Bam Adebayo's lone score raises eyebrows in three-point heavy All-Star game
In a return of the East vs West All-Star game format, Sunday night's game turned out to be another three-point contest, with the East defeating the West in the highest scoring All-Star game in NBA history 211-186.
If you're wondering as to why Sunday night's game was referred to a three-point contest, each team attempted a total of 168 three-point attempts. Yes, you read that correctly, 168 attempts, that is not a typo or an over exaggeration.
As a team, the East made 42 three pointers, with All-Star MVP Damian Lillard and Tyrese Haliburton making half of those threes as they combined for 21 makes.
One of those makes came from Bam Adebayo, which caused an uproar from Heat Nation as Adebayo shoots threes once in a blue moon. After every three-pointer made by Adebayo, an ongoing discussion takes place on whether Adebayo is unwilling to shoot threes or is being advised not to as he's more effective in the mid-range and towards the basket.
In this instance, Adebayo's make came in style, as he hit the ball off of Nikola Jokic's back on the inbounds pass, took the ball up the court and knocked down the three like it was a shot that he makes routinely during a game.
It's clear that Adebayo has the capability of hitting a three once in a while and jokingly wanted to make sure the shot he made got around to Erik Spoelstra.
Sunday night would have been a perfect setting to hoist up a good amount of shots behind the arc as almost every shot attempt was from three. Unfortunately, Adebayo played a measly 17 minutes and only took two shots. But it was great for Heat fans to see Adebayo's lone highlight be a shot they've been wanting to see Adebayo make often.
Thoughts on All-Star game
Overall, the All-Star game was another forgettable experience. There were some fun moments such as Damian Lillard making half court threes look like layups and Tyrese Haliburton coming out of the gates on fire, but there were way too many threes were attempted, and made the game feel like an open-gym shootaround.
There have been a few All-Star games that have come down to the wire over the last five seasons such as 2020 and 2022, but there have been more duds than memorable games, with players only trying on both ends if the game is close within the last five minutes.
It's understandable that players aren't going to give it their all for the entire 48 minutes and treat the All-Star game as an important regular season or postseason game, but these moments are supposed to be memorable, and as of recent, the All-Star game and weekend has been more forgettable than notable.