I’ll be posting updates throughout the D12 All-Star game from here at the UCF Arena. The most recent updates will be at the top. And to answer a common question, I’m not aware of an online stream of the game.
4:22, 3rd quarter: The Internet went out for a bit, keeping me from Tweeting or posting anything on here. The best highlights of the night belong to the host of this get-up, as Howard slammed home a couple of impressive dunks off alley-oops from Nelson. The old school team holds a slim lead, but it’s been a back-and-forth affair.
5:42, 2nd quarter: The old-school team goes up 40-33 after Hardaway hits his second three-pointer of the quarter. Orton put down a nice alley-oop dunk on a pass from Arenas, who still has yet to show any obvious improvement in his knee — but it’s possible he’s holding back, considering this is a game in which I could probably score 25 points. Earl Clark, meanwhile, looks like he’s playing for a contract, hustling after offensive rebounds and sprinting up and down the court.
8:01, 2nd quarter: Daniel Orton entered the game, giving Magic fans the first glimpse of him in person. He’s been blending in so far — not a rebound or a point. Hardaway continues to distribute, but there aren’t official stats being kept so it’s unclear if he’ll be approaching Scott Skiles’ assists record. It’s 30-29 old-school, and it’s becoming clear this game will come down to the wire.
1:37, 1st quarter: It’s settling into what you’d expect from a charity basketball game. A lot of threes, fast-breaks and not much defense. Lil Wayne is eating popcorn and laughing at things. Bass is dominating the scoring, but the old-school guys lead 24-22.
8:21, 1st quarter: The game starts with Penny Hardaway working on Gilbert Arenas in the post. Hardaway spins, pump fakes, ducks under Arenas and dishes to a cutting Marcin Gortat for an easy lay-up. Don’t forget Penny was once labeled the next Magic Johnson. Brandon Bass is the leading scorer so far, making several lay-ups and earning free throws on a put-back attempt. He even got in the way of a Nelson-to-Howard alley-oop attempt, thinking it was for him. Bass apparently has just one speed. It’s 13-13.
Tip-off: It’s 8:05 and the game, which was schedule for 7 p.m., is just beginning. And it’s being delayed further because the lights won’t turn on. This wouldn’t happen if David Stern and Co. were running things.
“We Will Rock You” is playing through the speakers and the starting lineups are as follows:
White team: Dwight Howard, Brandon Bass, Quentin Richardson, Gilbert Arenas and Jameer Nelson.
Black team: Drew Gooden, Mike Miller, Marcin Gortat, Penny Hardaway and Steve Francis.
Player and coach introductions: The place went absolutely crazy upon the entrance of Lil Wayne, who’s wearing red headphones and sucking on a lollipop. When his opposing coach, Floyd Mayweather was introduced shortly after, there were more boos than cheers. That prompted Howard to scold the crowd and say, “Hey, we don’t do no booing in here. Y’all give it up for Floyd.” The crowd cheered the next time, although if the guy would just fight Manny Pacquiao already, he wouldn’t get booed anywhere.
Penny Hardaway received the warmest ovation among any player, by far. Howard said, “And now, No. 1,” and the volume level grew higher than for anyone except Lil Wayne. Clearly Magic fans have let bygones be bygones.
After the player introductions, Howard began rapping over Busta Rhymes’ verse in “Look at me now,” and nobody really knew what to do. He’s having fun.
10 minutes before tip-off: Howard took the mic and briefly addressed the crowd at half-court. He thanked everyone for coming out and thanked the other players for joining him. He finished with: “I love you guys, and have fun.” Crowd goes nuts.
30 minutes before tip-off: We’re about 30 minutes from tip-off and most of the players are warming up. Marcin Gortat, Mike Miller, Drew GOoden, Trevor Ariza and Steve Francis are shooting on the South basket. Brandon Bass, Gilbert Arenas, Penny Hardaway, Quentin Richardson, Courtney Lee and Jameer Nelson are on the other end. Dwight is mingling.
45 minutes before tip-off: We just got out of Dwight Howard’s pre-game press conference. We’ll have more on that later, but he mostly answered questions about this event and why he planned to throw it. He said it was an idea that started about three weeks ago, and it came while brainstorming with Gilbert Arenas.
When Howard was asked about his Esquire interview, he deflected the question and said he’d just like to talk about the charity event. When asked about the lockout, a public relations representative stepped in and cut off the interview.
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