This year, the head coaches for the two teams followed the usual tradition.
Team James was coached by Dwane Casey, who had led the Raptors to the Eastern Conference First Seed.
Team Curry was coached by Mike D'Antoni, who had led the Rockets to League First.
The game began quickly.
The First Quarter was usually played in a relaxed manner.
Both sides started jacking up ultra-deep threes right away.
Unfortunately, whether it was Westbrook, Harden, or Curry, none of their first attempts went in.
It was not until Team Curry used its advantage inside to let Giannis throw down a dunk under the basket that the first points of the game were scored.
Things did not improve much afterward.
The guards on both sides wanted to show off some fancy moves and threw all kinds of flashy passes.
The results were either overthrown passes or steals.
The back-and-forth action looked lively, but the score was only 2-4...
It was not until James sent Brow a beautiful bounce-pass alley-oop that they finally completed a more exciting play.
That basket seemed to open up the players' blocked meridians, and the All-Stars' coordination gradually became smoother.
First, Curry fed Giannis an ultra-long alley-oop slam. Then came the long-awaited connection of the Explosive Combination, with Durant finding Westbrook cutting to the basket.
The game gradually started getting on track.
With five and a half minutes left in the First Quarter, D'Antoni called a timeout and began making substitutions.
The classic All-Star five-for-five substitution.
Lowry, Chen Xi, DeRozan, Green, and Towns entered the game one after another.
Coincidentally, Team James also made a five-for-five substitution.
Beal, Dragic, George, Griffin, and Drummond entered the game in turn as well.
When play resumed, Chen Xi immediately showed no small amount of Offensive Desire. After taking the ball