The upside was that it was hard to count either team out.
In a way, that seemingly unstoppable offense was also the downside in Sunday night's NBA All-Star Game, which the Western Conference won, 152-149.
Although the West led for the entire night, it squandered a large lead in a game where defense simply ceased to exist. The teams combined for an unheard-of 301 points as the beads of sweat gathered on defensive guru and Eastern Conference coach Tom Thibodeau's forehead.
The West's 88 points in the first half set an All-Star Game record, and the teams' combined 157 tied one. It was powerful, but it wasn't always pretty.
Kevin Love, the lone Timberwolves player to appear in the game, came off the bench to replace Kobe Bryant in the final minute of the first quarter. He scored his first point on a free throw in the second quarter and went on to score 17 in 18 minutes, falling short of his typical double-double, with just seven rebounds.
It was a spectacle. It was a show. It was dunks and beautiful shots. And for just about four minutes, it was also a game.
With 3:38 remaining, the East pulled within six points, 144-138. It was a refreshing display of competition in yet another year when All-Star competitions have come under fire for meaning nothing. But the competitive nature of stars like LeBron James and Kobe Bryant overpowered any apathy inherent in a game that really doesn't matter. Love, whose drive matches that of James or Bryant, sat on the bench for the game's closing minutes, though, watching as his team held on for the win.
It was undoubtedly a new perspective for the Timberwolves forward, who's averaging more minutes than any player in the league. He watched as a dunk by the Clippers' Blake Griffin pushed the West's lead to three. He watched still as the East resorted to the foul game, perhaps hoping he might get the nod in favor of Griffin, who's less than stellar from the free throw line.
Then Griffin stole the ball with just 1.1 seconds remaining, and Love watched as he missed one of two free throws. He endured a timeout, still on the bench, the first to give Griffin a piece of his mind as he came off the court.
In the end, though, the Western Conference got the win. There's no doubt Love wanted to be in the game at the final buzzer as his team held on for the win. Despite the emotion and charge of those final minutes, though, they mattered far less than what the forward has contributed to the Timberwolves time and time again as the clock expired this season.
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