ALL-STAR WEEKEND REVIEW

The western conference All-stars out shined the east for the 4th time in five years as the west beat the east 143-138. Chris Paul received MVP honors as he has 20 points and 15 assists. CP3 became just the third player in all-star history to record 20 points and drop 15 dimes, joining hall of fame point guards Magic Johnson and Isiah Thomas. Chris Paul is the first Clipper to ever win the all-star game MVP. He and Clipper team mate Blake Griffin definitely put on a show in Houston which definitely caused problems for the eastern conference all-stars. Kevin Durant led all players with 30 points, and Carmelo Anthony had 26 to lead the east in defeat. The final minutes off the game became pretty tight. Kobe Bryant had two notable blocked shots on LeBron James in the closing moments to help the west clinch the victory. On Michael Jordan's 50th birthday, Kobe showed LeBron that the old man still has some tricks up his purple and yellow sleeves.

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Toronto Raptor Terrence Ross won the 2013 slam dunk competition, edging out last year’s winner Jeremy Evans of the Utah Jazz. Ross won the contest with homage to former dunk champion and Toronto Raptor Vince Carter,
wearing the Vince Carter Raptors throwback in the process. Cleveland point guard Kyrie Irving won the 3 point contest by defeating Matt Bonner from the Spurs.
Irving had 23 out of 30 points in his final round victory over "the red rocket." The Portland Trail Blazers rookie point guard Damien Lillard also did well on Saturday night as he won the NBA skills competition. Saturday evenings event seemed underwhelming, especially the slam dunk contest. Kenneth "The Manimal" Farried and Eric Bledsoe were the only names the casual NBA fan would even recognize in the contest. LeBron James and Blake Griffin looked fresh in their threads in the stands, but were nowhere to be found in this competition.

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Kevin Hart took home the MVP award for the second straight year in the celebrity game. His showing on the halftime show of Sunday's game may have been the best moment of the weekend, aside from CP3's performance and Kobe's late game blocks of LeBron. Team Chuck defeated team Shaq in the rising stars challenge Friday evening. The Manimal Kenneth Faried had 40 points in the victory for team Chuck. The 2013 NBA All-Star weekend in Houston marked the final all-star weekend for NBA Commissioner David Stern. Stern will be stepping down next season prior to the 2014 NBA All-Star Weekend.

-Joe Passarelli

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