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New Orleans • Anthony Davis wanted to bring joy to the city of New Orleans.
He certainly did that in Sunday night's NBA All-Star Game with a record-setting performance. And then in the hour following, the New Orleans Pelicans front office pulled off the trade theft of the season.
Davis took home MVP honors, following a 192-182 Western Conference win over the Eastern Conference. Before a sold-out crowd at Smoothie King Center, Davis poured in 52 points. He shot 26 of 39 from the field, recorded 18 slam dunks and did so in 31 minutes of action.
And that's where the night really got crazy.
As postgame news conferences concluded, the Pelicans acquired Sacramento Kings star DeMarcus Cousins to pair with Davis in their frontcourt. And the price was dirt cheap — rookie shooting guard Buddy Hield, a 2017 first-round pick and filler. Davis walked away with the MVP trophy on one of the biggest NBA stages.
And then, he walked away with a much better team than he entered the weekend with.
"The game was amazing, and the weekend was amazing," Davis said. "This is what I wanted to do. I wanted to get the MVP for this crowd and this city. My teammates, they wanted me to score 50 points. Everyone did a great job, and this definitely meant a lot to me."
Utah Jazz star Gordon Hayward made his All-Star Game debut, scoring eight points and handing out two assists in 17 minutes of action. Hayward missed all three of his 3-point attempts, but came up with a game-high four steals, proof that someone in the game played defense.
But not many defended outside of Hayward. The teams combined for almost 400 points in an up-and-down affair that included very little resistance defensively. For instance, Oklahoma City star Russell Westbrook took 26 shots in 19 minutes. To be fair, he made 16 of those shots and seven threes on his way to 41 points in just under 20 minutes of action.
"I just got hot out there," Westbrook said. "It was just basketball."
On its way to a staggering scoring display, both teams put up eye-popping statistics. The Western Conference scored at least 40 points in every quarter, and approached 50 points in three of those quarters. The Eastern Conference scored 53 points in the first quarter. Sixteen of the 24 players who saw action scored in double-figures. The teams combined to shoot 122 3-pointers. The game was essentially 48 minutes of layups, uncontested dunks and uncontested perimeter jumpers.
"I thought it was a great game," Cleveland Cavaliers star LeBron James said. "To be a part of the history, and then Anthony Davis breaks the record and scores 50 in his home building, and it's only right. Kyrie Irving was close to a triple-double. I was just happy to a part of what was a fun weekend."
Davis said he wanted to bring joy to New Orleans, a city that was recently ravaged by a string of tornadoes.
From the beginning of the game, it was clear that his Western Conference teammates were setting him up for an MVP run. Whenever he was open, a pass came his way. He played heavy minutes, and his teammates deferred to him more and more down the stretch.
And now, the Pelicans have added a top-10 overall player for a low price. It's safe to say Anthony Davis' All-Star weekend was a success.
"This weekend truly meant a lot to me," Davis said. "I felt for everyone when the tornadoes hit. I wanted to bring happiness back to the city. This is a strong city and it always bounces back, no matter what. So to do this was huge."
tjones@sltrib.com Twitter: @tribjazz —
Storylines
R The East's Kyrie Irving scores 22 points and hands out 14 assists.
• Utah Jazz star Gordon Hayward scores eight points in his All-Star Game debut.
• The Western Conference defeats the Eastern Conference for the third straight year, and for the sixth out of the last seven.
More coverage • Utah's Hayward savors his All-Star experience, adjusts to wide-open game after halftime. > B4