Team USA Cruises Past Team World at The Rising Stars Challenge, 161-144

Team USA got its revenge for the last year’s loss in the Rising Stars Challenge. This time, the young Americans defeated their colleagues from all over the world in one very interesting and fun clash, with 161-144.

The fans at Spectrum Center in Charlotte had a lot to see last night, as players from both sides really put a lot of energy in providing some spectacular plays which will be remembered for a long time.

We saw youngsters who are going to rule the NBA in the upcoming years. Some of them are already making a huge noise around the league and are the leaders of their teams.

Eventually, the team USA was better, and their triumph was fully deserved. They took the lead right from the start, and haven’t look back until the end, continually denying team World’s pushes and surges.

The MVP of the event was Kyle Kuzma from the Los Angeles Lakers. The sharpshooting forward scored 35 points in 22 minutes and grabbed 6 rebounds.

#LakeShow @kylekuzma pours in a game-high 35 PTS and receives MVP, guiding USA Team to the #MTNDEWICERisingStars win! #NBAAllStar pic.twitter.com/1YkpL4PXkO

— NBA (@NBA) February 16, 2019

Kuzma spoke about the fact that he and his countrymen lost last year and they wanted to even the score. According to his words, the previous defeat left a huge impression among all of them, and victory was a must here in Charlotte.

“Last year, the World team kicked our butts, they came in here and beat us by 30,” Kuzma said during the MVP ceremony. “A lot of us kind of remember that, so we just wanted to get a win. ”

He also added one more thing which spiced up the competition.

“And, there’s a $25,000 bonus for winning the game, so that’s good.”

Of course, Kuzma was a bit joking, as the atmosphere surrounding this encounter was more friendly than competitive, although there were some moments on the court which resembled a true season game.

Last year’s MVP Bogdan Bogdanovic mentioned that in his interview after the match.

“I think it was a kinda serious game in the last two minutes,” Kings guard said, and stated that team USA really “stepped up to their game” this time, after losing the previous game.

And that really was the case. Team USA started pounding right from the tip-off, and they were never behind their rivals in this game. From the first to the last second, Kuzma, Tatum, Fox and the rest of the, should we say “hosts,” were controlling the flow of the contest.

They were up already 10 points after the opening period, and they successfully rejected all the efforts of the opponent to make a comeback. On multiple occasions, team World came down to only one or two points, but in each situation, the USA had their answer prepared.

The middle and the late third quarter were the decisive moments of the meeting. During that period, things on the floor of the Spectrum Center heated up a little bit, and the tension moved to the beginning of the fourth period, when we saw only two points in 3:41.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P8M5HRWF2Ss

Trae Young with 12 and Kuzma with 10 points in the closing part of the show were the key factors for USA’s victory last night. These two guys dominated when the situation got tough.

Young had 25 buckets, along with 10 dimes and 6 hits behind the arc. Jason Tatum poured 30, adding 9 rebounds, while Donovan Mitchell had 20.

John Collins had a warm-up for tomorrow’s dunk contest, igniting the crowd with several big-time jams.

For the team World, Ben Simmons delivered 28 points, with a superb percentage from the field, making 14 of his 17 attempts.

The Chicago Bulls’ Lauri Markkanen was behind him with 21, and three guys had 15 points each. The No.1 overall pick from this year’s draft DeAndre Ayton, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Bogdanovic. Luka Doncic finished this event with 13.

The All-Star Weekend continues already tonight with Skills Challenge, 3-point contest and slam dunk contest.