Team LeBron at Team Stephen
The NBA All-Star Game abandoned the traditional Eastern Conference versus Western Conference format this year and will instead pit two teams picked by LeBron James and Stephen Curry against each other Sunday in Los Angeles. James and Curry will serve as the team captains thanks to their status as the top two vote-getters in All-Star balloting.
James, who drew the first pick because his vote total topped Curry's, made Curry's Golden State Warriors teammate Kevin Durant the top pick. Durant, who recorded his fifth career 50-point game in a loss to the Portland Trail Blazers on Wednesday that closed out Golden State's first half, will have to go up against three of his teammates after Curry snagged forward Draymond Green and shooting guard Klay Thompson in the reserve portion of the draft. James ended up with a bigger roster while grabbing New Orleans Pelicans stars Anthony Davis and DeMarcus Cousins in the starters portion of the draft but will have a different player in the starting lineup after Cousins suffered a season-ending Achilles injury. Curry snagged Milwaukee's Giannis Antetokounmpo, Toronto's DeMar DeRozan, Philadelphia's Joel Embiid and Houston's James Harden to round out his starting five.
TV: 8 p.m. ET, TNT
ABOUT TEAM LEBRON: James is a 14-time All-Star and will get to play again alongside point guard Kyrie Irving, who was traded from Cleveland to Boston in the offseason but was snagged by his former teammate in the draft. Reigning NBA MVP Russell Westbrook is on the team as well and will operate in a crowded backcourt with first-time All-Stars Victor Oladipo of Indiana, Goran Dragic of Miami and Bradley Beal of Washington. New York's Kristaps Porzingis was expected to make his first All-Star appearance as well for Team James but had to be replaced after suffering a season-ending knee injury - one of four players from Team James that needed to be replaced because of injury.
ABOUT TEAM STEPHEN: Team Curry features three of the top four scorers in the NBA in Harden (first, 31.3 points), Antetokounmpo (second, 27.8) and Curry (fourth, 26.6) while adding the most prolific long-range shooters in the league in Harden (first, 206 made 3-pointers), Thompson (third, 184), Curry (fourth, 178), Kyle Lowry (160, sixth) and Damian Lillard (eighth, 155). The interior presence will be provided by Embiid, Boston's Al Horford and Minnesota Timberwolves center Karl-Anthony Towns, who is making his first All-Star appearance. DeRozan is making is fourth All-Star appearance and first in his hometown of Los Angeles, where he grew up and attended USC.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Team James boasts the last four All-Star Game MVPs in Irving (2014), Davis (2017) and Westbrook (2015, 2016).
2. James (314) is the career All-Star leader in points while Davis set the record for most points in an All-Star Game last season (52).
3. Toronto's Dwane Casey will coach Team James while Houston's Mike D'Antoni will coach Team Curry.