All-Star Boxscore Breakdown!
Posted by Neil Paine on February 16, 2009
Boxscore Breakdown time! Well, kinda. I mean, I'm not going to take what was a fun and enjoyable showcase game for the league and break it down to our usual level of microscopic detail, but I did think it would be interesting to run our usual game numbers on the ASG. Because even meaningless exhibitions deserve the full treatment here at BBR.
All in all, it was a entertaining game -- a one-sided affair, but entertaining nonetheless. Kobe and Shaq reunited to great effect, as the hometown Big Saguaro was the star of the evening with his pregame dance & his many dunks; the guys came out hustling in the first half, which was refreshing; LeBron previewed his Slam Dunk Contest form for next year's event (you know he can match Dwight's raised-rim dunk from Saturday night); and we found out that size does matter when the East got completely dominated down low. But most importantly, even in the blowout a good time was had by all (except maybe scoreless Joe Johnson... and jobless Terry Porter, of course).
Before we run the numbers, first let me say, man, Kevin Durant is making me eat my words -- and I'm having a lot of fun watching him do it! 46 points in the Rookie Challenge, a stirring comeback in HORSE/GEICO (ugly trick-shot attempts notwithstanding)... Plus, I'm pretty sure KD would have given Daequan Cook all he could handle in the 3-point shootout; did you see some of those treys in HORSE? Wow. My only explanation? I guess I sorta reverse "stat-cursed" him back in November. So you're welcome, Kevin.
Anyway, here are the numbers from last night's game:
4 Factors Pts Poss eFG% TOr OR% FTr ORtg ---------+---+----+----+----+----+----+----- East 119 113 51.0 16.0 25.0 17.0 105.5 West 146 113 63.2 12.4 32.4 11.3 129.4 ---------+---+----+----+----+----+----+-----
Player Tm Pos Min Poss PPrd ORtg %Pos DRtg Flr% Stop Stop% ----------------+----+---+----+----+----+------+----+-----+-----+----+------ LeBron James East SF 27 19.2 18.3 95.7 30.2 132.1 0.423 3.9 0.305 Kevin Garnett East PF 19 7.4 11.3 153.1 16.5 133.8 0.729 2.4 0.265 Dwight Howard East C 28 12.3 12.9 105.2 18.7 123.4 0.535 6.8 0.517 Allen Iverson East SG 16 4.8 3.4 69.8 12.8 129.0 0.336 2.9 0.382 Dwyane Wade East SG 27 14.6 19.3 132.2 23.0 126.0 0.613 5.8 0.455 Joe Johnson East SG 22 7.9 0.0 0.0 15.3 135.9 0.000 2.2 0.213 Rashard Lewis East PF 21 6.6 7.1 107.2 13.4 130.6 0.487 3.4 0.341 Paul Pierce East SF 20 12.4 16.7 133.9 26.5 123.7 0.620 4.8 0.511 Ray Allen East SG 18 9.3 7.9 84.8 22.0 133.6 0.419 2.3 0.268 Devin Harris East PG 17 4.9 5.5 111.5 12.3 135.9 0.553 1.7 0.213 Mo Williams East PG 17 11.4 13.4 117.4 28.5 134.7 0.503 1.9 0.242 Danny Granger East SF 11 2.0 2.0 102.2 7.8 120.0 0.501 3.1 0.600 ----------------+----+---+----+----+----+------+----+-----+-----+----+------ Amare Stoudemire West PF 25 12.4 17.1 138.1 21.1 112.2 0.675 4.1 0.349 Tim Duncan West PF 18 6.2 5.8 94.1 14.7 103.2 0.467 4.7 0.559 Yao Ming West C 12 3.8 1.7 45.0 13.5 104.4 0.225 3.0 0.532 Kobe Bryant West SG 29 18.9 23.9 125.9 27.8 100.2 0.568 8.6 0.629 Chris Paul West PG 29 16.2 21.5 133.1 23.7 100.2 0.656 8.6 0.630 Brandon Roy West SG 31 7.0 12.8 182.8 9.6 111.0 0.907 5.5 0.376 Tony Parker West PG 20 11.1 13.1 117.8 23.7 101.3 0.585 5.7 0.605 Chauncey Billups West PG 19 7.5 5.9 78.5 16.7 107.5 0.336 4.1 0.460 Pau Gasol West PF 17 7.5 13.1 175.9 18.7 97.9 0.825 5.5 0.685 Dirk Nowitzki West PF 14 4.6 7.0 151.9 14.0 113.5 0.717 2.1 0.317 David West West PF 14 3.9 5.3 134.4 12.0 104.7 0.669 3.5 0.525 Shaquille O'Neal West C 11 11.7 16.0 137.1 45.1 108.3 0.695 2.3 0.441 ----------------+----+---+----+----+----+------+----+-----+-----+----+------
There's really not a whole lot more to say about an exhibition-game blowout like this, except that it was nice to see 37-year-old Shaq channel the Big Aristotle of old, throwing down a number of big slams on the East (especially with Rashard Lewis out there), connecting on no-look full-court outlet passes, etc. The '09 Suns haven't been the same team as in past seasons, but Shaq seems rejuvenated this year and he was determined to put on a good show for the Phoenix fans, reminding us all that there was a time when he truly was the best player in the NBA.