Kyrie Irving was perfect from long distance, knocking down 7-of-8 shots and all four threes he attempted to finished the first half with 18 points and help give Team Chuck a 77-65 lead over Team Shaq at halftime of the 2012 BBVA Rising Stars Challenge on Friday night at Amway Center in Orlando, FL.
Led by a strong start from DeMarcus Cousins, Team Chuck jumped out to a quick 10-2 lead. Cousins had 11 of his team's first 19 points, and at one point, Team Chuck had as many points in the paint (24) as Team Shaq had points (23). Also, Evan Turner started strong for Team Chuck and had 12 points on a perfect 6-of-6 shooting with seven rebounds.
Being an All-Star game, there wasn't much play calling. Plenty of full court heaves, tons of dunks. Also, some missed dunks (looking at you Marshon Brooks). You know the drill.
Of course, the two biggest names in the game this year were Jeremy Lin and Blake Griffin (both on Team Shaq). We did get a Lin-to-Griffin alley-oop early on, but for the most part, the two weren't heard from much in the opening half, as Shaq was saving them for later.
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