Western Conference Defeats Eastern Conference to Win 2013 NBA All-Star Game

In a wild and entertaining NBA All-Star Game, the Western Conference used a flash of defense down the stretch and a bunch of scoring throughout to beat the Eastern Conference, 143-138, in Houston Sunday night. 

As you can tell by the score, or simply the fact that it is the All-Star Game, there was not a lot of defensive excellence in the Toyota Center for the 2013 rendition, either.

However, there were a host of amazing passes, spectacular handles, alley-oop passes and a bunch of rim-rattling dunks. 

None of the stars shone brighter than the West's Chris Paul. The Los Angeles Clippers point guard was named the game's MVP after a spectacular performance. 

He hit for 20 points on a wildly efficient 7-of-10 shooting performance, and neither of those numbers are as impressive as the 15 assists he dished out in 27 minutes of action. He also grabbed four steals. 

Of course, he certainly wasn't alone. The Oklahoma City Thunder's Kevin Durant finished with 30 points on 13-of-24 shooting, six boards and two steals. 

Durant had his shooting touch working, but his tenacity taking the ball to the rack was bringing the house down. 

This led to the stats and info people with the Thunder happily tweeting this:

Durant's 30 led all scorers, but the East's Carmelo Anthony was not far behind. 

The Knicks star hit for 26 points, and he did so with just 14 shots. Much like Durant, Anthony had his shot working, but he was not content to settle for jumpers. He was aggressive all game and wound up 7-of-9 from the charity stripe.

This game had flashes of genius and moments of terrible play, but it was always entertaining. We couldn't hope for much more from this flashy exhibition.