Cleveland Cavaliers

2017 NBA All-Star Game Recap And Highlights

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 5:23 p.m. ET

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Fansided, Gerald Bourguet/FanSided via Hoops Habit

In the 2017 NBA All-Star Game, Anthony Davis earned MVP honors by breaking the single-game scoring record in the event. Here's the game recap and top highlights.

With the 2017 NBA All-Star Game taking place in New Orleans, Pelicans superstar Anthony Davis wanted to make an impression for the local crowd. He did all that and more, not only earning MVP honors for the game, but breaking Wilt Chamberlain's scoring record for the event (42 points) with 52.

The Brow shot 26-for-39 from the floor, with most of his points coming on easy dunks and alley-oops. Even so, it was perfectly fitting with the game taking place in the Big Easy, and AD was able to lead the Western Conference to a 192-182 victory over the Eastern Conference.

Russell Westbrook finished the game with 41 points, seven assists and five rebounds off the bench, making seven of his 13 three-pointers. Stephen Curry added 21 points, while Kevin Durant finished with a 21-10-10 triple-double.

First-time All-Star Giannis Antetokounmpo led the East with 30 points on 14-of-17 shooting. Kyrie Irving had 22 points, 14 assists and seven rebounds, LeBron James added 23 and Isaiah Thomas chipped in 20 points off the bench.

In the first quarter, Anthony Davis got the scoring started with a step-back jumper for the home crowd, but the first real highlight of the game went to Giannis Antetokounmpo.

The Greek Freak is known for his gigantic strides and incredible gliding ability, and as he cut through the lane and stepped past two defenders, the New Orleans crowd got an up-close look at his gravity-defying hops.

The Greek Freak supplied the next major highlight too, stealing the ball from James Harden in the open court and immediately turning around to throw down a nasty half-windmill:

The East continued to rack up the early highlights, with Cleveland Cavaliers point guard Kyrie Irving finding his teammate LeBron James in the open court for a high-flying alley-oop.

Eastern Conference starter DeMar DeRozan was quiet in the first half, but he supplied his best highlight of the night with a monster dunk:

The best highlight of the night, however, might have been the first real connection between Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook in months.

After leaving the Oklahoma City Thunder for the Golden State Warriors in free agency last summer, KD had not spoken to Russ and things had been awkward between the two leading up to Sunday night's final All-Star event.

Russ even warmed up on the opposite end of the court, and many wondered how the tensions between the two would spill onto the court during a friendly and fun game for the fans.

But when KD found his former teammate streaking toward the basket, he sent him a perfect pass for the alley-oop, and the two even sort of dapped heading back up the court.

It was a nostalgic moment of chemistry between the two former Thunder buddies, and it eased all of the tension on the Western Conference bench.

In fact, the bench erupted after that play, showering the two with relieved cheers as the two approached the bench. Stephen Curry even threw water into the air to celebrate. All-Star Games feature zero defense, but moments like these make them far from meaningless exhibitions.

The East led the West 53-48 at the end of the first quarter, making those 101 combined points the most in a single quarter in NBA All-Star history.

In the second quarter, a Russell Westbrook alley-oop to DeAndre Jordan off the backboard got things started:

Meanwhile, LeBron James became the leading scorer in NBA All-Star history, crossing the 300-point threshold:

The whole second quarter was basically one long highlight reel for the King, who lit up the crowd with a gorgeous reverse dunk:

Then LeBron showed off his Steph Curry range, drilling a three-pointer from inside the half-court logo:

As if this wasn't enough, King James basically retold the story of the 2016 NBA Finals with the basketball on a fast break, throwing it just out of Curry's reach and off the backboard to himself for a vicious dunk:

We all got treated to KD's reaction to his Western Conference teammates celebrating him and Russ making up as well during his halftime interview with TNT's David Aldridge:

At the break, the West led the East 97-92 for a combined 189 first half points. The Brow led the way with 22 points to make an early MVP case, while Russ continued his reputation as a walking triple-double with 19 points, five assists and four rebounds.

For the East, LeBron led the way with 20 while the Greek Freak added 16.

In the third quarter, Giannis got things started once again, flushing home an awesome alley-oop from Kyrie Irving.

Then came one of the funniest highlights of the night, with Steph Curry literally lying down on the court and covering his ears to avoid being put on a poster by the Greek Freak.

Giannis, appropriately, threw down a full windmill this time around:

Unfortunately, Curry wasn't able to save himself from the Greek Freak's wrath a few plays later. What the two-time MVP thought would be an easy defensive rebound quickly turned sour when Giannis came flying through for the ruthless tip slam put-back over Curry.

Draymond Green's reaction to that unnecessary and absolutely fantastic display of athletic superiority pretty much said it all:

As did DeAndre Jordan's:

At the end of the third period, the West led the East, 144-139, with Russ knocking down four threes in one minute to lead all scorers with 31 points:

In the fourth quarter, it quickly became apparent that Anthony Davis and Westbrook would be dueling for MVP honors, with both putting themselves in range of Wilt Chamberlain's NBA All-Star record of 42 points.

Anthony Davis got there first on an alley-oop to give him 44 points, while Westbrook closely trailed him with 41.

But AD wasn't done just yet, reaching the half-century mark with 50 points off a gorgeous alley-oop pass off the backcourt from Curry:

And then came points 51 and 52 off a similar feed from James Harden, only this time, the All-Star MVP threw down a reverse for the finish.

Davis finished the game with 52 points and 10 rebounds as the West pulled out the 192-182 victory over the East.

Though they were unable to reach the 200-point threshold, the fans got more than what they were hoping for, especially those Pelicans fans who showed up to support their superstar.

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