The 2026 NBA All-Star Game took place at Intuit Dome in Inglewood on Saturday afternoon with Los Angeles Lakers stars LeBron James and Luka Doncic involved in the event.<\/p>\n
The NBA decided to switch the format of this year’s All-Star Game, splitting the players into three teams, two USA and one World, to compete in a tournament. Doncic, of course, was on the World Team, while James was on the USA Stripes Team. Both of the Lakers’ stars have dealt with recent injuries, however, so they played limited minutes in the game.<\/p>\n
Doncic’s World Team faced off with the USA Stars Team in the first quarter and the Lakers star played five minutes with two points and two assists before being subbed out. That was his only action for the day, and he came out of it injury-free.<\/p>\n
The first game wound up going to overtime with both teams tied at 32. The first team to score five points in the overtime period would win, and ultimately the Stars Team completed the comeback victory on a triple by Scottie Barnes.<\/p>\n
James’ Stripes Team took on the USA Stars in the second game and he got things started with an assist to Kevin Durant from a triple and then a 3-pointer of his own. In five minutes to begin the game, James had five points, one rebound and one assist.<\/p>\n
The energy and competitiveness was much better throughout compared to recent years. The second game came down to the wire, and De’Aaron Fox hit a triple at the buzzer to give the victory to the Stripes Team. James helped set up the final bucket after hitting his second 3-pointer, finishing with eight points.<\/p>\n
James and Doncic’s teams squared off in the third quarter, although the latter was already done for the night.<\/p>\n
In that game, Kawhi Leonard absolutely took over with 31 points for the Stripes team. He hit the game-winner, and James finished two points, two rebounds and four assists. LeBron’s bucket was a big one as he had a putback dunk to give his team the lead in the final minute.<\/p>\n
The final matchup was the two USA teams once again.<\/p>\n
Considering the Stripes Team had just played two games in a row, the Stars Team was well-rested and came out hot to take an early lead.<\/p>\n
James did his part with five straight points to try to get his team back in it, but the Stars continued to pour it on for the easy victory.<\/p>\n
Even though the Stripes and Stars played two games and split them, the Stars won the final one to take home the victory. Anthony Edwards was named MVP and awarded the Kobe Bryant trophy.<\/p>\n
The Lakers will now get some much-needed time off for the All-Star break before returning to the court on Friday against the L.A. Clippers at Crypto.com Arena.<\/p>\n
Going into the break, the Lakers are tied for fifth in the Western Conference at 33-21 and are looking to make a run with their roster finally getting healthy.<\/p>\n