NBA

LeBron earns MVP in East's All-Star win

HOUSTON - A push from the Pistons plus an MVP performance by LeBron James decided an NBA All-Star game that went down to the final seconds.

Trailing by 21, the East rallied for a 122-120 victory Sunday night behind King James and the Pistons' Fab Four.

The East didn't wrap it up until hometown hero Tracy McGrady of the Rockets missed a jumper with the clock ticking down.

Kobe Bryant then had the ball slip out of his hands for a turnover, and it hardly mattered Vince Carter missed a breakaway dunk at the buzzer.

McGrady led all scorers with 36. The 21-year-old James, playing in his second midseason showcase, scored 29 and became the youngest All-Star MVP.

"It was more impressive that we came from, at one point, 21 points down and willed ourselves to a win," James said.

Detroit teammates Chauncey Billups, Rasheed Wallace, Ben Wallace and Richard Hamilton, all selected as reserves from the team with the league's best record, came off the bench together to help the East rally.

"I talked to the guys at halftime and basically said that we were not as competitive," said East coach Flip Saunders of the Pistons. "I thought that the second half they played exceptionally well. In these type of games, it takes a lot of time to get used to playing with guys. Every guy did something in a very positive way."

The West took a 74-53 lead 2 minutes into the third quarter. But the East responded with a 28-13 run over the next 6 minutes as James scored 13.

The East grabbed a 117-107 lead with 3:29 to go.

But the West tied it at 120 on Bryant's fadeaway jumper with 32 seconds remaining before Miami's Dwyane Wade had a putback with 16 seconds to go.

That set up the final sequence. McGrady missed a jumper, and the East clinched the victory when Rasheed Wallace stole the ball from Bryant.

As is often the case, the All-Star game had plenty of subplots. Ex-Lakers teammates Shaquille O'Neal and Bryant, no longer feuding, shook hands before tipoff and laughed when O'Neal fouled Bryant in the first quarter.

The 7-foot-1 O'Neal, now with Miami, took a spin as the East's point guard for one possession.

Ben Wallace, Rasheed Wallace, Billups and Hamilton, along with Boston's Paul Pierce, entered the game with 3:38 to go in the first quarter and the East trailing 24-21.

After Phoenix's Shawn Marion scored on a layup to give the West a five-point lead, Pierce and the Pistons closed the quarter on a 7-2 run.

Defense, which has long been Detroit's calling card, is rare in the All-Star game - but once the Pistons entered the West struggled to score.

The East limited the West to four points in the final 3:38 after it scored 24 in the game's first 8 minutes.

"It was just fun for us," Hamilton said during an in-game television interview.

[Last modified February 20, 2006, 04:01:08]