NBA All-Star Game 2018-19: 3 Talking Points from the All-Star Game

The 68th edition of the NBA All-Star Game was played in Charlotte. LeBron James started the All-Star game for the 15th consecutive year and he led his team, Team LeBron to a victory over Team Giannis with a scoreline of 178-164.

Kevin Durant won his second All-Star MVP with a 31 point performance that included 6-9 shooting from beyond the arc.

Giannis Antetokounmpo also played great throughout the match for his team. He scored the game-high 38 points on an outstanding 17-23 shooting from the field.

This All-Star game again saw plenty of offence, especially through the first three quarters. Steph Curry set up Giannis for a monster dunk in the second quarter, Paul George had a 360 dunk to showcase his athleticism. LeBron and Wade rolled back the years, combining for a great alley-oop dunk.

Let's have a look at the three talking points from the All-Star game:

#3 Record number of three-pointers attempted and made

It's pretty obvious that the NBA game has moved from inside the paint to outside the arc. The teams having great shooters have great advantages over the others. This All-Star game featured the most three-pointers taken ever in an All-Star game.

Team LeBron lived from beyond the arc. Despite boasting of some of the biggest athletic freaks that the game has ever seen, Team LeBron jacked up 90 three-pointers in the match. They made 35 of those attempts. Team Giannis shot 27-77 from the 3PT line.

Stephen Curry who is widely regarded as the greatest shooter in NBA history and the number one reason for revolutionizing the modern NBA game attempted 17 three-pointers. Damian Lillard and Klay Thompson had 17 and 12 three-pointers attempted respectively.

There were shots being attempted from the logo which further indicates how much the game has changed.

#2 Team LeBron coming back to erase a 20-point deficit

Kevin Durant with the All-Star MVP award

There were talks before the match of Team LeBron being far more stacked up than Team Giannis. All the Hall of Famers, all the NBA analysts were favouring LeBron's team.

But Giannis and his team got off to a very hot start. They took a 53-37 lead after the first quarter and once had a 20-point lead in the third quarter.

Team LeBron had to rally back in the match behind some terrific three-point shooting by the second group led by Klay Thompson and Damian Lillard. Lillard and Klay made six three-pointers each and managed to cut through the lead.

Team LeBron had a one-point lead going into the fourth quarter. They never looked back and kept on increasing the advantage.

Kawhi Leonard and Kevin Durant started making shots. Despite some highlight plays by Stephen Curry in the fourth quarter which included a four-point play over his Splash brother, Klay Thompson, Team Giannis could not get close.

#1 Swansong for Dwyane Wade and Dirk Nowitzki

Dwyane Wade and Dirk Nowitzki have been two of the greatest ambassadors for the game of basketball.

Wade has confirmed his retirement after this season and while Nowitzki is yet to confirm anything about his retirement, this very well looks like his last NBA season. Both were presented with memorabilia before the start of the fourth quarter.

The NBA added two special slots in the All-Star game for these two legends. Wade has won three NBA championships with the Miami Heat.

He also won the Finals MVP in 2006 and has a regular season MVP award to add to his list of accolades.

Dirk Nowitzki famously led the Dallas Mavericks side to a championship over the superteam of Miami Heat in 2011. He won the Finals MVP that year.

Both had decent outings in this All-Star game. Wade had seven points and four assists and some highlight reel moments combining with his buddy, LeBron James. Dirk displayed three-point shooting, scoring nine points on 3-3 shooting from the outside.

The NBA is in safe hands but will definitely miss two of its biggest superstars.