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By InsideHoops.com

The 2004 NBA All-Star Game, played in Los Angeles, is in the books. An InsideHoops.com staff member took notes during the game. Please note that this is 100% raw and unedited. It's suppossed to be fun, like the game itself. Enjoy.

EAST STARTERS: A.Iverson, T.McGrady, V.Carter, J.O'Neal, B.Wallace
Coach: Rick Carlisle (Indiana)

EAST BENCH: B.Davis, J.Kidd, M.Redd, P.Pierce, V.Carter, K.Martin, J.Magloire

WEST STARTERS: K.Bryant, S.Francis, K.Garnett, T.Duncan, Y ao Ming
Coach: Flip Saunders (Minnesota)

WEST BENCH: S.Cassell, R.Allen, P.Stojakovic, A.Kirilenko, D.Nowitzki, B.Miller, S.O'Neal

Craig Sager is wearing a normal suit tonight. The shirt was pink, but the actual jacket was black. Overall, the outfit was respectable - provided you ignore the tie.

The Terminator, also known as governor of California ("Cal-EEE-for-eeeya") stepped out to say a few words, get some applause for the armed forces, say that "he loves LA, the superstars, the all-stars," and he "loves this game."

LIVE MUSICAL PERFORMANCE

Outkast came out and did their thing.

Shake it... shake it... shake it... shake it... shake it like a Polaroid picture...

THE INTRODUCTIONS

Of the Eastern conference all-stars, Vince Carter, Tracy McGrady and Allen Iverson got the most applause from the fans.

Of the Western conference all-stars, Shaq, Kevin Garnett and Kobe Bryant got the loudest cheers.

Nelly Furtado, looking tasty as always, wearing a Raptors jersey, sang the Candian national anthem. She sang the middle part of the song in French. Nelly's a really cool singer, but this isn't really her type of song. Some of the notes were shaky. "Simon would kick her off of american idol," said a fan in InsideHoops.com chat.

Christina Aguilera sang the American national anthem. She put her own spin on it. A lone funky drummer accompanied her, adding an interesting twist.

AND NOW, THE GAME

"V.C. on one drive will dunk over Yao, Shaq, K.G., Garnett and Dirk!" predicts an over-excited fan in InsideHoops.com chat.

Ben Wallace's afro was unable to block Yao Ming, who dunked at the 10:30 mark.

The first alley-oop of the game came from Jermaine O'Neal.

Yao Ming at 9:55, for the fun of it, fired a three-pointer - airball.

The very next play he caught a pass for another dunk. The West is up, 8-6.

The West is too big. After a few offensive rebounds by Yao Ming and Tim Duncan, they took a 12-6 lead.

Kevin Garnett moves like a taller Michael Jordan. But this isn't new.

Yao ming threw a sweet no-look pass out to Steve Francis, who fired it back inside to Yao for yet another dunk. At 6:27 it's West up 14-10.

Kobe fired a great pass to Garnett, who missed. But the West kept the ball, and Kobe hit a three.

The play of the game so far is Allen Iverson running, throwing the ball off the backboard for Vince Carter, who flew, caught it and threw down a great dunk. Unfortunately, just before the dunk, TNT switched to a camera angle that showed us the play from under the basket looking up, which completely kills the perspective and makes it hard to appreciate. But, the replay helped.

At 5:17, Shaq came in for Yao Ming and Jason Kidd came in for Tracy McGrady.

Kobe with a steal and dunk. 21-15, West up - and they are up 9-0 in second-chance points.

Tim Duncan: Not a showboater.

Jason Kidd is here to work.

Ben Wallace just tried to shoot a reverse layup but I think his own afro blocked the shot.

Shaq has a few dunks. The people defending him weigh 100 pounds less than he does.

Kidd, another three.

"Vince will win all-star MVP and announce on Tuesday that he has a season ending injury," says a cruel, sarcastic fan in chat.

Lennox Lewis is sitting courtside, being interviewed, but all I'm doing is trying to get glimpses of Naomi Campbell, who is sitting next to him.

At 2:20 it's West up 27-25.

Kenyon Martin threw a no-look bounce pass that bounced off someone's foot out of bounds.

Ron Artest, representing Queens, New York.

Put in Fat Lever.

The new play of the game is Jason Kidd throwing a 30-foot no-look alley-oop to Kenyon Martin, who dunked it hard with two hands.

End of 1: East 33 West 31.

SECOND QUARTER

Jamaal Magloire tried to lay the ball up in the paint but Shaq threw it away. "No soup for you!"

"Artest is 6'7", but he's probably like 7' if you put him on his side, says a fan in InsideHoops.com chat."

Sam Cassell is the second oldest first-time all-star, says Marv Albert on TNT.

At 8:27 it's East up 42-40.

If I coached the West, for at least a minute I'd play Shaq at the point and Yao Ming at the two, and instruct both of them to try to unleash as many killer crossovers as possible.

Paul Pierce scores. "Inglewood, up to no good."

Craig Sager reports that Ron Artest is wearing adidas on his left foot and Nike on his right. Earlier he was wearing And 1 and Dada. He's changing shoes every few plays. One of them has a spinning rim (as in a car rim - only mini) on the side.

Artest rules. In general, I mean.

At 5:40 it's East up 55-46.

Brad Miller is filling the fast-break lane for layups.

At 3:00 Steve Francis, guarded by Tracy McGrady, put on a nice dribbling exhibition and spun for a jumper.

