National Basketball Association (NBA) All-Star Weekend — actually, All-Star Sunday — was far from traditional, but the stars truly came out and provided entertainment of the highest quality.

Sadly, the low point of the festivities turned out to be the Slam Dunk contest but even that, provided its own level of drama.

An entire weekend’s worth of celebrations was crammed into a single night and, despite initial apprehensions by the likes of LeBron James, Giannis Antetokounmpo, James Harden, and Kawhi Leonard, the results were very impressive.

The big winners were Giannis Antetokounmpo, who scored 35 points on 16-for-16 shooting en route to the All-Star Game Most Valuable Player (MVP) trophy; Anfernee Simons in the Slam Dunk contest; Steph Curry, who won the exciting 3-Point Shootout by one point with his last ball and Domantas Sabonis in the Skills Challenge.

In the All-Star Game, Curry displayed why he is considered the best-ever shooter in the NBA. He scored 28 points and made eight 3-pointers, including some from deep. Not to be outdone, Damian Lillard lit up the court and the scoreboard as well. He finished with 32 points and eight 3-pointers also, including the final (winning) shot of the game from half-court.

Giannis was a very deserving MVP, but Curry and Lillard provided the best highlights of the night and would have deserved the recognition as well. The duo, both playing for Team LeBron, added a dash of drama and a splash of showmanship to what would have probably been a lacklustre event.

In honour of Kobe Bryant’s legacy, after three quarters, 24 points were added to the leading team’s score to set the game target in a clock-free fourth quarter. Team LeBron led 146-125 at the end of the third and, therefore, the first to 170 points would win.

Unlike last season’s close All-Star fourth quarter, which saw unusually intense defence being played and Team LeBron scratching their way to a two-point win, this time around, Team LeBron led by 21 points going into the fourth and the margin never got close enough to warrant the same level of intensity. The final score was 170-150 and now, ever since the NBA switched from an East vs West format to a two-captain system for the game in 2018, Team LeBron have won all four instalments.

With the much-needed break out of the way and with a little less than half the season already played, the regular season restarted on Wednesday (March 10) night with a slate of eleven games. Prior to the break though, the Utah Jazz dominated with the league’s best record (27-9), ahead of the star-powered Brooklyn Nets and the emerging Phoenix Suns. The reigning champion Los Angeles Lakers, who were impressive early in the season, fell to third in the Western Conference after Anthony Davis’s injury caused them to register a 3-7 record in their last ten games.

The Jazz thoroughly dominated the first half of the season on both ends of the floor and have drawn comparisons to the 2014 Spurs due to their ball movement and spacing. They entered the break on a two-game losing streak, but there is no reason to believe that Utah can’t finish the regular season in the top four of the West, barring some unforeseen collapse.

Brooklyn’s season took a dramatic turn when the Nets acquired James Harden and entered the break at second in the East (24-13) and on a 9-1 run – most of it without Kevin Durant. With Harden, Durant and Kyrie Irving on the court together (only 186 minutes in seven games), the Nets have achieved a scary 122.4 offensive rating, and it’s hard to imagine any defence that’s going to be able to stop them if they’re all healthy. Blake Griffin has now been added to the roster and, while he isn’t exactly the big man addition most expected them to sign, he can only add to the expectation of them being the favourites to come out of the East on top.

The Suns showed their intentions inside the NBA bubble last year when they were the only team to emerge with a 100-per cent win record. They added Chris Paul to a team that already looked to be on the verge of a breakout and entered last weekend at second in the West with eight wins from their last ten games and the second-best record in the league. The Suns have proven that their run in the bubble was no fluke and now boasts the number three defence and number eight offence in the NBA.

And speaking of James Harden and Chris Paul, they departed title-contending Houston Rockets for the Nets and Suns, respectively. This has left the Rockets in dire straits at second to last in the West and on a 13-game losing streak entering the break. Any realistic hope of the Rockets sneaking into the play-offs as a pesky underdog ended when Christian Wood sprained his right ankle (for the second time) at the beginning of their downward spiral – the rebuilding process has truly begun.

The only other team that made great strides approaching the All-Star break were the Dallas Mavericks who finished the first half of the season on an 8-2 run that set them at the eighth spot in the West. Luka Doncic has once again been phenomenal, averaging 28.6 points, nine assists and 8.4 rebounds in the first half of the season to catapult the team back into play-off contention. Kristaps Porzingis has struggled on both ends of the court, while dealing with injuries, and the Mavericks are going to need him at full strength if they are going to cement their place in the West.

As it currently stands, 12 of the 30 NBA teams are within four games of .500, making for an exciting second half of the regular season. A few teams seem destined for the postseason, but nothing is guaranteed and therefore the play-off picture remains very murky.

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NBA ChampionLos Angeles Lakers 3.55

Team Odds

Brooklyn Nets 3.80

Los Angeles Clippers 6.00

Milwaukee Bucks 8.00

Utah Jazz 8.20

Philadelphia 76ers 14.00

Denver Nuggets 26.00

Boston Celtics 30.00

Miami Heat 30.00

Phoenix Suns 30.00

*Only Top 10 odds shown

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*Odds are subject to change.