2021 NBA All Star: Eastern or Western team, who has won more times?
It's no longer Eastern Conference against Western Conference, but we look back at how that battle turned out over the years, and the points differences seen.
Sunday 7 March brings most of the best that the NBA has to offer for the 2021 All-Star Game, with the State Farm Arena in Atlanta, Georgia, playing host. Team captains LeBron James and Kevin Durant have made their open draft picks for the 70th edition of the star-studded mid-season showpiece, but prior to 2018 it was a purely conference driven affair.
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Eastern Conference 37-29 Western Conference
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First staged at the Boston Garden in 1951, the Eastern Conference triumphed over the Western 111-94. Over the course of the ensuing 70 years the Eastern Conference has won 37 times to the Western Conference’s 29 with the game taking place every year except in 1999 during the NBA lockout.
And then in October 2017, the NBA and NBPA announced changes to the game format, starting in 2018, which saw the top vote leaders for each conference holding a draft to choose from the rest of the starters and reserves, regardless of conference.
Big points from West and East
The highest scoring game in All-Star history took place in 2017 in New Orleans when the West and East shared 374 points with the former claiming victory by 10 points, 192-182. The game also produced the most prolific individual performance in the game’s history as Anthony Davis scored 52 points.
A year earlier, the West All-Stars set another record – and would have beaten their 2017 team – by scoring 196 points.
For the lowest points total in All-Star history, it is necessary to go back to 1953 and the third All-Star Game at the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum in Fort Wayne, Indiana. On that occasion, the East and West split just 154 points with the West edging their first All-Star win 79-75. The East’s score on that day remains the lowest total ever managed by an All-Star side.
The All-Star Game has been decided by a single point on four occasions, with both East and West claiming two wins: 124-123 (East) in 1965; 108-107 (West) in 1971; 125-124 (West) in 1977 and 111-110 (East) in 2001.
Remembering Johnson's magic
The biggest win in All-Star history remains the West’s 153-113 triumph in Orlando in 1992, which marked the return of the game’s MVP Magic Johnson.
The main man top-scored with 25 points and to this day retains the records for most career All-Star assists (127) and the most assists in a single game (22 in 1984).