NBA All-Star Game | East gets its groove back with win

NEW ORLEANS — Toss some leftover Mardi Gras beads toward the East. LeBron James and his crew earned them.

Outdunking, outpassing and outperforming their more trumpeted counterparts from the Western Conference, the Eastern Conference All-Stars avenged a year-old beating with a 134-128 win on Sunday night.

Former Sonics star Ray Allen scored 28 points, making three straight three-pointers in the final 3:15, and James added 27, including a did-he-really-do-that? dunk in the last minute to propel the East and earn MVP honors.

Last year, the West humiliated the East in a 153-132 rout in Las Vegas when Kobe Bryant & Co. rewrote the event's record books. However, this time led by Allen's 14 fourth-quarter points and James, the East salvaged some pride and can return to the season's second half with bragging rights.

"They beat up on us pretty bad last year," James said. "We didn't want to allow that to happen. We wanted to win."

James, who added nine assists and eight rebounds, was MVP for the second time in three years. He also won the honor in 2006, when the East beat the West in Houston.

Former Washington Huskies star Brandon Roy, Amare Stoudemire and Carmelo Anthony scored 18 points apiece to lead the West, which trailed by 13 entering the fourth quarter before rallying behind New Orleans' own Chris Paul. The sensational guard's seventh assist of the final period set up Roy's layup to give the West a 122-119 lead.

But Boston's Allen, the final player added to either roster, knocked down his second three-pointer in 48 seconds to tie it before Paul answered with a three, sending the hometown crowd into a frenzy.

Allen finally missed and James poked away the ball, and then came up with the night's most stirring moment.

Slashing through the lane, Cleveland's megastar rose and dunked over several West defenders, much like he did in Game 5 of last year's Eastern Conference finals in Detroit when he scored the Cavaliers' final 25 points

"We had two people on him," Paul said. "but that still wasn't enough."

Paul was called for an offensive foul on the West's next trip. Dwyane Wade hit a layup and Allen scored to make it 131-125. Roy's three-pointer with 8.7 seconds cut the West's deficit to three, but Allen made three free throws to close it out.

The weekend in New Orleans was about much more than spectacular dunks, a game featuring marginal defense or collecting strings of beads while strolling down Bourbon Street. The NBA came to the Big Easy hoping to help this special city continue its comeback from Hurricane Katrina, the effects of which are still being felt 2 ½ years since she blasted through.

"Well, I hope not just me, but every All-Star from the East and West was able to put smiles on kids' and on families' faces," James said. "I think we all know what happened, the devastation down here and to bring the NBA All-Star Game here I think it really uplifted the families down here. We had a great time."

Bryant, who won MVP honors last year, played less than three minutes so he could rest his injured pinkie. The 10-time All-Star dislocated his finger earlier this month had his hand wrapped in a large ice pack.

The West could have used him.

"There's one player we really, really missed, and that was Kobe," West coach Byron Scott of New Orleans said. "Obviously, Kobe would have loved to play."

EAST		fg	ft
min		m-a	m-a	or-t	a	pf	pts
James	30:15	12-22	1-1	1-8	9	3	27
Bosh	21:32	7-15	0-2	2-7	1	1	14
Howard	30:33	7-7	2-3	5-9	3	4	16
Kidd	25:05	1-2	0-0	0-4	10	0	2
Wade	21:48	7-12	0-2	1-4	3	1	14
Allen	18:54	10-14	3-5	0-2	1	0	28
Wallace	17:37	1-5	0-0	2-5	0	2	3
Billups	18:07	3-10	0-1	1-1	4	1	6
Hamilton	18:00	4-9	0-0	0-0	2	0	9
Pierce	12:37	5-9	0-0	0-4	2	0	10
Johnson	13:20	1-2	0-0	0-0	2	1	3
Jamison	12:12	1-3	0-0	0-1	0	0	2
Totals		59-110	6-14	12-45	37	13	134

Percentages: FG .536, FT .429. Three-point goals: 10-36, .278 (Allen 5-9, James 2-7, Hamilton 1-1, Johnson 1-1, Wallace 1-5, Kidd 0-1, Wade 0-1, Jamison 0-2, Pierce 0-3, Billups 0-6). Team rebounds: 6. Team turnovers: 17 (15 PTS). Blocked shots: 7 (James 2, Wallace 2, Howard, Jamison, Wade). Turnovers: 16 (James 4, Jamison 2, Pierce 2, Wade 2, Billups, Bosh, Howard, Johnson, Kidd, Wallace). Steals: 13 (Kidd 4, Howard 3, Allen 2, James 2, Johnson, Wallace). Technical fouls: None.

WEST		fg	ft
min		m-a	m-a	or-t	a	pf	pts
Anthony	21:38	8-17	2-3	5-7	1	0	18
Duncan	22:23	2-7	0-0	4-9	1	1	4
Yao	13:17	2-5	2-2	1-5	1	0	6
Iverson	20:44	3-7	1-2	1-2	6	0	7
Bryant	2:52	0-0	0-0	0-1	0	0	0
Roy	28:34	8-10	0-0	1-9	5	2	18
Paul	27:16	7-14	0-0	2-3	14	5	16
Nowitzki	25:41	5-14	2-2	1-4	2	0	13
Stoudemire	23:07	8-11	1-3	0-5	0	2	18
Nash	19:42	4-8	0-0	0-0	6	3	8
Boozer	18:30	7-15	0-2	4-10	0	0	14
West	16:16	3-6	0-0	2-4	1	1	6
Totals		57-114	8-14	21-59	37	14	128

Percentages: FG .500, FT .571. Three-point goals: 6-19, .316 (Roy 2-3, Paul 2-6, Stoudemire 1-2, Nowitzki 1-4, Duncan 0-1, Nash 0-1, Yao 0-2). Team rebounds: 12. Team turnovers: 21 (35 PTS). Blocked shots: 5 (Duncan, Iverson, Nash, Roy, Stoudemire). Turnovers: 21 (Iverson 6, Duncan 4, Anthony 2, Nowitzki 2, Paul 2, Boozer, Yao, Nash, Stoudemire, West). Steals: 11 (Iverson 4, Paul 4, Duncan, Roy, Stoudemire). Technical fouls: None.

East	34	40	32	28 — 134
West	28	37	28	35 — 128

Attendance: 16,271 (17,200). Time: 2:29. Officials: Michael Smith, David Jones, Eddie F. Rush.