WASHINGTON -- Vince Carter turned the corner on the baseline,
got past Kobe Bryant and then took off. Once in air, he did a
360-degree spin before slamming the ball through the basket.
On a day of dunks, this was one to remember.
|  | | Vince Carter's jumper's knee condition didn't slow him, as he had 16 points and several monster jams. |
So was the marquee matchup of two of the NBA's young superstars
in the NBA All-Star Game on Sunday.
"I was just out there having fun," Carter said.
Kobe and Vince didn't guard each other the entire game. But
watching Bryant in his bright yellow shoes challenge Carter and
vice versa when they were face-to-face was a treat for the fans in the MCI Center.
Bryant found out early on that Carter was going to make him
work.
"When I caught the ball I told Vince, I said: 'Man, you are
going to make me start playing for real,"' Bryant said.
"Because he was pressuring me. And I kind of had it in cruise
control a little because my shoulder was aching. I said, 'You are
going to make me start going to the basket, back up, I'm trying to
cool out over here. I'm trying to rest."'
Bryant finished with 19 points and hit three consecutive baskets in
the stretch as the West tried to hold off an East rally.
Carter and the East couldn't be cooled off in the final quarter,
outscoring the West 41-21 to win 111-110.
Bryant, who considered skipping the game because of a sore
shoulder and elbow, had a chance for a final shot to win but
instead passed the ball to Tim Duncan.
Carter then blocked Duncan's shot to preserve the victory.
"I was just reading the defense. I wasn't thinking about
anything else, not about the fans, not about the end of the game,"
Bryant said.
"I had an opportunity at a shot, but I was thinking Tim had a
better look. He was sitting there in the corner and I thought he
was going to be able to catch it and shoot it, so I gave the ball
up to him."
Carter, who won the 2000 slam dunk contest but skipped the event this
year because of a sore knee, didn't look like he was
hurting. He had another spectacular windmill slam that brought the
fans out of their seats.
Carter, who finished with 16 points on 7-for-18 shooting, wasn't
surprised Bryant didn't take the final shot.
"He was heavily guarded," he said.
Bryant also had seven assists Sunday, while shooting 9-for-17
from the field with some rim rattling dunks of his own.
"The shoulder bothered me a little bit, but it wasn't as bad as
it was before the weekend started," Bryant said.
"You can blame David Robinson for my shoulder aching a little
bit. Because during a timeout, he went, 'They're doing all the
dunks, come on Kobe you got to do a dunk, you got to do something.
And I went, 'OK."'
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AUDIO VIDEO
 Vince Carter drives the lane and finishes with a 360 spin and a jam.
avi: 657 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
 Kobe Bryant explains why he passed up the final shot of the game.
wav: 165 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
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