NBA All-Star Game: West 37, East 27 (end of first quarter)

Kobe Bryant wanted the ball and he kept launching shots, putting up seven attempts in his first eight minutes on the court. Bryant is the leading scorer on the West squad with 11 points.

Clippers rookie phenom Blake Griffin checked in with about four minutes to go in the first quarter and scored on a dunk a minute later on bounce pass from Utah's Deron WIlliams. The pair got the crowd going again the final minute when Griffin scored another dunk on a give-and-go pass from Williams.

It almost sounded like a Lakers-Celtics Finals with the catcalls heating up at Staples Center when Boston's Paul Pierce and Ray Allen shot free throws.

During a timeout there was a video on the scoreboard of director Spike Lee insulting Magic center Dwight Howard for missing free throws, which triggered a wave of laughter in the stands.

The Heat's Chris Bosh hit his first four shots and leads the East with eight points.

--Barry Stavro

Photo: Lakers and West guard Kobe Bryant goes for a steal against Heat and East guard Dwyane Wade in the first quarter Sunday at Staples Center. Credit: Danny Moloshok / Reuters

NBA All-Star Game: West 21, East 10 (midway through first quarter)

Kobe Bryant got the Staples Center crowd going about three minutes into the game when he threw down a reverse after driving the baseline for the West team and later hit a three-pointer.

Bryant leads the West team with nine points.

The other big crowd pleaser early was a Dwight Howard dunk off an alley-oop pass from East teammate Amare Stoudemire, who caught a pass in mid-air and lobbed it to Howard. Stoudemire also dunked for the game's first score and added another in transition.

There were a few boos when the East's LeBron James shot free throws.

The pace was leisurely with, as usual, virtually no defense in an All-Star game.

When East Coach Doc Rivers sent in his four Celtics All-Stars --  Rajon Rondo, Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen and Paul Pierce -- at the same time there were thunderous boos. A moment later Allen shot an air ball from three-point range that triggered another wave of boos.

--Barry Stavro

Photo: Lakers and West power forward Pau Gasol dunks over Magic and East center Dwight Howard in the first half Sunday at Staples Center. Credit: Jae C. Hong / Associated Press

NBA All-Star game: Blake Griffin almost matches Kobe Bryant in pregame introductions

Make room Kobe, it's Blake's town too.

Clippers rookie Blake Griffin almost matched 13-time All-Star Kobe Bryant in fan reaction during the  introduction of the West team before Sunday's All-Star game at Staples Center.

They were the two most popular players during the introduction ceremony.

On the opposite end of the popularity scale, Boston Celtics star Paul Pierce, an Inglewood native, was heartily booed by fans when he was introduced.

The game will start at about 5:45 p.m. Pacific.

--Barry Stavro

Photo: Western Conference All-Stars blake Griffin, left, and Kobe Bryant at practice on Saturday. Credit: Lucy Nicholson / Reuters

NBA Dunk Contest: Baron Davis reaction; Blake Griffin giving trophy to Holloway's family

To say the Clippers were nervous when Blake Griffin rolled out his idea about dunking over a car ... talk about a major understatement.

They were nervously watching when Griffin and Baron Davis showed the dunks Thursday to get approval from the NBA, something done by all the entrants.

"Oh, they were sitting on their hands," Davis said, laughing.

That apparently eased their concerns about The Franchise potentially doing some physical damage to himself.

Davis spoke about the concept behind the winning dunk, which featured a choir singing "I Believe I Can Fly" as Griffin leaped over a car parked in front of the hoop and threw down a dunk off an alley-oop feed from Davis through the sunroof.

"It wasn’t my idea. The choir and the car were two separate things," he said. "We talked about it, so we just put them both together. To make it even more Hollywood flavor, more drama.

 "I can’t take credit. I was just a part. Being a producer sometimes, you just have to make sure it gets done."  

NBA All-Star Game: Serge Ibaka kids around during dunk contest

Baily Munoz came to perform in the halftime show, and ended up starring center stage during the Slam Dunk contest Saturday.

Munoz, a 7-year-old from Las Vegas, is part of the Future Funk dance group that will participate in the halftime show during the NBA All-Star game Sunday. But on Saturday, he was picked to team with Oklahoma City’s Serge Ibaka on a dunk.

Munoz came onto the floor crying, pointing to a stuffed animal -- Rumble, Oklahoma City’s mascot -- dangling from the rim. It took two tries from Ibaka to dunk a basketball and pull the toy down with his teeth.

“They just asked me yesterday to do it,” Munoz said. “I couldn’t believe it. The NBA All-Star game is like Disneyland to me.”

Said Ibaka: “It was my second dunk. I was trying to do something with a little imagination.”

Playing the “kid card” evidently didn’t help. Ibaka didn’t make it to the finals, where the Clippers' Blake Griffin defeated the Wizards' JaVale McGee for the title.

--Chris Foster

Photo: Serge Ibaka grabs a toy animal with his teeth as he puts down a reverse dunk on Saturday night. Credit: Lucy Nicholson / Reuters

Blake Griffin wins slam dunk contest by jumping over a car

Clippers rookie power forward Blake Griffin won the Slam Dunk contest by leaping over a compact car while catching a pass from teammate Baron Davis through the sunroof and then slamming the ball through the rim with two hands Saturday night at Staples Center.

The final round was scored by fans nationwide.

Griffin defeated Wizards center JaVale McGee, who did a one-handed catch and dunk in his final attempt.

But Griffin's final dunk triggered wild applause as he jumped over the car perfectly and scored his dunk in his first attempt. 

Serge Ibaka of the Thunder pulled off a bizarre dunk in the first round by snatching a stuffed toy hanging from the rim with his teeth while doing a reverse slam. But Ibaka was eliminated along with Raptors guard DeMar DeRozan.

