CHICAGO (AP) Players were taking charges, bodies were hitting the floor, calls and non-calls were being screamed about on both ends. The fourth quarter of the NBA All-Star Game was as intense as the final moments of a playoff game, the biggest stars in the league holding absolutely nothing back.

And in the end, Anthony Davis was a hometown hero by making a free throw.

Kobe Bryant - ever the competitor - would have simply loved the way this night went.

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CHICAGO (AP) Kawhi Leonard made it look effortless, nailing one 3-pointer after another and nearly matching an All-Star Game record.

The tough part came afterward. Finding the right words to express how he felt after becoming the first Kobe Bryant MVP award winner wasn't so easy.

CHICAGO (AP) The Latest on Sunday night's NBA All-Star Game (all times local):

7:45 p.m.

CHICAGO (AP) Aaron Gordon lost another epic dunk contest. And it was by a couple of inches - namely, the top of Tacko Fall’s head.

Derrick Jones Jr. finally got his long-awaited dunk contest title as an exclamation point to an scintillating All-Star Saturday Night, both for him and the Miami Heat. Jones and Gordon needed a dunk-off to decide a winner, Jones prevailing 48-47 in the one that determined who left with the trophy.

CHICAGO (AP) The Latest on Saturday night at NBA All-Star weekend. (all times local):

8:44 p.m.

CHICAGO (AP) The Latest on Saturday night at NBA All-Star weekend. (all times local):

7:38 p.m.

CHICAGO (AP) The NBA and USA Basketball are still considering playing in China later this year, though the complexities of both the political rift caused by a tweet last fall and the ongoing health concerns in the world’s most populous country are making those plans seem decidedly uncertain.

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said the discussions in both cases - pre-Olympic games for USA Basketball and the preseason games for the NBA - are ongoing, and said the decisions are not necessarily linked. It’s possible the U.S. may play there this summer and the NBA does not send teams this fall, Silver said.

CHICAGO (AP) The Latest on Saturday night at NBA All-Star weekend. (all times local):

6:43 p.m.

CHICAGO (AP) The list of finalists for the Basketball Hall of Fame is considerably shorter than usual.

The voters really didn't need more this year.

CHICAGO (AP) Miles Bridges soared like his boss in Chicago. Zion Williamson delivered his share of punishing dunks, even damaging the rim.

It all added up to a high-flying start to the All-Star weekend.