1954: EAST 98, WEST 93 (OT)

THE STORYLINE:

Celtics guard Bob Cousy led the East squad to victory and was named MVP.

Boston's Bob Cousy keyed the East's victory, scoring 10 of the squad's 14 points in the overtime session. . .Cousy earned the Game's MVP award in a revised media balloting (Minneapolis' Jim Pollard, who had scored 23 points in regulation, was voted MVP prior to the overtime). . .Cousy played much of the game alongside the Knicks' Dick McGuire, forming one of the first "Dream Backcourts" in NBA history.

The West's George Mikan provided one of the indelible moments in All-Star history when he nailed two free throws (underhanded) after regulation time had expired, forcing the game into overtime at 84-all. . .Mikan was fouled by Baltimore's Ray Felix as the fourth quarter horn sounded.

Harry Gallatin's 18 rebounds still stand as the most ever for a Knick in the All-Star Game. . .Gallatin joined Carl Braun, McGuire and coach Joe Lapchick as the Knicks' representatives in the first Garden All-Star Game.

THE QUOTEBOOK:

"In a game like this you don't pace yourself. You give it all you've got all the way because you know that when you get tired, there's somebody on the bench who can take your place." -- Bob Cousy

"When Cousy and McGuire were in there together, that was the greatest thing I've ever seen. They were passing that ball around so fast you almost had trouble following it." -- Carl Braun

"All you've got to do is give the ball to him, make a reverse cut and he's got the ball right into your hands." -- Cousy on McGuire

"It's easy to play with him. . .he never misses you." -- McGuire on Cousy

"Just as I was about to speak, I suddenly realized that these men were such artists and that they took such pride in their artistry, they needed nothing from me. From the first second of play, you'd believe they'd been performing together all their lives. It was wonderful." -- East coach Joe Lapchick

THE SIDELIGHTS:

At their annual All-Star meeting, the NBA owners were petitioned for a Pittsburgh expansion franchise by Steel City TV magnate Harold Lund. Forty-three years later, Pittsburgh was still waiting for an NBA franchise.

The owners made three major announcements:

1) The Dumont television network would televise 20 Saturday afternoon games the following season.
2) Coaches and players were put on an "honor system" to cut down on the incessant fouling and stalling that was threatening to wreck the League (it didn't work).
3) A complicated, round-robin Playoff system would be installed for the 1953-54 season. Thankfully, it lasted only one year. As Dick Young wrote in the Daily News: "The plan opens with a round robin, and finishes when there'll be no robins around."

The All-Star "media event" was a luncheon at Toots Shor's Restaurant, where each All-Star player and coach was presented with a handsome traveling alarm clock.

1955: EAST 100, WEST 91

THE STORYLINE:

Bill Sharman took home MVP honors after scoring 15 points.

Boston's Bill Sharman earned MVP honors by scoring nine points in four minutes during the East's fourth quarter surge. . .Sharman finished with 15 points and bested Syracuse's Dolph Schayes in the MVP balloting, 27-18.

The previous year's MVP, Bob Cousy, was the Game's high scorer (20).

Harry Gallatin (game-high rebounder for the second year in a row), Dick McGuire and Carl Braun again represented the Knicks.

THE QUOTEBOOK:

"No doubt about it. Sharman's shooting beat us." -- West coach Charley Eckman

"Let me see that. More assists than Cousy? Better let me frame that and keep it." -- Knicks' Dick McGuire, who had six assists to Cousy's five

THE SIDELIGHTS:

The second consecutive All-Star Game at the Garden was the first mid-season classic to be played with the new, game-saving 24-second shot clock. . .Game was televised locally on WPIX-11.

Cousy and Pollard presided over one of the first meetings of the NBA Players' Representative Council, which would become the Players Association a decade later. . .Each of the League's teams elected a player representative, except Fort Wayne, which refused (team owner Fred Zollner employed 1,000 non-union workers in his plant).

Eight players -- Cousy, Sharman, Macauley, Johnston, Arizin, Pollard, Mikkelsen and Martin -- missed the mandatory practice/media session at the 69th Regiment Armory, prompting NBA Commissioner Maurice Podoloff to promise "definite disciplinary action".

