The East rallied from a 17-point deficit to make it interesting in the closing minutes, but the West held on to win. Barely. After the East’s Ray Allen sank a 3-pointer from the corner to make it 146-143, the West’s Kevin Durant made two free throws to seal the deal with 5.2 seconds remaining. Kobe Bryant scored 37 points and grabbed 14 rebounds and earned MVP honors for the West, his fourth MVP honor. LeBron James had 29 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists for the East. The West led, 117-110, going into the fourth quarter. Durant scored 34 points for the West. Amare Stoudemire added 29 for the East.

Said Bryant: “I wanted to come out and play hard. I feel like we have a sense of responsibility and we are voted in for what we do during the season, which is play hard. And we come here. That’s what the fans want to see. They want to see us go at it and see us compete and that’s what I try to do, and that’s what my teammates try to do.”

Said James: “Just tried to showcase my talent on both ends of the floor: defending, rebounding, scoring. Tried to help lead our team to victory. We came up short and you know for me, I’m just about winning, so just a little disappointed in our game. Disappointed that we didn’t win.”