LOS ANGELES, Feb. 18 (Xinhua) -- Team Lebron stormed back to defeat Team Stephen 148-145 in 2018 NBA All-Star Game Saturday night at Staples Center.
Under the new regulation this year, the players were not divided in line with Eastern and Western Conference, but leading vote getters LeBron James and Stephen Curry, who picked their team members.
The USA Today newspaper commented that this idea, which was inspired by Chris Paul, the Houston Rockets point guard who serves as the president of the National Basketball Players Association as well, "just like kids do every day on your local playground."
This revamp made the debuted All-Star Game to be a game this year in stead of just a show which has been criticized by fans for many years.
As the leader of a team named by his name, Lebron played 31 minutes and 17 seconds, the longest time above all stars and scored the game-high 29 points, leading Kevin Durant, Anthony Davis, Russell Westbrook, Kyrie Irving and other seven big names to cover the 11 points deposit after the first quarter.
They fought back to take the lead with about 30 seconds left to the end.
On the other side, Curry played only 26 minutes and 34 seconds, shooting 11 points while James Harden played a little bit longer with one more point.
Lebron was voted as the 2018 NBA All-Star MVP, the second time after 2006. He said after the game that the new format was great.
"The great thing about our commissioner, he's absolutely okay with trying something new, to change the format, and it definitely worked out for everybody. It worked out not only for the players, not only for the league, but for our fans, for everybody. It was a great weekend, and we capped it off the right way," Lebron said.
