West All-Stars Win the 2009 NBA All-Star Game 146-119
It was speed versus height that kicked off the 2009 NBA All-Star game from Phoenix. When the game got underway, it certainly looked like the East were going to use their quickness to run over the much taller West lineup. But that was until the former Laker duo of Shaquille O’ Neal and Kobe Bryant began to run like old. And true enough, that was all the Western Conference All-stars needed to win this year’s All-Star game in lopsided fashion.
The way the 2009 NBA All-Star game went, you would think that it was the Los Angeles Lakers of old against the East-All Stars. After a sluggish start which saw the East All-Stars firing on all cylinders, the West All-Stars suddenly waxed hot courtesy of Laker Kobe Bryant and former Laker and now Suns Shaquille O’ Neal.
It does bring a lot of memories from the 3-peat Lakers of old. Actually, Shaquille did a dance number with the dance troupe when the all-star reserves were being announced. Obviously choreographed, the fans in Phoenix enjoyed each minute of it.
The game was played in spurts with stars like LeBron James, Dwayne Wade, Dwight Howard, Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett keeping the West all-stars at bay. But once the Diesel and Kobe got rolling, the rest followed. The first quarter ended with the West up 34-27. By halftime, the West was still enjoying a 72-67 halftime lead.
By the third canto, the West exploded once again and were handily above by as much as 20 points. The highlight of this quarter was the pass made by Shaq between the legs of Dwight Howard to Chris Paul to which he returned the pass for a great give and go play and finished off with a Shaquille O’ Neal slam! The third quarter ended at 110-91 for the West.
By the fourth quarter, early conversions by Rashard Lewis and Paul Pierce showed some life to the East’s cause. But Tony Parker, Dirk Nowitzki, Chauncey Billups and Pau Gasol and Brandon Roy answered back to keep the East at bay.
At this point, it was practically done. Only the final score and who this year’s MVP remained. The contenders were Kobe, Shaq and Chris Paul for their magnificent. In the the 2009 NBA All-Star MVP honors was shared by Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’ Neal. Ah the memories of the Three-peat Los Angeles Lakers once again comes into mind. And don’t forget, the West All-Star coach was Phil Jackson.
The winning formula lives on!
Leave a Comment