Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, February 11, 1991 TAG: 9102110017
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By JACK BOGACZYK SPORTSWRITER
DATELINE: CHARLOTTE, N.C. LENGTH: Long
That about sums up the 41st annual NBA All-Star Game.
Barkley not only played despite complaining about a stress fracture in his left ankle, he was selected the most valuable player in the East's 116-114 victory over the West at the Charlotte Coliseum on Sunday.
Malone was the goat, if anyone among the greatest basketball players in the world deserves to wear horns and LA Gears, too.
The Utah "Mailman" delivered the game-clinching play when he was called for offensive basket interference on Kevin Johnson's 3-point shot from the right wing with three seconds left.
Johnson's jumper looked like it was going to win the game for the West, said his one-day teammate, Magic Johnson.
"It was one of those like, `OK. . . . yeah. . . . yeah . . . What is he doing?' " the Lakers' star said, describing his view of Malone's last play.
Said the Jazz forward, "It looked good; don't ask me why I did it. I wasn't paying the bookies off in Vegas."
The Suns' Johnson didn't doubt his accuracy.
"It was definitely going in," Phoenix's point guard said. "It was the game."
Barkley questioned whether he should have to play in the All-Star Game, having just returned to the Philadelphia lineup a week earlier, against doctors' wishes.
"Unless your arm is out of the socket, you play," the 76ers' star cryptically remarked about the NBA requiring his presence when Boston's Larry Bird stayed home recovering from a wrenched back.
Boy, did Barkley play. He showed why he will be forever known as the "Round Mound of Rebound," with 22, to go with 17 points. The last player to rebound that well in an All-Star Game was Wilt Chamberlain, with 22 in an East loss in 1967.
Only Chamberlain, Bill Russell and Bob Pettit have had more rebounds in one of these mid-season break dances.
Barkley's effort made him the MVP over home-state favorite Michael Jordan, who had 26 points but also committed 10 of the game's 51 turnovers.
"Michael did a good job getting me the ball," Barkley said, laughing.
A capacity crowd of 23,530 saw the lowest-scoring All-Star Game in 16 years, but no one was complaining about an entertaining exhibition that turned on the last shot.
"This game is supposed to be entertainment," said Chicago's Jordan, the NBA's scoring leader. "I think we were trying to make maybe too many good passes and we got too fancy. We were entertaining, but maybe we did too much of it."
The NBA dedicated the game to the U.S. troops in the Persian Gulf, and Barkley came to the postgame media gathering to deliver a message while wearing a camouflage cap emblazoned with the words, "Operation Desert Storm."
"I hope everyone here had a good time and I hope a game like this can help put sports in perspective," Barkley said. "With everything going on in the Persian Gulf, sports is secondary.
"I hope everyone enjoyed themselves for these two hours, and I hope everyone in the gulf gets home soon. We play basketball for a living, and no matter what happened here, we'll be here tomorrow.
"People are out there in the gulf putting their lives on the line. That's what's important. So, I just hope for a couple of hours we could help everyone forget `Insane Hussein' and all of the other stuff."
That Barkley aggressiveness made the difference for the East, which held a 61-46 rebounding advantage.
"I hate Charles," Magic Johnson said, starting to grin. "He throws everybody out of the way and then complains to the referee when you nick him. Charles is a man-child.
"With all of our guards [five point men on the West roster], we had to play some different positions. I thought I had Charles boxed out one time. Then, all of a sudden, he had me boxed out. Now, I appreciate what it's like to play against him."
The West shot only 40.6 percent, the East 43.1. The iron was unkind all day, especially to the Hawks' Dominique Wilkins, who windmilled a dunk off the front of the rim, then knelt under the East hoop to jeers from the West bench.
"It was all a good laugh," Wilkins said.
Malone, however, could only force a sheepish smile. WEST (114)
Malone 6-11 4-6 16, Mullin 4-8 4-4 13, Robinson 6-13 4-5 16, E.Johnson 7-16 0-0 16, K.Johnson 2-5 1-2 5, Duckworth 2-3 2-2 6, Drexler 4-9 4-4 12, Worthy 3-11 3-4 9, Porter 2-6 0-0 4, Chambers 4-11 0-0 8, Stockton 1-6 2-4 4, Hardaway 2-7 0-0 5. Totals 43-106 24-31 114. EAST (116)
King 2-8 4-4 8, Barkley 7-15 3-6 17, Ewing 8-10 2-2 18, Dumars 1-4 0-0 2, Jordan 10-25 6-7 26, Robertson 2-4 2-2 6, Wilkins 3-11 6-8 12, Parish 1-2 0-0 2, McHale 0-3 2-2 2, Pierce 4-8 1-1 9, Daugherty 3-7 2-3 8, Hawkins 3-5 0-0 6. Totals 44-102 28-35 116. West 23353422-114 East 22452722-116
Three-point goals-West 4-12 (E.Johnson 2-5, Mullin 1-1, Hardaway 1-2, Stockton 0-1, Chambers 0-1, Porter 0-2), East 0-7 (Dumars 0-1, McHale 0-1, Hawkins 0-1, Jordan 0-2, Wilkins 0-2). Fouled out-None. Rebounds-West 59 (Malone 11), East 76 (Barkley 22). Assists-West 29 (K.Johnson 7), East 23 (Jordan 5). Total fouls-West 27, East 26. A-23,530. B5 B1 EAST East A changing of the guard in the NBA. B2
Keywords:
BASKETBALL
by CNB