West Takes Air Out of Moment

Thanks for all those other memories, anyway.

Failing to live up to the moment for the first time in his storied career, Michael Jordan still almost stole the show, but the West stole it back and went on to win his last All-Star game, 155-145, in two overtimes Sunday.

Jordan scored 20 points but shot nine for 27. He missed a potential game-winning shot at the end of regulation, knocked in a 15-foot moon ball with 4.9 seconds to play in the first overtime to give the East a two-point lead, then watched teammate Jermaine O’Neal check Kobe Bryant into the West bench on a three-pointer, sending Bryant to the line to shoot three with :01 left.

Bryant made two, Jordan missed again at the end of the overtime, and the big Westerners then buried the little Easterners in the second overtime.

Not that it was routine for Bryant, wearing retro Air Jordans as a tribute, and torn between letting Jordan have his moment, on the one hand, and trying to win the game on the other.

“Absolutely,” said Bryant. “Absolutely. Part of me felt like I had a job to do because I’m in the situation I was in and I needed to make those free throws. But the other part me of was like -- I didn’t want to do it, to be honest with you.”

It was Jordan’s night, just not one of his great ones.

Vince Carter, who had insisted he wouldn’t give up his starting spot, came to Jordan before the game and offered it up. There was a Jordan tribute at halftime with Mariah Carey singing in a full-length Wizards’ No. 23 gown.

Unfortunately, for his part, Jordan couldn’t hit the broad side of a barn, missing seven of his first eight shots. The Wizards last played on Tuesday and even greats get rusty.

“It took a while for me to get rhythm,” Jordan said afterward. “I know everybody wanted me to make a lot of shots but I’m no different than guys who had four days’ vacation. Sometimes, you come back to work and you’ve got a lot of paperwork on the desk.”

It turned into just another (yawn) All-Star game, until the end of regulation, when the West came from 10 points down in the last 3:22

Just when it looked as if this long weekend would never end, Kevin Garnett, who scored 37 points and was voted the MVP, started the second overtime with a 15-footer over Carter, was fouled, made the free throw, then hit another jumper over Carter. Then Steve Francis dropped in a three-pointer and Garnett hit a 17-footer, completing a 10-0 run.

Garnett is a 7-footer but the 6-6 Carter had to check him or 6-11 Tim Duncan, which is the East’s problem these days.

“We said in the huddle, either Tim or I would have a mismatch,” said Garnett. “I had Vince Carter on me so I wanted to take advantage of it.”

Happily, for the sake of getting this over, he did.

As All-Star weekends go, this was a disaster, with gridlocked traffic and so many people in town for the parties, if not the game, that three area malls closed Saturday because they were packed wall-to-wall. The press-room telephone system went down Saturday and Sunday.

The actual game was no classic but it did have epic length -- the first to go two overtimes -- a big finish and a warm, fuzzy backdrop.

“It could have ended either way,” said Jordan. “It was fun. The most important thing, as I told my teammates, I wanted it to be competitive. I didn’t want it to be where one guy let one guy score and the other guy came down and scored. I wanted it to be a good game. It was a fun ending, either way you looked at it.”

It was Jordan’s night but Garnett’s trophy. As Jordan noted, from now on, the younger generation is officially in charge of the event.

“I’m in no hurry to see greatness leave,” said Garnett. “I think the only way you gain knowledge is by talking to the great ones, a Magic [Johnson], a Larry Bird, a Michael Jordan. The times we’re playing with them, I think that these are the times we need to cherish....

“A wise man told me, once he’s gone, his age is going to forbid him from coming back.”

Presumably.

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*--* The Shining Some memorable moments from the All-Star game in Atlanta: * Michael Jordan, a last-minute starter after Vince Carter relinquished his spot, clanged the potential winning shot off the iron at the end of regulation but made a high-arching 15-footer with 4.9 seconds left in overtime to give the East a two-point lead. Kobe Bryant tied it, however, by making two free throws with one second left * Although Jordan missed his first seven shots, had four others blocked and missed a dunk, he did score 20 points to move past Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for most total points in All-Star history * Allen Iverson (35 points) arrived at the arena wearing a retro No. 23 Bulls’ jersey. Yao Ming wore a pair of powder blue low-tops, a tribute to Jordan’s alma mater, North Carolina; the shoes clashed garishly with Yao’s bright red Western Conference uniform. Singer Mariah Carey wore a Bull jersey and a Wizard uniform during a halftime show dedicated to Jordan. Several of the players wore Air Jordan shoes, and all of them stood in a pack to applaud and hug Jordan after he gave a halftime speech * MVP Kevin Garnett of Minnesota scored nine of his 37 points in the second overtime. It was the first double-overtime game in All-Star history

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