Weekend in the land of excitement

NBA All-Star Game took place in Las Vegas

The National Basketball Association held its traditional annual “all-star weekend.” In the world capital of the gambling business, Las Vegas, there was a match between the teams of the Western and Eastern conferences, a meeting with the participation of newcomers to the league and a team made up of players who are spending their second season in the league, a three-point shooting accuracy competition and a competition for the most beautiful slam dunk. The program for the next visit of North American clubs to the Old World “NBA Europe Live Tour-2007” was also announced.

Alas, this time representatives of Russia will not play in meetings with teams from the NBA. Boston, Toronto, Minnesota and Memphis will come to Europe. The tour starts on October 6th. The Celts and a club from Canada will play each other in Rome, and on the same day in Istanbul, Minnesota will meet with the local Efes Pilsen. The next day, Toronto will play a match with Lottomatica, again in the Eternal City, and a match between Unicaja and Memphis is scheduled for October 9 in Malaga, Spain. The Celtics and Minnesota will face off in London on the 10th. On October 11, the Spanish capital will host two final games: Real (Madrid) - Toronto and Memphis against Estudiantes or Fuenlabrada.

The Romans and Londoners will see the winner of the dunk competition, 21-year-old Boston player Gerald Green, in action. In the final series of slam dunks, the Celtics basketball player surpassed last year's winner, Nate Robinson of New York. Green earned maximum points on his last throw. Each of the five judges rated his spectacular trick as a “ten.” Gerald pushed off from the floor three and a half meters from the hoop, jumped over the table placed in the three-second zone and hit the ball into the hoop.

In the “long-haul” tournament, Miami’s Jason Kapono won, setting a record for final attempts—24 points out of a possible 30. Mark Price had the same amount in 1994. Participants in the competition make five shots from five different points on the three-point arc, a hit is worth one point, and the price for the last ball at each position is doubled. In the decisive series, Kapono outplayed Gilbert Arenas (Washington) and last year's winner, German forward Dirk Nowitzki (Dallas).

The “all-star weekend” began with a match between repeaters and newcomers. The team, made up of more experienced players, won with a record difference in the score of “plus 41” - 155:114. The title of MVP (most valuable player of the meeting) was awarded to the best scorer of the match, David Lee (New York), who put 30 points into the “second-year team’s” treasury, and showed a 100% success rate of field goals - all 14 attempts to hit the goal from the field were accurate .

In the meeting between the “West” and “East”, the leader of the Lakers, Kobe Bryant, appeared in all his glory - 31 points, six assists and steals. The “West”, for which Bryant played, defeated the “East” with a solid margin of safety - 153:132. Kobe was named All-Star Game MVP for the second time in his career. Last year's winner, LeBron James, became the losing team's top scorer with 28 points.

On Wednesday night Moscow time, the NBA regular season resumes with ten matches after a four-day break.

Vladimir ILYIN