were set one after another during this period.
At 8 minutes and 22 seconds of this quarter, Paul, who had just replaced, assisted, and Harden completed an alley-oop dunk. As a result, Paul's career All-Star assists reached 98, successfully surpassing Pistons legend "Smiling Assassin" Isaiah
Thomas' 97 assists moved him to second place on the All-Star's all-time assist list.
After that, the two teams switched back one after another. Wang Zelin grabbed a rebound from the basket, passed the ball twice, and assisted Kobe Bryant to hit the three-pointer from the outside.
Next, the two sides started a tug-of-war, and the score difference continued to rise alternately.
Later in the quarter, Kobe successfully stole George, bringing his total number of All-Star steals to 37, successfully surpassing "Flying Man" Jordan and ranking first in history.
Afterwards, Kobe shook off George again and made his iconic back jump into the net, successfully scoring in double figures during the All-Star Weekend.
After halftime, the Western team took the lead at 92:90.
After playing only two quarters, both the Eastern and Western Stars set a new record for total points scored in a half of the All-Star Game.
After changing sides and fighting again, the two teams gradually became more serious about playing, especially after the defensive intensity increased. As a result, the shooting efficiency of both sides declined to a certain extent, and the shooting efficiency started to be average.
For the Western Stars, Wang Zelin made it clear in the locker room during halftime that he would not play again in the second half.
Lillard and Aldridge followed closely, both expressing that they had no intention of pursuing the AMVP trophy, and asked Coach Terry to reduce their playing time.
Therefore, the Thunder's second youngster became the main scoring force on the court.
Tonight, Westbrook had a strong desire to attack. After only scoring 7 points in the first half, he ushered in a big explosion just entering the second half. In less than two minutes, he fired continuously from the outside and personally hit 4
A three-pointer, instantly boosting his personal score to 19 points, ranking the highest on the team.
Westbrook wants to win AMVP?!
At this moment, everyone was aware of Westbrook's intention.
When Durant saw his good brother playing so bravely, he immediately expressed during the timeout that he hoped everyone could give him a face and fully support his second brother's fight for AMVP!
Needless to say, during his time with the Thunder, Durant's image to the outside world was definitely that of a great and upright person... ahem, provided that his slightly unique temperament is ignored.
In terms of qualifications, only Kobe Bryant and his wife can surpass him in the Western Conference.
But the problem is that my sister-in-law's personal abilities are far inferior to Durant's. Kobe's current thoughts are somewhat similar to Wang Zelin's, both want to concentrate on preparing for the second half of the schedule.
In terms of strength, Durant is definitely one of the top three current superstars.
Even now, in the minds of most people, they dare not say that Curry, who is at his peak this season, will definitely surpass Durant and firmly sit on the throne of the third man in the league.
Therefore, Wang Zelin, who is classified as the number one player, has made it clear that he is just a spectator. Kobe and his sister-in-law have little interest in AMVP due to their own reasons. The Western Conference Star Team is now the only one with the qualifications and ability to compete with Westbrook for AMVP.
There was only the elementary school student hiding in the corner of the bench, playing and playing with his good brother Thompson.
"Hey, why are you looking at me?"
Feeling that the surroundings suddenly became quiet, Curry, who had just been focusing on playing, raised his head, only to find that everyone was looking at him.
Afraid of the sudden silence in the air, Curry, sensing something was wrong in the atmosphere, quickly took his hand away from Thompson's head.
"Stephen, it's like this..."
At this time, Durant came over and made a request to Curry.
"What did I think it was? But that's what happened?"
After figuring out what just happened, Curry secretly breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed that it was not because his slapstick affected the team's tactical deployment that everyone focused on him.
Then he quickly stated that he had no intention of competing with Westbrook for AMVP, and that he was also willing to help Westbrook compete for awards.
Well, in terms of being a teammate, Curry is undoubtedly excellent, even as good as No. 21 in the Holy City.
Even though he, Durant and Westbrook are just temporary teammates now.
After taking care of everyone, the Western Conference Star Team has reached the principle of "reconciling the outside world before settling down the inside". Then everyone worked together as a team and began to work hard to help Westbrook become the star of the stars in this session.
After returning from the timeout, the bearded man, who has a good personal relationship with Westbrook, is also happy to be a green foil friend.
When the team takes the lead, he will consciously give the ball to Westbrook; when both sides are anxious, he can step forward to provide firepower and help Westbrook get one or two assists.
After three quarters, the Eastern team was 135:146 the Western team, already 11 points behind.
Entering the final quarter, identity competition became the main theme on the court. Under Westbrook's organization, Harden Thomson hit consecutive three-pointers.
In the middle of this quarter, Harden made a three-pointer. Recently, the team's lead has reached 20 points, and the subsequent games have completely turned into a point-collecting contest.
In the end, after the whole game, the Western team defeated the Eastern team 196:173.
The total points scored by the two teams in the half, the total points scored in the game, and the total points scored by the two teams all set new records in All-Star history.