1968: EAST 144, WEST 124

THE STORYLINE:

Hal Greer scored a then-All-Star record 19 points in the third quarter. Philadelphia's Hal Greer poured in 19 points in the third quarter (7-7 FGA, 5-6 FTA) to nail down MVP honors. . .Greer's 19 points were an All-Star record for one quarter until Charlotte's Glen Rice scored 20 in the third quarter in 1997 at Cleveland. . .Greer earned 52 1/2 votes in the MVP media balloting. Boston's John Havlicek was a distant second with 15 1/2.

Clyde Lee, the game's high rebounder (11), was a last-minute replacement for Warriors teammate Nate Thurmond, who tore knee ligaments four days prior.

Knicks Willis Reed (16) and Dick Barnett (15) combined for 31 points.

Of the 27 players and coaches selected to participate in the Game, 15 of them are enshrined in the Basketball Hall of Fame and were named among the NBA's 50 Greatest Players during League's 1996-97 Golden Anniversary: Bing, Chamberlain, DeBusschere, Greer, Havlicek, Sam Jones, Lucas, Reed, Robertson, Russell, Baylor, West, Wilkens, Thurmond and Sharman.

THE QUOTEBOOK:

"It is NBA All-Star time, the best of the East meeting the best of the West, and it never fails to turn me on. Let's confess it. I'm a basketball degenerate." -- Milton Gross, New York Post

"I was on Hal seven minutes of it. Wilt was looking for him. A couple of times I'd be between Wilt and Hal and he (Wilt) would part my hair with the ball to get it to him." -- San Francisco's Jim King, on Greer's third-quarter binge.

"He has been a great guard, but he hasn't had the fame that he deserves. I must admit that I was looking to set him up if I could." -- Wilt Chamberlain on Hal Greer

"Most of my shots, Wilt was passing off to me. It's just like we do it in Philadelphia." -- Hal Greer

"I made another guy MVP again. Don't they ever give anything for defense in this League?" -- Wilt

"I think it's terrible to give a car. But if I had gotten one, I wouldn't have given it back." -- Greer, who received a trophy, not a car, as the Game's MVP

"It was in this Garden, not the new one, that basketball received its main stimulation for national attention. It was this court, the Mecca of Basketball, that created the conditions for the establishment of a stable major professional league." -- Leonard Koppett, The New York Times."

THE SIDELIGHTS:

The crowd of 18,422 was the highest in All-Star history to that point. . .Game was seen on ABC-TV with Chris Schenkel, Jack Twyman and Howard Cosell, and was the last nationally-televised event from the Old Garden.

Originally, the game was originally scheduled to be held in the New Garden above Penn Station. But, due to delays, the new arena would not open for three more weeks.

Members of the winning East team each received a $500 gift certificate from Saks Fifth Avenue. Members of the West squad each got a $300 certificate.

The day before the game (January 22), NBA owners voted expansion franchises to groups from Phoenix and Milwaukee, to begin play in 1968-69. Purchase price: $2 million each. . .That night, the annual All-Star media/officials party was held at Toots Shor's. In the pre-event memo circulated to the teams, Knicks GM Eddie Donovan noted that "Female guests, naturally, are invited."

1998: EAST 135, WEST 114

THE STORYLINE:

Jordan, whose Most Valuable Player performance overshadowed the impressive All-Star debut of Kobe Bryant, led a balanced East attack, scoring 23 points, grabbing six rebounds and also dishing a team-high eight assists, including three during a 20-1 run early in the fourth quarter that blew the game open and led to the East's 135-114 win.

"Give it to Michael and get out of the way," explained Larry Bird, the Eastern Conference coach, of his team's strategy. "That is the way it usually happens."

For awhile, it looked like that strategy might not be possible. It was reported early in the day that Jordan might not play, but he was in the starting lineup and received the loudest ovation from the Madison Square Garden crowd of 18,323. On the East's first possession, Jordan exploded from the left wing to the middle of the lane, and drained a running jumper. They were off and running. The East never trailed, and frequently held double-digit leads even before their decisive fourth-quarter flourish.

"I've been in bed for three days, basically," said the three-time All-Star Game MVP. "I didn't really expect to come out here and win the MVP. I just wanted to fit in, to make sure Kobe didn't dominate me. The hype was me against him. I was just glad that I was able to fight him off."

