This block on LeBron courtesy of Giannis, which got flipped from a goaltending call to a clean rejection, was the perfect embodiment of a worth-watching fourth quarter of the NBA All-Star Game on Sunday night.
You can watch the highlights here. And, in case you’re still confused by the new format, here’s a final attempt:
The two teams played the first three quarters on a regulation, 12 minutes per quarter basis.
In the fourth quarter, the aggregate score of the first three quarters (Team LeBron: 124, Team Giannis: 133) was counted up with 24 points (a Kobe tribute) being added to the higher team’s total, which was Team Giannis’s 133, which came out to 157, which was the “target score.”
Therefore, TG needed only 24 points in the untimed fourth quarter to win, while TL needed 33 points (24 plus the nine points they trailed TG by after three quarters).
(The system is called the Elam Ending, thought up by a Ball State professor sick of intentional fouling.) Despite the disadvantage, Team LeBron came back and won, 157-155.
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