INDIANAPOLIS — Golden State Warriors guard Steph Curry and the Western Conference nearly set a record for the most points scored by one team in an NBA All-Star Game.
And they still lost by 25.
Once again, the All-Star Game was all offense.
The Eastern Conference beat the Western Conference 211-186 on Sunday night, with the winners putting up the most points in the game’s 73-year history. The previous mark: 196 by the West in 2016.
It was a flurry of records: The total points of 397 smashed the record of 374 set in 2017, while the East made 42 3-pointers to break the mark of 35 set by Team LeBron in 2019. The sides combined for 193 points in the first half to break the any-half record of 191 set last year, and the East tied an any-half record by scoring 104 by intermission.
All-Star MVP Damian Lillard, an Oakland native, scored 39 points for the East, while Jaylen Brown, a former Cal standout, had 36 and Tyrese Haliburton from the hometown Indiana Pacers finished with 32.
“To be able to have this kind of accomplishment, it’s special,” Lillard said.
Curry had a less-than-perfect night shooting, hitting just 6-of-17 field goal attempts and 4-of-13 shots from 3-point range. He finished with 16 points, eight assists, and five rebounds, and had a plus-minus rating of minus-23, the highest among all players.
Perhaps unnoticed: Karl-Anthony Towns scored 50 points for the West in just 28 minutes. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 31 for the West.
The highlights were from everywhere. Lillard pulled up from halfcourt in the third quarter — swish. Luka Doncic tried a shot from about 70 feet late in the first half; it hit near the top of the backboard. Towns even threw an alley-oop to Curry, much more of a shooter than a dunker, so he simply laid it in instead.
“The shot-making from the East was incredible,” West forward Kevin Durant said. “Hard to play defense when somebody’s shooting 30-, 40-footers over you.”
The West scored a ton of points, too: At 186, it had the fourth-most by any team in All-Star history. And obviously, the most ever in a loss.
Among the other records:
— The East tried 97 3-pointers; the previous record was 90 by Team LeBron in 2019.
— The teams combined for 66 3s made and 168 3s attempted (previous records were 62 and 167 in 2019).
Defense was optional, sometimes accidental.
Haliburton had five 3-pointers in a 1:32 span in the first quarter, helping the East take a 53-47 lead after the opening 12 minutes.
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver and other league executives were seeking a more competitive All-Star Game after last season’s 184-175 matchup was widely panned — and television ratings plummeted.
Even Hall of Famer Larry Bird, honored Sunday at the NBA Legends Brunch, said was hoping the message from the league resonated and players took the All-Star Game a little more seriously.
“I know what this league’s all about and I’m very proud of it,” Bird said. “I’m proud of today’s players. I like the game they play. … I think it’s very important when you have the best players in the world together, you’ve got to compete and you’ve got to play hard and you’ve got to show the fans how good they really are.”
It had a big-game, Finals-type atmosphere — but obviously, nothing near a playoff feel. Donovan Mitchell threw a 50-foot inbounds pass underhand, Bam Adebayo inbounded a ball off Nikola Jokic’s backside before dribbling downcourt and making a 3, and Devin Booker went through pregame with a hat on backward.
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The 74th NBA All-Star Game is scheduled for Feb. 16, 2025, at Chase Center in San Francisco. The last time the game was in the Bay Area was in 2000 at the Oakland Arena.