Los Angeles, United States, Feb 16 (EFE).- Serb Bogdan Bogdanovic and his teammates stacked up three-pointers as the World Team beat the United States 155-124 in the NBA Rising Star challenge.
The Sacramento Kings player was declared the Most Valuable Player of the match with 26 points (7/10 three-pointers) and six assists in 22 minutes of play.
Bogdanovic thanked fans and the Kings for getting the opportunity to play in the NBA after receiving the MVP prize from Chris Webber, a former Kings player.
Buddy Hield also shone for the World Team with 29 points in a game full of alley-oops and three-pointers while the defense was almost non-existent, a norm for such games.
Jaylen Brown led the scoring for Team USA, with 35 points and Kyle Kuzma with 20.
The US team was wearing a jersey similar to the Minneapolis Lakers, while the World’s uniform paid an ode to the Buffalo Braves, the original franchise of the Los Angeles Clippers.
Locals Kuzma and Brandon Ingram were cheered the most in the game, turning up within 24 hours of playing a regular game with the Minnesota Timberwolves.
The World Team’s domination was felt from the beginning of the game, with fluid passing and brilliant moves including a behind the backboard dunk by Donovan Mitchell.
Domantas Sabonis played in the game two decades after his father, Lithuanian center Arvydas Sabonis played in a Rising Stars match.
The World raced to a 78-59 lead by half-time, during which rapper Jaden Smith performed at the Staples Center stadium.
The third quarter was dominated by the World’s Joel Embiid, who scored points in quick succession and made a slam dunk.
The Americans tried to raise the intensity but could not match the World, although Kuzma scored 11 points in the first two minutes of the fourth quarter, it was already too late by then.