CHICAGO — Leading 154-153, Team LeBron was a 3-pointer away from ending the 69th annual All-Star Game in Chicago on Sunday night, and Houston Rockets star James Harden, with the ball in his hands, turned the stomachs and curdled the blood of every fan in the packed United Center with every successive dribble he took up the court and closer to the 3-point stripe. Harden, one of the league’s most prolific pull-up shooters, nailed a three in Toronto Raptors guard Kyle Lowry’s face, and for a moment, the game looked like it was over.
The changes the NBA implemented to the All-Star Game format came into play.