The 2021 NBA All-Star Game, after being considered highly improbable, and even postponed completely at one point this season, is o
fficially set to tip off Sunday evening. While the league is moving forward with hosting the All-Star Game and the three marquee events in Atlanta, the festivities will all take place in just one night rather than throughout an entire weekend. With health and safety protocols in place, the NBA is ready to celebrate its finest stars once again, but this time with no fans present inside the arena.
Captains LeBron James and Kevin Durant already drafted their teams for this year’s All-Star Game. Unfortunately, both sides lost a key player as both Joel Embiid (Team Durant) and Ben Simmons (Team LeBron) have been ruled out after being in close contact with a person who tested positive for COVID-19.
As for the events, the Skills Challenge took place first with Nikola Vucevic and Domantas Sabonis upsetting Chris Paul and Luka Doncic to advance to the finals before the Pacers big man ultimately took the crown as Skills Challenge champion. Next, the 3-Point Contest was held with Stephen Curry, Mike Conley and Jayson Tatum advancing out of the first round before the Warriors star recorded a score of 28 in the finals to bring home the hardware for the second time in his career.
With those events behind us, the All Star-Game finally took center stage and Team LeBron and Team Durant have had no trouble lighting up the scoreboard in the early going. The Dunk Contest will occur at halftime. Follow below for all the real-time updates throughout All-Star Sunday.
SOURCE: cbssports