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Over the past few All-Star Games, players received widespread criticism for how their lack of effort impacting the watchability of the event, but this year’s game was notable for the frequent stoppages in play. Players liked the new format of the game, particularly when Candace’s Rising Stars gave Shaq’s OGs a challenging 42-35 game in the semifinals.

The championship game had a nearly 20-minute break to honor the Inside The NBA crew as they broadcast their final All-Star Game.

“To be honest, I didn’t like it at all,” said Trae Young. “I didn’t like the breaks. The games were so short. Obviously, we can score. So, they’re trying to, I feel like, trying to extend the game, extend the TV time with the breaks and things like that.”

“I would rather play without breaks,” Shai Gilgeous-Alexander said. “But I had fun, nonetheless. I feel like it was a little bit more towards the competitive side tonight, which is a good feeling, a step in the right direction. I guess it’s up to the guys that handle all that stuff to figure out what’s next and how to keep making it more and more interesting. Hopefully, we get there one day.”

Added Jaylen Brown: “I would say it’s not ideal to stop like that if you want guys to be physical. I think guys were still out there having fun. All the OGs, team old knees and old backs, we came out on top, so I don’t think anyone else should have had any excuses. It’s definitely not ideal.”

“Once we got into the flow of things, it was pretty good,” Durant said. “The first game we played against the Rising Stars I thought was pretty good.”

A poster at RealGM calculated that there were merely 42 minutes of actual game play during a three-hour telecast.