From the outset, the game looked like a mano-a-mano duel between Air and Heir, as Jordan and Bryant took turns firing it up with varying degrees of success. The 19-year-old Bryant, eager to live up to the hype that has followed him around all week, attacked Jordan offensively. He hit a 17-foot jumper early, but misfired on several circus shots. He finally drew praise from the Garden crowed when he let his athleticism take over.

Midway through the opening period, Bryant took a pass from Shaquille O'Neal, went skyward and performed a 360-degree spin before slamming the ball through the cylinder. On the West's next possession, Bryant found himself on the receiving end of a Kevin Garnett alley-oop, which he retreived in midair and buried.

Bryant found his stroke in the second half. He hit three shots, including a pair of long three-pointers, and finished with a team-high 18 points on 7-for-16 shooting from the field.

The Lakers' Kobe Bryant drives on Atlanta's Dikembe Mutombo during Sunday's All-Star Game.

"We were in the locker room before we ran out there. I was a little nervous. I was shaky," said Bryant. "I had butterflies because I wanted this moment to come. Once I went out there, I was comfortable."

As comfortable as Bryant looked on offense, he was no match for Jordan. Early on, Jordan hit a pair of high-arching turnaround baseline jumpers over Bryant, and scored seven straight points for the East as they built their lead to 25-15 in the waning moments of the first.

"That's all about competitive nature," Bryant said of Jordan's first-quarter surge. "I came out aggressive, he came back at me aggressive. That's what it's all about. All I want to do is get a hand up, try to play him hard ... he hit those two turnarounds, and I was like 'Cool, let's get it on!' "

The 34-year-old Jordan, who also won the MVP award in 1988 and in 1996, thought the youngster showed remarkable poise. "He came at me early, which I would have done if I were him. If you see someone who's sick, or whatever, you've got to attack him. He attacked. I like his attitude."

When Jordan exited the game, the East relied on the three-point shooting of Tim Hardaway and Glen Rice to maintain a double-digit lead. Hardaway's back-to-back bombs from well beyond the line gave the East its biggest lead of the first quarter, 33-19. Rice hit three straight bombs in a 1:25 stretch midway through the second quarter as the East extended a seven-point lead to a 51-39 advantage.

The East lead hovered near double digits throughout the second and third quarters. Early in the fourth, the East broke it wide open. With the East up 103-95, Jayson Williams put back an offensive rebound at the 9:54 mark of the fourth to begin a run of 12 straight points for the East, which got a pair of free throws from Rik Smits, a three-pointer from Jordan, then consecutive jumpers from Reggie Miller (both assisted by Jordan) to go up 115-95.

The West continued to struggle from the field, where it was only 10-for-32 in the final quarter. After a free throw by Eddie Jones, the East continued to run toward easy buckets. First Jordan converted a driving layup, then after Smits blocked a pair of Vin Baker shots at the other end, the 7-4 Dutchman sped down the lane and fired a behind-the-back pass to Williams for the slam. A 17-footer by Smits and a dunk by Antoine Walker put the game well out of reach at 123-96.

"Rik told me, 'Man, thanks for catching that ball, man!' " Williams said. "I didn't know what he was going to do with it. I knew he was running full speed. He ain't got no brakes!"

Smits, who finished with 10 points, seven rebounds, four assists and two blocks, was one of seven East players in double figures, joining Jordan, Rice (16), Grant Hill (15), Miller (14), Steve Smith (14) and Shawn Kemp (12).

"I thought Rik played especially well today," Bird said of Smits. "He was active he moved well. I was very proud of him. He made a lot of great plays and was very instrumental in helping us win this game."

The other three representatives from the Los Angeles Lakers joined Bryant in double digits for the West. Jones scored 15, Nick Van Exel had 13 and O'Neal finished with 12. David Robinson (15) and Garnett (12) also hit double figures. Gary Payton had a game-high 13 assists, including three feeds to Bryant, his partner in the starting West backcourt.

"I just wanted to help him relax," Payton said. "I told him I'd get him the ball. He was rushing a lot of his shots ... He did a good job. I think he's going to be great."

Bryant's road to greatness is paved with a spectacular tutor.

"I looked at tonight as a learning experience," Bryant said. "As far as carrying the torch for the years to come, I don't know. I just want to be the best basketball player I can be. If that happens, that will be fine."