At halftime, O'Neal had 18 points and 7 rebounds, while Kobe had 17 points.
By the end of the third quarter, the score was tied at 102-100. O'Neal had 24 points and 10 rebounds, while Kobe brought his personal score to 26 points with three incredible pull-up jumpers in the quarter.
Every confrontation between the two on the court was highly charged.
With four and a half minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, the score was tied at 124.
Western Conference head coach Flip Saunders substituted Kidd, Ray Allen, Kobe, Tim Duncan, and Stoudamire. Rick Carlisle, on the other hand, stuck to his strategy and kept O'Neal, Garnett, Pierce, Iverson, and Baron Davis on the court.
O'Neal's chest and back were soaked with sweat, his chest heaving violently. The high-intensity low-post play and frequent ball demands in the first three quarters had taken a toll on him, and his defensive pace had noticeably slowed down.
But Garnett and Pierce continued to faithfully execute the strategy of feeding the ball to each other.
On the Eastern Conference offensive possession, Garnett received the ball at the free-throw line. Tim Duncan, not daring to let Garnett take the mid-range shot, was forced to step up half a step. Without even looking at Iverson cutting to the basket, Garnett flicked his wrists and delivered a concealed bounce pass through Tim Duncan's armpits, once again accurately finding O'Neal deep in position.
O'Neal gritted his teeth and battled Stoudamire, forcefully turning around and hitting a hook shot to score his 28th point!
"See that?! That's called dominance!" O'Neal shouted, slapping his thigh as he retreated on defense.
On the defensive end, O'Neal's overexertion finally revealed its weaknesses.
The Western Conference quickly launched a counterattack. Kobe used Stoudamire's high screen to create half a step of space, O'Neal was too slow to retreat and couldn't move his legs to rush out, so he could only crouch on the edge of the paint to protect the rim. Kobe drove to the free throw line, pulled up and took a jump shot, which went in smoothly.
As they retreated on defense, Kobe coldly remarked, "Your gas tank's empty, Shaq."
Pierce ran past and patted Kobe on the back, saying, "Dude, that's enough. Let's give our old teammate some face."
Kobe didn't even turn his head. "On the court, there's no such thing as dignity, only winning and losing."
In the very next possession, Pierce drove to the basket and dished the ball to Garnett missed a cut to the weak side. O'Neal then grabbed the offensive rebound and drew a foul from Tim Duncan. But as O'Neal stepped to the free-throw line, panting heavily, the entire arena erupted in deafening chants of "MVP! MVP!"
That wasn't for O'Neal, but rather the cheers of 20,000 fans in the stands for Kobe.
The fans' defection completely enraged O'Neal.
The first free throw went flat out of the basket, the second free throw was a hard-fought bounce into the net.
O'Neal made one of two free throws, bringing his score to 29th, but the lead was only one point.
With one minute and twelve seconds remaining in the game, the score was 130-129, with the Western Conference trailing by one point.
Kidd dribbled the ball on the perimeter to run down the clock until there were only eight seconds left on the shot clock. He then quickly passed the ball to Kobe in the right corner.
Facing Pierce's one-on-one defense, Kobe lowered his center of gravity and made two quick crossover dribbles. At the moment Pierce slightly adjusted his center of gravity, Kobe stepped back to the right and created half-body space. At an angle where he was almost out of balance, Kobe drifted out of bounds and shot despite the closing defense.
The basketball arced high through the air, grazing the inside of the Nets before disappearing into the basket!
"Whoosh!"
131-130! The Western Conference takes the lead!
The Staples Center erupted in cheers.
The Eastern Conference was forced to request a 20-second timeout.
As O'Neal walked back to the bench, he was bent over with his hands on his knees, sweat dripping onto the floor. Garnett handed him an ice-cold towel, his tone extremely calm. " Shaq, one minute left. Still want to play?"
O'Neal, panting heavily, waved his hand. "Give the ball... to Chris Paul ( Pierce ) or Allen ( Iverson )..."
After continuous high-intensity physical battles in the paint, his stamina finally ran out.
After the timeout, the play went awry. Pierce tried to pass the ball to Garnett, who had cut inside after a screen, but Ray Allen dove to steal it, his fingertips brushing the ball. In the ensuing scramble, the ball was stolen, forcing Iverson to commit a tactical foul.
Kidd made both free throws, bringing the score to 133-130.
With only 28 seconds left in the game, the Eastern Conference had run out of timeouts.
Garnett quickly inbounded the ball from the baseline, Iverson dribbled straight to the frontcourt, forcefully pulling up for a long-range three-pointer despite the defense.
"Bang!"
Missed, the basketball bounced high off the back of the rim. O'Neal tried to jump for the header under the basket, but Tim Duncan and Stoudamire combined to block him behind them.
Kobe leaped high from the wing, his long arms catching the invaluable defensive rebound in mid-air!
With Eastern Conference back against the wall, Pierce had no choice but to pounce and foul. After the foul, Pierce even pulled Kobe aside and chuckled softly, "Not bad, Kobe, that was a tough rebound."
Kobe slapped Pierce's hand away, his jaw clenched, and he didn't respond.
Amidst the deafening roar of 20,000 Los Angeles fans, Kobe stepped to the free-throw line, dribbled the ball, took a deep breath, and made both shots.
Kobe made both free throws, bringing his personal score to 31 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists, while extending the lead to 5 points.
With 14 seconds left, the Eastern Conference's fate was sealed. Baron Davis made a quick two-pointer, but it was too late.
"Beep!!!"
The final buzzer sounded, and the scoreboard showed 136 to 132.
The Western Conference All-Stars completed a comeback victory at home.
Golden confetti and ribbons poured down from the dome as David Stern, with a professional smile, stepped onto the podium and solemnly handed the crystal trophy, symbolizing the All-Star Game MVP, to Kobe Brian.
Kobe raised the trophy high above his head, and the applause and cheers from the Los Angeles fans almost shook the arena. Jerry Buss, sitting in the first row, beamed and clapped enthusiastically, as if proving to the entire league that the Lakers ' decision to keep Kobe was absolutely correct.
At the other end of the court, O'Neal stood on the sidelines with his hands on his hips, completely soaked.
He played a full 33 minutes tonight, shooting 13-for-19 and scoring a team -Eastern Conference high 29 points along with 13 rebounds, delivering a dominant stat line. But on the turf he had dominated for years, he not only lost the game, but could only watch helplessly as his arch-rival Kobe lifted the MVP award in front of Jerry Buss. Buss and the city's celebrities.
O'Neal ripped off his wristband and threw it to the ground, muttering a curse under his breath. He didn't even participate in the post-game handshake, and strode into the player tunnel with his head down.
Garnett and Pierce stepped forward and gave Kidd and Tim Duncan a token hug, with relaxed smiles on their faces.
Garnett played 24 minutes, contributing 12 points, 9 rebounds, and 8 assists. Pierce only played 20 minutes, comfortably racking up 10 points and 5 assists.
This battle brought the animosity between O'Neal and Kobe to its peak.