A Sports Filled Weekend

The NBA All-Star Game on Sunday night in Toronto was simply about scoring. More scoring than ever before in one of these midseason funfests.

The West beat the East 196-173 in the highest scoring All-Star Game ever. The West seemed almost certain in the final two minutes to eclipse 200 points but fell a little bit short. The combined scoring of 369 points broke the old record by 48 points. The Atlanta Hawks’ Paul George led all scorers with 41 points, which included a record nine 3-point baskets. The Oklahoma City Thunders’ Russell Westbrook was the All-Star Game MVP for the second year in a row after scoring 31 points, grabbing eight rebounds, making five steals and dishing out five assists.

Kobe Bryant, who will retire from the Los Angeles Lakers at season’s end, scored 10 points in his final All-Star appearance.

NASCAR

Chase Elliott won the pole for the Daytona 500 at qualifying Sunday. The son of racing legend Bill Elliott is a rookie and he made his mark quickly, becoming the youngest pole-sitter (20) in Daytona 500 history. His father Bill won the race twice. Matt Kenseth finished second. Two more races on Thursday will fill out the field for Sunday’s running of The Great American Race.

GOLF

Vaughn Taylor shot a 7-under 65 on Sunday and won the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am when Phil Mickelson missed a short birdie putt on the 18th hole.

Taylor hasn’t won in more than a decade. Mickelson, who was closing in on a record-tying fifth victory at Pebble Beach, took a two-shot lead into the final round. He made a 12-foot birdie on the 17th hole and needed another on the part-5 18th hole to force a playoff, but his 5-foot putt lipped out.

ELSEWHERE
College basketball rankings will get their weekly shakeup after more than a few upsets. No. 2 Maryland fell 70-57 to Wisconsin on Saturday, ending a 27-game home winning streak. No. 3 Oklahoma absorbed a 76-72 loss at the hands of No. 6 Kansas. No. 7 Virginia lost 63-62 to Duke and No. 13 Louisville fell 71-66 to Notre Dame. … The NHL’s Minnesota Wild fired coach Mike Yeo, who led the team to the playoffs the last three seasons.
 
 
Post By: Larry Weisman, a longtime sportswriter for USA TODAY, blogs for Twistity.com. Follow him on Twitter @MrLarryWeisman