Buddy Hield Shines in NBA Rising Stars Challenge Victory

It’s clear that OKC Thunder star Russell Westbrook and GSW star Kevin Durant want absolutely nothing to do with each other, and it’s showing even at the NBA All-star game in New Orleans.

Since Facebook Live jumped on the scene more than a year ago, it’s become the most popular live-streaming feature on social media.

Anthony Davis set a new single-game scoring record with 52 points in Sunday’s NBA All-Star Game, breaking Wilt Chamberlain’s record, but the New Orleans Pelicans star said he now has one of Chamberlain’s other records in his sights.

Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo scored a team-high 30 points and pounded home some crowd-pleasing dunks, but the Western Conference all-stars pulled away in the final quarter for a 192-182 victory over the East in the NBA All-Star Game at the Smoothie King Center.

Mavericks owner Mark Cuban at the Celebrity Game on Friday was still adamant Westbrook is a superstar: “If it gets to the end of the season, they win 50 games and get past the first round of the playoffs, then he’s a superstar”.

The 66th annual NBA All-Star Game was all that it promised to be. At the timeout, the Western players were all but dancing at the KD-Westbrook connection.

The story line coming in was all about Westbrook and Durant and their seven months of subtle feuding since Durant left the Thunder for the Warriors in free agency.

“It was a great basketball play”, Durant said. “I told the coach (Brad Stevens of the Boston Celtics) I was going to play hard no matter what”. Oh, and he also joined a team that won broke the wins record the year prior which made people mad. I like the storylines developing with Golden State and Oklahoma City, and I like the fact that Boston and the Clippers are playing a little better; San Antonio is always there, and let’s not forget about LeBron (James) and Cleveland.

But what garnered the most attention was the 80 seconds Durant and Westbrook played together. He also grabbed 11 rebounds, dished out three assists, and grabbed two steals. Westbrook ended the game with 41 points, 7 assists and 5 rebounds on 16-26 shooting in 20 minutes. Los Angeles Clippers center DeAndre Jordan came over and bear-hugged Westbrook as team managers knelt on the floor and wiped up the water.

“Tough? I like the rest”, Westbrook said.

They combined for the most points (374) in All-Star Game history.