If you watched this year’s NBA All-Star Game last night, you witnessed a record-breaking offensive display. When the dust settled inside The Smoothie King Center, the Western Conference had defeated the East, 192-182.
Combined, the two teams scored 374 points, a new All-Star Game record. If you’re a fan of defense, this game probably wasn’t your cup of tea.
On Sunday night, Kyrie Irving, Cleveland Cavaliers superstar point guard, suggested that defensive efforts will improve in years to come. Joe Vardon of www.cleveland.com has Irving’s comments in his recent article.
I think going forward, the All-Star experience will probably get a little harder in terms of defense,” Irving said after Sunday night’s game.
Irving had a fine day on both ends of the floor. “Uncle Drew,” as Irving is affectionately known, finished the 66th NBA All-Star Game with an extremely efficient 22 points, 14 assists, seven rebounds, and three steals.
The All-Star game is about the players and their great fans. No one wants to get injured. Therefore, defensive hustle often gets pushed to the wayside. After all, these guys are important to their respective teams. Irving tells Vardon that the players will have to discuss it further if they indeed want to make a change in future games.
I told my team tonight, a couple of my teammates that I was just going to come out and try to come out aggressive and keep the pace going,” Irving told cleveland.com after Sunday’s game. “But they’re a little matador in terms of the layups that they let go, a few guys standing at halfcourt.”
“It’s all in good fun, but I definitely think that, if we want a competitive game, guys will probably have to talk about it before the game. Going forward, I’m sure we’ve got to talk about it and just go out and compete.”