Tag: team lebron

WATCH: Chris Paul throws perfect lob to Ben Simmons

On a fast break, Paul threw a perfect lob to a trailing Ben Simmons for the slam.

Chris Paul is out there just doing Chris Paul things.

Paul has made his name in the NBA as, among other things, one of the best passers that the league has ever seen.

He’d led the NBA in assists four times during his career and is currently 7th on the league’s all-time assists list with 9,542. And yet, he never seems to stop dazzling fans with how impressive and effortless they continue to look.

Especially the one from the first quarter of Sunday’s All-Star Game.

With just over a minute to play, Team LeBron was running the floor as part of a fast break. As Paul received a pass, and without coming down, he lobbed it for a trailing Ben Simmons, who finished with a slam to give Team LeBron a 51-37 lead over Team Giannis.

Paul also picked up the first foul of the night, much to the surprise of the broadcast team.

Although according to Joe Mussatto of The Oklahoman, who covers Paul and the Thunder extensively, the move by Paul to foul to stop a fast break was completely on-brand.

As of 3:51 left to go in the second quarter, Paul has played nine minutes, scoring 11 points on 4-of-7 shooting from the field and dishing out four assists.

How to Watch NBA All-Star Game, NBA Live Stream, Schedule, TV Channel, Start Time

Watch the NBA All-Star Game Live Online.

The NBA All-Star Game is a showcase of the top stars in the league, with dunks and three-point shots featured prominently throughout. On Sunday, that will be the case once again, with a tweak in the format of the game poised to make an impact on what fans can expect when basketball’s top players all meet on one massive stage.

NBA All-Star Game

  • When: Sunday, February 16
  • Time: 8:00 p.m. ET
  • TV: TNT
  • Live Stream: fuboTV (watch for free)

Rather than pitting both conferences against one another, the NBA All-Star Game had LeBron James and Giannis Antetokounmpo pick their teams for the event. James drafted his Los Angeles Lakers teammate Anthony Davis first, along with Kawhi Leonard and James Harden to headline his squad. Antetokounmpo built his team around Joel Embiid, adding Pascal Siakam and Kemba Walker as key pieces to a team that is heavy on Eastern Conference talent.

Perhaps more interesting than the rosters is the format of the game itself. This year, the score of the game is being reset after each of the first three quarters. In the fourth quarter, the scores will be added together, with the leading team then needing to score 24 points to win the game. This is a combination of the Elam ending that The Basketball Tournament has made popular and a tribute to the late Kobe Bryant, whose presence will be felt throughout the festivities on All-Star weekend. With the All-Star Game typically getting more competitive in the fourth quarter to begin with, this wrinkle should make it even more intense.

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Chris Paul jokes he’s a ‘burden’ on SGA, says Shai will be ‘so good’

Paul provided some insight into his relationship with the second-year guard ahead of his 10th All-Star Game appearance on Sunday evening.

The relationship between Chris Paul and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has been discussed at length, but during the media session for All-Star Weekend, Paul shed some light on how he feels he’s influenced the up and coming Thunder guard.

Although Paul semi-jokingly called himself a “burden on Shai at times”, he pointed to a seemingly innocuous moment in Friday night’s Rising Stars Game that shows just how much of an impact Paul has had this season on SGA.

“It’s funny. He was in the Rookie game last night and the ball went out of bounds and he went and got the ball really quick and tried to get it to the ref to rush it up the floor because he sees me do that all the time in the regular season.”

Paul admits that some of the stuff he says to Gilgeous-Alexander, “he don’t want to hear it”, but said that SGA “is starting to see” and incorporate some of what Paul says into his game. He concluded with the statement, “Shai is going to be so good”.

Gilgeous-Alexander is coming off a 16-point performance in Team World’s 151-131 loss to Team USA in the Rising Stars Game. He will also participate in Saturday night’s Skills Challenge.

As for Paul, he added that the moment got him thinking about his previous coaches and how much of what they’ve said to him still impacts how he plays. Even if Paul and the coach reportedly didn’t get along (ahem, Doc Rivers).

“People always say me and Doc didn’t get along and all this, but there’s a lot of stuff that Doc said to me that I still use all the time. It’s like that with every one of my coaches … Skip Prosser (Paul’s head coach at Wake Forest)”.

Paul will play in his 10th All-Star Game on Sunday, his first since the 2015-16 season when he was still with the Clippers. He said being selected as an All-Star is something you “never take for granted”.

Paul is playing as a member of Team LeBron.

How to Watch Rising Stars Game, NBA Live Stream, Schedule, TV Channel, Start Time

Watch the Rising Stars Game Live Online.

The NBA is loaded with young talent and the brightest young stars in the league will have a chance to shine in the 2020 NBA Rising Stars game. With the top picks in recent drafts teaming up with breakout stars from around the league, this game is sure to feature some exciting displays of athleticism from those with the strongest futures in the league right now.

