All Star

2017 NBA All-Star Friday Recap

Basketball Insiders recaps the opening night of NBA All-Star Weekend in New Orleans.

Alan Draper profile picture
Sports Editor
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All Star Weekend 2017 commenced Friday night in the city of New Orleans. The venue opened up with the All-Star Celebrity Game as well as the BBVA Compass Rising Stars Challenge. Here’s a recap of what went down during Friday night’s events:

All-Star Celebrity Game

Head Coaches Michael Smith and Jemele Hill kicked off the event with some playful back-and-forth smack talk. Ultimately, team EAST, led by head coach Jemele Hill, proved to be too much to handle, cruising to an 88-59 victory.

Win Butler got off to a hot start, finishing the first half with 12 points, seven rebounds and going 6-of-8 from the field for team EAST.

Romeo Miller connected on 5-of-11 field goals in the first half for team WEST. He finished the first half with 11 points and four rebounds.

After an air-balled three-point attempt by Romeo Miller to start the third quarter, everyone on the court surprised the crowd by performing the mannequin challenge.

Brandon Armstrong earned MVP of the All-Star Celebrity Game, finishing the night with 16 points, 15 rebounds and two assists.

BBVA Compass Rising Stars Challenge

The NBA continued its third straight year with the Team USA vs Team World format Friday evening. The game tipped off with players attempting pull up threes, whimsical passes and flashy dunks. Team World leaped out to a 77-66 halftime lead. Buddy Hield caught fire early, connecting on 8-of-13 field goal attempts for 19 points in the first half. Team USA shot 56 percent from the field and made six out of their 23 three-point attempts in the first half.

Nikola Jokic was threading the needle early. He squeezed a few back door passes through some tight windows, tossed some no look lobs and ran the break in transition.

D’Angelo Russel dazzled the crowd with his fancy ball handling. Russel was gliding around the court seeking to embarrass defenders and put them on skates.

Jamal Murray was raining fire from deep, sinking 10 three-pointers. Murray finished the game with 36 points, four rebounds and 11 assists. Murray iced the game late and received the Most Valuable Player award trophy.

All-Star weekend now shifts its attention to Saturday night, where the Skills Challenge, Three-Point Shootout and Slam Dunk Contest will take place. Last year’s runner-up, Aaron Gordon, will be returning to the Slam Dunk Contest tomorrow.

Alan is an expert gambling writer who works as one of the chief editors for Basketball Insiders. He has been covering online gambling and sports betting for over 8 years, having written for the likes of Sportlens, Compare.bet, The Sports Daily, 90min, and TopRatedCasinos.co.uk. His particular specialisms include US online casinos and gambling regulations, and soccer and basketball betting. Based in London, Alan holds an MA in English Literature and is a passionate supporter of Chelsea FC.

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