Jordan Brings East Back Up to His Level in All-Star Victory

Back in the All-Star game for the first time since 1993, Michael Jordan simply did the usual--make sure his side didn’t lose.

Jordan had 20 points in only 22 minutes, didn’t play the fourth quarter and helped the Eastern Conference beat the Western Conference, 129-118, Sunday.

Leading to the game, Jordan had a let a few hints drop that he was out to avenge the Eastern Conference’s 27-point loss last season. His 10 third-quarter points were enough to give him the Most Valuable Player award for the second time in his career.

“This weekend turned out to be a great weekend, and I had a good time,” Jordan said over the boos of fans unhappy that he didn’t play the final period.

In the third, however, Jordan put on the kind of show expected of him, helping the East turn a 61-58 halftime lead into a double-digit blowout. His performance, however brief, was the only bright spot in an All-Star game with more air balls and turnovers than stellar play.

But just as Jordan reinvigorated the league by his return from retirement last March, he saved this game from mediocrity.

There he was driving through the lane, picking up a perfect bounce pass from Anfernee Hardaway and soaring in for a dunk. There he was curling around the right side for a one-handed jam.

The basket with 4:14 remaining in the third quarter was his last of the game and gave the East an 88-71 lead.

He hit eight of 11 field goals, making his first four shots of the game and had four rebounds.

Orlando’s Shaquille O’Neal led the Eastern Conference with 25 points and 10 rebounds. His teammate, Hardaway, added 18 points.

For the West, which had won three of the last four All-Star contests, hometown favorite David Robinson of the San Antonio Spurs had 18 points and 11 rebounds, leading a brief comeback for his team.

In all, it was a lackluster game.

The first half was just plain sloppy, with a total of 27 turnovers. The West had 17 of them, leading to 28 points for the East. Too many no-look passes went into the seats instead of into a teammate’s hands, and too many would-be alley-oops were simply oops.

For the game, the West turned the ball over 26 times, the East 20.

Jason Kidd, a first-time All-Star and the Dallas Mavericks’ first-ever starter, was dazzling when he was in the game.

He connected with Seattle’s Shawn Kemp on a behind-the-back pass that Kemp took in for a thunderous dunk on one play. On another, he passed to Clyde Drexler under the basket and the Rockets guard sent a nifty touch pass to Charles Barkley on the wing for a layup.

The Alamodome crowd of 36,037 was the third largest in All-Star history.