Most of the biggest stars of the National Basketball Association were in Los Angeles for the league's annual all-star game, and it was the West, led by Shaquille O'Neal, beating the East in a battle of the dunks, 136-132.
The Los Angeles Lakers' O'Neal, appearing in his 11th all-star game, scored 24 points during 24 minutes on the court. He delighted the fans late in the game by dribbling the length of the court and slamming in the eighth of his nine dunks.
O'Neal shared Most Valuable Player honors for the night with Tim Duncan of the San Antonio Spurs, who banked in the winning basket with 26 seconds left. Sunday's win was the fourth in the past five years for the NBA West stars.
Somewhat ironically, O'Neal was the backup center on the West team. He came in to replace starter Yao Ming of the Houston Rockets. Yao scored 16 points in the game's first 19 minutes.
The 23-year-old Chinese-born superstar is in his second NBA season.
Some information for this report provided by AP.