Jayson Tatum scores All-Star record 55 points, Team Giannis claims win / News - Basketnews.com

Jayson Tatum scored All-Star Game record 55 points as Team Giannis beat Team LeBron 184-175.

Credit: RS-Scanpix Credit RS-Scanpix

An All-Star Game that featured a beginning never seen before produced a halftime and an overall game that made it one of the NBA's more memorable recent showcases.

Team Giannis defeated Team LeBron184-175in an All-Star Game that saw Jayson Tatum collect MVP honors, scoring 55 points on 22-for-31 shooting to set the record for the most points scored in an All-Star Game.

The game also featured the first playground-stylepregame draftheaded up by All-Star captains Giannis Antetokounmpo and LeBron James.

This was the first All-Star Game in which Team LeBron was defeated, and much of that success for Team Giannis came in the second half after James was removed following a hand injury.

Tatum provided the spark in the second half, scoring an All-Star record 27 points in the third quarter and adding another 18 in the fourth quarter to power the win. He also finished with 10 rebounds and six assists.

This All-Star Game started off and operated at the typical pace: lots of 3-point attempts and drives to the basket with little to no resistance. In the third quarter, both teams amped up their offense, with Donovan Mitchell, Damian Lillard, and Jayson Tatum of Team Giannis thrilling the crowd with their shooting.

That trio shot a combined 15-for-23 on 3-pointers in that quarter, with several key moments taking place. First, Lillard sank a pullup shot from a step behind halfcourt, sending the fans into a frenzy. Then, late in the quarter, Tatum and Team LeBron's Jaylen Brown — Tatum's Celtics teammate — spent the end of the quarter going 1-on-1, draining 3-pointers over each other on back-to-back possessions.

At halftime, James was honored with an elaborate ceremony for becoming the NBA's all-time leading scorer on Feb. 8.

In it, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar — whom he passed to get to No. 1 — and Jazz legend Karl Malone (the NBA's No. 3 all-time scorer) shared an embrace with James after he was honored for his feat.

As for the draft, Antetokounmpo went first and James second as they took turns picking their squads from the available list of reserves, then reversed order for picking starters.

James surprised the crowd by drafting his former teammate, Kyrie Irving, with his second pick among the starters, drawing some cheers and boos.

In a bit of All-Star draft irony, two players essentially traded for each other — Cleveland's Donovan Mitchell and Utah's Lauri Markkanen — were picked as teammates on Team Giannis.

Neither James nor Antetokounmpo played in the full game. Antetokounmpo started and scored the game's first points on a dunk 15 seconds into the game.

Nursing a hand injury suffered prior to the weekend festivities, Antetokounmpo then committed a foul and was replaced by Bam Adebayo.

James played the first half and finished with 13 points, four rebounds, and an assist in 14 minutes but was ruled out for the second half with a right hand contusion.

The captains took turns drafting from the pool of 22 players voted into the All-Star field — first, they selected from the 14 All-Star reserves, then from the eight All-Star starters.Conference affiliation did not matter during the draft process.

Team LeBron roster

Reserve picks (in order)

Anthony Edwards Jaylen Brown Paul George Tyrese Haliburton Julius Randle De'Aaron Fox Jaren Jackson Jr.

Starter picks (in order)

Joel Embiid Kyrie Irving Luka Doncic Nikola Jokic

Team Giannis roster

Reserve picks (in order)

Damian Lillard Jrue Holiday Shai Gilgeous-Alexander DeMar DeRozan Pascal Siakam Bam Adebayo Domantas Sabonis

Starter picks (in order)

Jayson Tatum Ja Morant Donovan Mitchell Lauri Markkanen Thank you for reading us! We have even more content for you.