Rising Stars Game

When: Friday, February 14

Time: 9:00 p.m. ET

TV: TNT

Live Stream: fuboTV (watch for free)

This contest features a format that pits the United States’ rising stars against those from the rest of the world. Leading Team World is Luka Doncic, who has captured the attention of the entire league as the point guard of the Dallas Mavericks. Doncic is joined most notably by DeAndre Ayton of the Phoenix Suns and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander of the Oklahoma City Thunder. With the ball distribution skills of Doncic and RJ Barrett being ideal for an exhibition game like this, Team World should get plenty of open looks.

Team USA has firepower all over the court as well since they are led by the fearsome trio of Trae Young, Ja Morant, and Zion Williamson. Young was selected as a member of the Rising Stars team, along with being named as a reserve for the All-Star Game. Meanwhile, Morant and Williamson have lived up to the hype of being the top two picks in last year’s NBA Draft, as they have looked like stars for their respective teams through the first half of the season. 

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Phoenix’s Devin Booker to replace Damian Lillard on Team LeBron

Booker will join the team of the Los Angeles Lakers star after Lillard suffered a groin strain on Wednesday night against Memphis.

Although the Los Angeles Lakers season is now officially on hold until next week when they return to their regular season schedule, LeBron James, Anthony Davis and the Lakers coaching staff in charge of Team LeBron will now have to account for another player joining their team due to injury. Portland’s Damian Lillard, who was LeBron’s first pick of the reserves, is out for Sunday’s game and the 3-point shootout, will be replaced in the shootout and on Team LeBron by Phoenix Suns guard Devin Booker.

It is Booker’s first All-Star selection and he will have an opportunity to take home his second 3-point shootout trophy. According to the NBA, an injury replacement is usually done with a player from the same conference. Given that Booker and Lillard both play in the West, Adam Silver went with Booker, who has been close several times but has yet to make it.

Booker is averaging 26.4 points, 6.3 assists, and 4.2 rebounds while posting career highs in field goal percentage (49.6) and free throw percentage (92.0).

Lillard suffered a groin strain in the fourth quarter of last night’s game against the Memphis Grizzlies. Lillard was selected as an All-Star for the fifth time in his career this season. Lillard, however, is still expected to perform as his musical alias Dame D.O.L.L.A. at the All-Star Saturday night festivities.

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How to Watch NBA All-Star Draft, NBA Live Stream, Schedule, TV Channel, Start Time

Watch NBA All-Star Draft Live Online.

The NBA All-Star Game is set for February 16 at the United Center in Chicago, and while we know which athletes were selected, it remains to be seen who will grace Team LeBron James and Team Giannis Antetokounmpo. They are the captains for the event and will make the selections after earning the most votes from the East and West squads. 

NBA All-Star Draft

  • When: Thursday, February 6
  • Time: 7:00 p.m. ET
  • TV: TNT
  • Live Stream: fuboTV (watch for free)

LeBron and Giannis will alternate the first four selections. James has the first pick due to receiving the most All-Star votes. Will he select the Mavericks Luka Doncic, who is averaging nearly a triple-double per game with 28.8 points, 9.5 rebounds and 8.7 assists per game or Kawhi Leonard of the crosstown rival Clippers, who led the Raptors to the 2019 NBA Championship? If Giannis drafts Leonard at No. 2, James could select his teammate Anthony Davis with his second pick of the draft. Where will Atlanta Hawks point guard Trae Young fall? No matter how it pans out, there is always plenty of offense to go around.

This year’s All-Star Game has a new format as well. The first three quarters will be scored as separate games. In each of the first two quarters, the winning team will receive $100,000 for its respective charity. At the four-minute mark of the third quarter, both squads will use the Elam Ending Rule, where the clock is turned off. In honor of Kobe Bryant’s passing, whoever amasses 24 points first in the fourth quarter will win. That team will win $200,000 for its charity of choice. If one team is able to win all three quarters, the amount heightens to $500,000. 

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Luka Doncic says playing with LeBron in All-Star ‘would be amazing’

Dallas Mavericks All-Star guard Luka Doncic wants to play with LeBron James but he doesn’t think he will be the No. 1 pick.

Dallas Mavericks phenom Luka Doncic earned his first-ever NBA All-Star Game selection on Thursday night, as one of the 10 starters voted into the game by fans, media, and players. And of course, now Doncic has the chance to play with one of his idols during the game, Los Angeles Lakers star and All-Star Game captain, LeBron James.

Prior to Thursday night’s game between the Mavericks and the Portland Trail Blazers, Doncic told reporters what it would be like for him if he got the opportunity to play with LeBron.

“It would be amazing,” Doncic said on Thursday after learning of his All-Star selection. “Everybody knows what LeBron means to me. It would be special for me.”

However, given that LeBron’s running-mate Anthony Davis is also in the starter pool, Doncic believes he’s unlikely to get the honor of being LeBron’s No. 1 pick.

“No … I don’t think I will be,” Doncic said.

Doncic was the leader in the All-Star voting in the first set of results before LeBron James surged ahead of him and the rest of the field.

Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo will be the other All-Star captain and he will have the No. 2 pick, as well as the first selection of the reserves.

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