"Thanks for the hospitality," Durant said. "It was an amazing weekend. Glad we capped it off with a 'W.'" The highlights, as would be expected, were absurdly good, time and again.

Curry slammed the ball off the floor on a first-half fast break and watched it ricochet toward the rim with an apex that flirted with the top of the backboard. Too high for most humans — but Antetokounmpo isn't most humans. The freakishly long Greek star slammed Curry's unconventional alley-oop pass home, with both benches reacting in disbelief.

It was not a defensive showcase, as always.

Team Giannis set an All-Star record with 23 field goals in the first quarter, topping the mark of 22 set on four other occasions — by both the West and the East in the first quarter of the 2017 game, and by the West in both the second and third quarters of the 2016 game.

The 53 points tied a one-quarter All-Star record as well, matching the total by the West in the third quarter of the 2016 games and by the East in the first quarter of the 2017 game. But when it was time to get competitive, things tightened up considerably, at least by All-Star standards.

But when Team LeBron used a flurry of 3s to get back into it, everyone on the bench was standing — sometimes running from the bench and onto the court during play, the celebrations a bit more exuberant than what's usually allowed.