2000 NBA All-Star Game

Result

MVP: Tim Duncan & Shaquille O'Neal (tie)

Box score

MVP tie: Shaquille O'Neal and Tim Duncan.

Bench (10+ points): Allan Houston (11), Ray Allen (14), Glenn Robinson (10)

Bench (10+ points): John Stockton (10), Michael Finley (11)

Game context

The All-Star Game returned in February 2000 after the entire 1999 event was canceled by the prior year's NBA lockout, resuming February 13 at what was then known as the Arena in Oakland (the first time the Golden State Warriors had hosted the event since 1967, when it was played across the bay at the Cow Palace in Daly City). Phil Jackson coached the Western Conference and Jeff Van Gundy the East in front of 18,325 fans. The game was decided late. The East actually led for the opening minutes, but the West took a 33-26 edge after the first quarter and a 64-59 halftime lead. The East clawed back to tie the game at 91 with just over two minutes left in the third quarter, only for Sacramento's Chris Webber — playing for the West — to hit a buzzer-beater at the end of the period to push his team ahead 99-97 entering the fourth. The West then opened the final quarter with an 8-0 run that effectively settled the outcome, cruising to a 137-126 win. San Antonio's Tim Duncan and the Lakers' Shaquille O'Neal shared MVP honors — the third instance of a tied MVP vote in the game's history at that point — after a combined 46 points and 23 rebounds; Duncan finished with 24 points on a scorching 12-of-14 shooting (.857) and a game-high 14 rebounds, while O'Neal added 22 points on 11-of-20 shooting, nine rebounds, and three blocked shots. Accepting the trophy jointly, O'Neal quipped to Duncan that he could have it since Duncan \"already had one of those rings,\" a reference to San Antonio's 1999 championship. Kevin Garnett also scored 24 points with 10 rebounds for the West, and Jason Kidd dished a game-high 14 assists. For the East, Allen Iverson led all scorers with 26 points and nine assists in his first career All-Star appearance, and Vince Carter also made his All-Star debut, part of a new generation of stars entering the event's rotation. Grant Hill made his fifth consecutive All-Star start. The 137-126 final, along with the shared MVP award, gave the game's return from its lost year a genuinely competitive, closely fought finish — a contrast to some of the more one-sided or purely offense-driven exhibitions of the preceding decade — and offered an early look at the Duncan-O'Neal era of Western Conference dominance that would define much of the league's championship picture over the following several seasons.

Sources

• Wikipedia — 2000 NBA All-Star Game
• Basketball-Reference — NBA All-Star Game History
• Basketball-Reference — 2000 NBA All-Star Game Box Score