SAN FRANCISCO — The winning total last year: 211 points.

The winning total this year: 41 points.

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An All-Star Game like none other — since it was three games, not one — still had plenty of flash and not a lot of fire. And in the end, Boston’s Jayson Tatum had the dunk that decided a crown.

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The 2025 #NBAAllStar Champions… Shaq’s OGs! pic.twitter.com/sPVcE39WAC

— NBA (@NBA) February 17, 2025

Shaq’s OGs won the first All-Star mini-tournament in NBA history on Sunday night, getting 15 points from Tatum and 12 from Stephen Curry — three of them on a half-court shot, the sort of highlight the All-Star Game is known for — to beat Chuck’s Global Stars 41-25 in the final.

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Curry was the MVP on his home floor at Chase Center, where he and the Golden State Warriors play. He said the weekend was “a celebration of a lot of great things.”

“It’s obviously our responsibility to come out and put on a show,” Curry said, flanked by his fellow OGs. “And I thank them for helping me do that.”

The title game was basically over early, and the halftime show — an 18-minute tribute to TNT — lasted longer than the game did. The Global Stars started the title game 0 for 10 from the field, 0 for 6 from 3-point range and fell into a quick 11-0 hole.

In a regular NBA game, that’s no big deal. In a first-to-40 game against some of the best players on the planet, that’s a problem.

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San Antonio’s Victor Wembanyama led the Global Stars with 11 points in the final. He was visibly frustrated when Tatum scored the title-clinching basket.

Wembanyama came into his All-Star debut saying he would play hard, like a real game. And he did.

“To me, that is the only way to play basketball,” Wembanyama said.

It was the debut of the All-Star mini-tournament format: four teams, three games, with only 40 points needed to end each contest.

The league opted for the untimed, short games with hopes that asking All-Stars to play fewer minutes would lead to better competition. Last year’s game in Indianapolis had a 211-186 final score, setting a slew of records but prompting the league to take action after years of urging players to take the exhibition a bit more seriously.

And no, there wasn’t exactly a playoff-type intensity. Or at least, not much of it.

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“I think they’re just looking for a more competitive game and trying to find ways to create that,” said Milwaukee’s Damian Lillard, who helped Shaq’s OGs to the title. “I thought tonight was a little bit more competitive than it had been in past years.”

There were some less-than-serious efforts the likes of which have been seen in past years — underhand lobs from half-court, for example, and a whole lot of interjection from on-court emcee Kevin Hart — but there was at least some defense played. Phoenix’s Kevin Durant argued for a foul late in his team’s first semifinal win, and probably merited a call that would have sent him to the line for what could have been a game-winning free throw.

The first two-shot foul of the night came early in the title game. Denver’s Nikola Jokic of the Global Stars missed both shots.

“I just wanted tonight to be fun,” Curry said. “I think it was fun.”

It was fun for the winners, for certain: Dallas’ Kyrie Irving of the OGs carried the All-Star trophy into the Global Stars’ locker room after the game.

“Y’all good?” Irving playfully asked the runners-up. They booed him.

Injury report

The OGs were without LeBron James, who was ruled out earlier Sunday because of ongoing left foot and ankle discomfort. James was not replaced on the roster, meaning the OGs had seven players available.

Anthony Edwards didn’t play for Kenny’s Young Stars because of a groin issue.

The name game

The three teams of 24 NBA All-Stars were drafted by TNT analysts Shaquille O’Neal, Charles Barkley and Kenny Smith. The fourth team — Candace’s Rising Stars, which earned its way into the All-Star tournament by winning the Rising Stars event Friday night — was named for another TNT analyst, Candace Parker.

The OGs got into the final with a win over Candace’s Rising Stars, while the Global Stars beat Kenny’s Young Stars in the first semifinal.

Semifinal 1: Global Stars 41, Young Stars 32

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander of Oklahoma City scored 12 points, including the clinching basket, and Chuck’s Global Stars advanced to the title game by beating Kenny’s Young Stars.

Wembanyama and New York’s Karl-Anthony Towns each had six points for the Global Stars. Cleveland teammates Darius Garland and Evan Mobley, along with Miami’s Tyler Herro, each had six points for the Young Stars. Edwards was a last-second scratch with a groin issue.

“My groin’s been messed up for a little minute,” said Edwards, who had been listed as a starter for the first semifinal. He added that with the short warmup before Game 1, he didn’t think there was time to test it out and see if he could go.

“You always want to play,” Edwards said. “But when they put two minutes on the clock for warmup, I didn’t get no time to warm up my groin and it was all bad.”

Semifinal 2: Shaq’s OGs 42, Candace’s Rising Stars 35

Lillard scored nine points, including the 3-pointer to push his team past the target score, and the OGs survived.

The Rising Stars — a team of first- and second-year players — weren’t an easy out against a roster with a combined 86 All-Star appearances and $2.7 billion in on-court earnings. There were nine lead changes and five ties.

Curry scored eight points for the OGs, while the Los Angeles Lakers’ Dalton Knecht and Phoenix’s Ryan Dunn each had eight for the Rising Stars.

Up next

Next season’s All-Star weekend — Feb. 13-15, 2026 — will be headquartered at Intuit Dome, the Los Angeles Clippers’ new home in Inglewood, California.