Tracy McGrady unleashed another "pass off the backboard to himself for a dunk" play. Sweet.

Please get Vince Carter back in.

"They are neglecting Kirilenko like the fat kid in high school gym basketball," complains a Jazz fan in live chat.

At the half: East 64 West 58.

HALFTIME

Magic Johnson, wearing a suit, spoke at half-court, introduced Motown singer Michael McDonald.

Playing keyboard, McDonald unleashed a slow, soulful, solo performance, singing "What's going on" - an absolutely great song. But as usual, it doesn't match the hot basketball vibe fans want. This is a song that relaxes and calms people down, makes them smile, but also makes them sway side to side, wanting to hug a loved-one. That's not basketball. Basketball is hardcore. Bring it hard, damnit.

Next up is Beyonce. She sang an ok song, then busted out the "Crazy in love" song. Shake it.

"I think gay people of the world should be allowed to be married, but when you see Beyonce, why would you want to be gay?" - Charles Barkley during halftime.

THE SECOND HALF

The halftime score is 64-58. Jamaal Magloire, who had a great first half for the East, though doesn't sky through the air and therefore got no mentions from me above, hits a quick shot.

At 9:00 there was another great dunk from Tracy McGrady, though it was ruined by the horrible under-the-basket camera angle.

It's East 75 West 73 with 7:33 to go.

The West unleashes a 20-8 run.

Be an all-star and read to achieve.

TNT just spent about two minutes splitting the screen between the game and an interview with some actor I've never heard of.

Jamaal Magloire is doing well. He's got 17.

Fans in the InsideHoops.com chat-room are complaining about Vinsanity and T-Mac being on the bench.

At 2:12 it's West 93 East 90. The East is looking weaker. The West is playing a bit harder, now.

The best play of the third quarter came at 1:20, with Jason Kidd throwing the ball off the backboard for Kenyon Martin, who came through traffic to throw it down hard.

Shaq has 18 points, 10 rebounds and six dunks.

Andrei Kirilenko dunked at the buzzer.

End of 3: West 103 East 101.

The chosen one didn't ask for hops. He didn't ask for handles. Why did the chosen one ask for court vision? I'mma tell you why...

He wanted glory for the team!

FOURTH QUARTER

At 10:15, Kobe Bryant was alone on a 2-0 break, yet he chose to shoot a nice, slow, easy layup. The crowd, in well-meaning fashion, booed.

Baron Davis threw down a nice dunk, but I have no way of describing it, because the under-the-basket camera angle prevented me from getting any sort of perspective on it.

Yao Ming is 8 for 14. He's got 16.

Television personality Starr Jones was just proposed to by her boyfriend. Yay! Happy time.

With 7:40 left, Michael Redd has 13. It's East up 114-113. Kobe Bryant has shot a fantastic 8 of 10.

At 5:27 it's West up 121-119.

Tracy McGrady and Vince Carter should get to play every minute of future all-star games.

Put in Larry and Magic.

Vince is on the bench way too much.

After a dunk, Shaq's momentum carried him forward and he crashed into last year's American Idol winner, Big Ruben. Ruben is about as wide as Shaq, only a foot shorter. Shaq slammed into him and actually bounced 15 feet into the air, did twelve backflips and landed in a split on the court, arms outstretched.

Okay, not really.

With 2:15 left in the game, the East leads by two.

The East has struggled at the free throw line, shooting 10 of 19 so far. It's a close game, so this is crucial.

The West has barely even gone to the line.

At 1:25 Kobe Bryant made a big steal and quickly nailed a shot to tie the game. It should have been called a three-pointer, but the refs called it a two. The West should be up by one right now, but instead, it's tied.

With just under a minute, Kevin Garnett missed an open outside shot.

Allen Iverson has 11 assists in the game.

Tracy McGrady got fouled and went one of two from the free throw line. The East is now 11 of 22 at the line. With 36 seconds left in the game the East leads by one, 132-131.

With 27 seconds left, Tim Duncan hit his patented fadeaway bank-shot, putting the West up by one.

With 16 seconds to go, Tracy McGrady threw a lob into traffic and the ball got knocked out of bounds, off the East.

With 14.4 seconds the West has a one point lead and Ray Allen is at the line after being intentionally fouled by the East. He hits both free throws.

East ball, down by three time-out East.

Andrei Kirileno is in. He's rather good at defense.

The East was unable to get a clear shot. Jason Kidd ran in, tried to find someone outside to pass to, but no one was open so he ran back outside and gave it to Michael Redd, who forced a tough three-pointer that missed.

Tim Duncan gets fouled, goes to the line, and makes the first free throw to seal the win. He misses the second. It's over.

The West wins the 2004 All-Star game by a final score of 136-132.

The 2004 All-Star game MVP is Shaquille O'Neal.

Allen Iverson had just three points but dished 11 assists.

Jason Kidd had 14 points and 10 assists.

Jamaal Magloire had 19 points and eight rebounds.

Jermaine O'Neal had 16 points and nine rebounds.

Kobe Bryant shot 9 of 12 for 20 points, four rebounds, four assists, five steals and six turnovers.

Kevin Garnett had 12 points, seven rebounds and six assists.

Shaq, the all-star game MVP, had 24 points and 11 rebounds.

Tim Duncan had 14 points, 13 rebounds and five assists.

See box score (new window, close when done).