So what is it like if that light at the end of a tunnel is a diesel coming at you?
You play the Red Sea and part.
That’s what the Eastern Conference All-Stars did late in Sunday night’s NBA All-Star Game as Lakers center Shaquille O’Neal, steam seeming to come from his ears, was dribbling full court, legs churning, eyes blazing.
What followed was a slam of a jam that brought the home crowd to its feet and gave the West a lead that it carried to a 136-132 victory.
O’Neal, who was named the game’s most valuable player on his home court, led the West stars with 24 points and 11 rebounds. Kobe Bryant added 20 points, and seven West players scored in double figures. New Orleans’ Jamal Magloire led the East with 19 points, and Jason Kidd added 14 points and 10 assists.
But it was the West’s size that made the difference. Tim Duncan had 14 points and 13 rebounds, including a tough bank shot with 26 seconds left that gave the West a 133-131 lead as it closed the game with free throws.
“Can you dig it? Can you dig it?” O’Neal screamed to the crowd upon being awarded the MVP trophy. “I just wanted to come here and have fun.”
But Magloire almost had the last laugh. The little-known center, who many believed was in effect taking the place of celebrated rookie LeBron James on the team, led all scorers in the first half with 12 points.
“I definitely expected to be an All-Star this year,” Magloire said. “I had that mentality.”
That wasn’t lost on East coach Rick Carlisle of the Pacers, who was asked about the upcoming stretch run in the regular season.
“New Orleans is a team you’ve got to give a lot of consideration to because, in effect, they are getting an All-Star player back in Jamal Mashburn,” he said, in addition to having All-Stars in Magloire and Baron Davis.
The underdog East was a team to give consideration to despite its lack of size.
The East took a 33-31 lead after one quarter as Vince Carter had nine points, most on a variety of dunks on lob passes from Allen Iverson, who had five assists in the quarter.
Iverson, who took on the mentality of previous All-Star Game performers like Magic Johnson and Isiah Thomas, threw a pass off the backboard to Carter for a slam. At times the game could have resembled a slow-pitch softball game with all the lobs.
Except for the fat guys.
“Being an All-Star is everything,” said Iverson, who drew praise during the weekend for his openness and cooperation and refusing to fire the coach. Kidd had no comment.
The East reserves, with Magloire and Kenyon Martin standing tall, controlled much of the second quarter on the boards and took a surprising 64-58 lead.
Tracy McGrady provided the street-ball entertainment with a reverse slam on another lob pass from Iverson and a pass to himself off the backboard for a slam dunk. What, Jamal Crawford couldn’t do that?
Those high school kids like to have fun.
“We felt like we had the best playmakers in the game,” said Carlisle, who actually was coaching, apparently unaware it was an exhibition.
“We felt like we had the best shotmakers and could get up and down and outscore those guys.”
The wild West guys took some notice after halftime, especially O’Neal, who answered the question of looking in the mirror as the East moved ahead 103-101 heading into the final quarter. He had 10 third-quarter points.
O’Neal drove for a layup late in the quarter. When it went through and a foul was called, O’Neal, who was dunking and mugging afterward throughout the game, grabbed a video camera from someone in the first row and posed.
Yes, it was an evening of kids and a daddy.