Each of the four competitors in the contest performed two dunks in the first round and were scored by five courtside judges.

--Barry Stavro

Photo: Clippers rookie Blake Griffin easily clears a car on his final dunk Saturday night. Credit: Mark J. Terrill / Associated Press

JaVale McGee and Blake Griffin advance to finals of Slam Dunk contest

Fan favorite Blake Griffin of the Clippers and Wizards center JaVale McGee got the highest two-dunk combined scores from five judges at Staples Center to advance to the finals of the Slam Dunk contest on Saturday night at Staples Center.

Griffin's 360-degree corkscrew slam and windmill dunk off a ball bounced from the side of the backboard triggered big applause and scored 95 combined points.

McGee pulled off a pair of simultaneous dunks. With a ball in each hand, he dunked into side-by-side baskets and got a perfect 50 point score from courtside judges in first effort. In his next dunk, McGee dunked three balls at once, the third feed to him as he slammed the first two. He scored 99 points for the round.  

Thunder power forward Serge Ibaka in his second attempt pulled off a bizarre dunk by snatching a stuffed toy hanging from the rim with his teeth while doing a reverse slam. But Ibaka was eliminated in the first round as was Raptors guard DeMar DeRozan.

The final round will be scored by fans nationwide.

--Barry Stavro

Photo: Clippers power forward Blake Griffin pulls off a 360-degree corkscrew slam in the first round of the Slam Dunk contest. Credit: Lucy Nicholson / Reuters

Heat's James Jones wins three-point contest

The Miami Heat's James Jones out-shot better known stars to win the three-point contest at Staples Center on Saturday night.

Jones, who was the first one to shoot in the final round, scored 20 points.

Paul Pierce, the defending champion, finished with 18 points and Celtic teammate Ray Allen had 15 points in the final round.

Each player had one minute to shoot up to 25 three-point shots from five different points on the court.; most shots are worth one point; the last ball in each rack is worth two. The three players with the most points advanced to the final round.

Last year's scoring champion Kevin Durant of Oklahoma City had a poor shooting night, missing 20 of his 25 shots, and was eliminated in the first round, as were the Warriors' Dorell Wright and Cavaliers' Daniel Gibson.

Pierce and Allen were intermittently booed by Lakers fans in the crowd.

--Barry Stavro

Photo: Heat forward James Jones takes aim during the three-point shooting contest on Saturday evening at Staples Center. Credit: Lucy Nicholson / Reuters

Ray Allen, Paul Pierce, James Jones advance to finals of three-point contest

The NBA's all-time three-point scorer Ray Allen hit 14 of his 25 shots to make it to the final round of the three-point contest along with Celtics teammate and defending champion Paul Pierce and the Heat's James Jones at Staples Center.

Each player had one minute to shoot up to 25 three-point shots from five different points on the court; most shots are worth one point; the last ball in each of the five racks is worth two. The three players with the most points advanced to the final round.

Last year's scoring champion Kevin Durant of Oklahoma City had a poor shooting night, missing  20 of his 25 shots, and was eliminated in the first round, as were the Warriors' Dorell Wright and Cavaliers' Daniel Gibson.

Pierce and Allen were intermittently booed by Lakers fans in the crowd. 

--Barry Stavro

Photo: Celtics forward Paul Pierce competes in the three-point shooting contest on Saturday evening at Staples Center. Credit: Gary Hershorn / Reuters

NBA All-Star weekend: Atlanta wins NBA Shooting Stars competition

Team Atlanta, with Hawks star Al Horford, former NBA player Steve Smith and WNBA player Coco Miller easily won the Shooting Stars competition at Staples Center on Saturday.

The competition involved hitting shots from all over the court against the clock. Atlanta beat the Chicago team of the Bulls forward Taj Gibson, retired Bull Steve Kerr and WNBA player Cathrine Kraayveld, in the final round of a four-team event.

The  L.A. team of Lakers' All-Star Pau Gasol, former Laker Rick Fox and L.A. Stars player Tina Thompson were eliminated in the first round.

It was the opening  event that also includes the three-point shooting and slam dunk contests.

--Barry Stavro

Photo: Team Atlanta members (from left) Al Horford, Coco Miller and Steve Smith hoist the Shooting Stars trophy after defeating Chicago on Saturday at Staples Center. Credit: Gary Hershorn / Reuters

NBA All-Star weekend: Dwight Howard on Blake Griffin and DeMar DeRozan

Dwight Howard needs to be in Los Angeles. Or, very selfishly speaking, reporters need him to be here.

Even looking a little tired and sounding slightly hoarse, Howard managed to get off one of the better lines after Saturday's All-Star practice. The topic was Blake Grffin and the dunk. 

Howard first mentioned something about the pressure on Griffin, saying he has a "lot to live up to," considering it will be Griffin's first dunk contest Saturday night.

It got better.

"I don't even watch TV," Howard said. "Yeah, I've seen a couple of posters. I think the guy from New York [Timofey Mozgov] had the worst poster of the year. I feel bad for  his face."

DeMar DeRozan of the Raptors told us Sunday in Toronto that Howard had given him some of his "secret dunks." Howard confimed that and elaborated on the gift-giving.

"I gave him a couple of dunks -- if I was going to be in the dunk contest, then I would do them," Howard said. "I told him I would help him out, give him some ideas. Some dunks that I've been thinking about for a couple of years now. Hopefully he can pull them off."

What would lure Howard, the 2008 winner, back to compete in the dunk contest?

"Two years in a row, having a bad dunk contest, you might have to have some more players get in," he said. "I don't know. I'm getting old. You have to understand. I get beat on a lot in the games. They take away a lot from my legs. I might try it again."

-- Lisa Dillman