West 146, East 119

A yawner of a game in the desert. Not a whole lot of huge dunks or highlight-style plays. There were a fair share of them, but not exactly the great entertaining game the All Star Game usually provides.

I won't say much about it because it is an exhibition, but overall I was disappointed by this weekend's festivities. The Rookie Game was by far the best of all the events with Kevin Durant's exhibition (he should have been in the main event).

Dwight Howard, like most centers in these games, was mostly on cleanup duty. He did a decent job at that. And then he decided to yack it up in the second half, getting a pass sent between his legs by All Star co-MVP Shaquille O'Neal (ironically with Kobe Bryant) for a give and go, and then attempting a three (he made a long two) after the game was decided in the fourth.

It was odd that the teams played some pretty decent defense in the first half. But the West had a better roster and the better team tonight.

By better roster I mean, the East had two post players and they both played at the same time. It was comical watching Rashard Lewis try to guard Shaq throughout the game. Lewis is used to playing out of position and he was happy to do his part.

The final stat lines: Howard had 13 points and nine boards. Lewis finished with eight points and six rebounds.

It was an All Star Game for sure and it is over. Time to get serious about the season now.