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Date | February 11, 2001 | ||||||||||||||||||
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Arena | MCI Center | ||||||||||||||||||
City | Washington, D.C. | ||||||||||||||||||
MVP | Allen Iverson | ||||||||||||||||||
National anthem | Deborah Cox (Canada) Jessica Simpson (USA) | ||||||||||||||||||
Halftime show | Harry Connick, Jr. saluting 50 years of All-Star Game MVPs | ||||||||||||||||||
Attendance | 20,674 | ||||||||||||||||||
Network | NBC | ||||||||||||||||||
Announcers | Marv Albert Doug Collins | ||||||||||||||||||
NBA All-Star Game | |||||||||||||||||||
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The 2001 NBA All-Star Game was an exhibition basketball game which was played on February 11, 2001, at the MCI Center in Washington, D.C., home of the Washington Wizards. This game was the 50th edition of the North American National Basketball Association (NBA) All-Star Game and was played during the 2000–01 NBA season.
Allen Iverson was named the game's Most Valuable Player after he rallied the East to garner an improbable 111–110 comeback victory over the West. The East trailed 95–74 with nine minutes left after the West dominated the first 39 minutes behind its superior size. Iverson sparked the comeback scoring 15 of his 25 points in the final nine minutes of the game. Stephon Marbury also helped the East by hitting two three-pointers in the final 53 seconds, including one with 28 seconds left, which proved to be the game-winner.
Kobe Bryant scored the most points for the West squad (19 points), which led by as much as twenty-one points before the team squandered the lead. Bryant, the NBA's leading scorer at the time, could have taken the last shot; instead, his hesitation before passing to an open Tim Duncan resulted in a last-second miss.[1]