Cavs News: Broken All-Star Game, Spida scoring, Danny lineups

Donovan Mitchell, Cleveland Cavaliers. Photo by Kyle Terada - Pool/Getty Images
Donovan Mitchell, Cleveland Cavaliers. Photo by Kyle Terada - Pool/Getty Images

The All-Star Game is broken.

That’s the takeaway after the completion of NBA All-Star Weekend. It was an up-and-down event overall, with Mac Maclung’s insane dunks saving a Slam Dunk Contest full of non-stars, while the 3-Point Shootaround was a fitting ode to Damian Lillard’s brilliance. The Rising Stars Challenge with Jose Alvarado mic’d up was the pinnacle of entertainment. The All-Star Game on Sunday night, however, was a mess.

It doesn’t resemble a real game anymore, not with players shuffling up and down the court and stepping out of the way of offensive players like they’re disqualified if they touch. That’s not the player’s fault; why play hard when this is your only break in a grueling season, and when an injury in an exhibition game could affect your season? Ask LeBron James, who tried to play defense one time and hit his hand on the backboard, missing the rest of the All-Star Game?

The NBA isn’t unaware of the problem. They introduced the Elam Ending, which was absolutely a help, and if the game is close we have seen in the recent past players will dig in. This year three joke quarters morphed into Team LeBron sort of maybe kinda fighting to get back into the game before Team Giannis slammed the door.

In the end it was an All-Star Game record 55 points for Jayson Tatum, who won MVP honors and led Team Giannis to the 184-175 victory.

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Donovan Mitchell took advantage of the open space on Sunday night, putting on a shooting clinic as he pushed Tatum for MVP honors all night. Spida finished the game with 40 points and 10 assists, hitting eight 3-pointers and running the offense for Team Giannis. His performance was effortless:

One of the top storylines for the Cleveland Cavaliers over the rest of the season is how much Danny Green can offer this team. A 35-year-old wing coming off of a significant knee injury who was available on the buyout market may not have much to give; on the other hand, a versatile 3-time champion who fits in every lineup just might unlock the Cavs’ playoff upside. Here on the website, we looked at three potential lineups to try with Green that highlights his versatility.

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Prior to the start of the All-Star Game on Sunday night, the two captains drafted their rosters live on stage in the arena. Both LeBron James and Giannis Antetokounmpo had hand-written cheat sheets with them, as if they were heading to their Fantasy Football Draft in 2005. Giannis’ best moment was trying to draft Ja Morant with the Reserves, not realizing he had been moved to the Starters with Steph Curry out due to injury.

Damian Lillard went first among the Reserves, with Jaren Jackson Jr. going last. LeBron made Joel Embiid the first starter picked (Giannis would get Ja at last) and then at the end Nikola Jokic, not realizing Lauri Markkanen was still sitting all of the way to his left, hopped up and walked down to LeBron before he was picked:

https://twitter.com/YahooSports/status/1627479538648354816

Coming up: The NBA continues the All-Star Break for a few more days, with basketball not back until Thursday.