Back again, after bringing you Dwight Howard’s superheroics from Saturday and Daniel Gibson’s Pacman Special from Friday, for tonight’s running diary of the main event: the ‘08 NBA All-Star Game. Check in during the pre-game and the actual game for constant updates…

PRE-GAME

After yesterday’s debacle trying to get into the building, tonight I showed up a little earlier. I’m in my seat on press row about 45 minutes before gametime. Some of the West All-Stars are shooting around on the court: Allen Iverson (see, he does practice), Yao, Boozer, Brandon Roy, David West, Amare and ‘Melo are all getting shots up. West seems content working on Duncan-esque bankers near the baseline. Iverson is for some reason taking baseline jumpers from slightly behind the backboard. Amare is hoisting threes from almost half-court. Dirk and Steve Nash show up eventually. Chris Paul’s on the floor, too, but as he has been all weekend, he’s tied up doing interviews.

George Gervin, David Robinson and Jerome “JYD” Williams are wandering around the court area schmoozing with folks.

I just got word from some of the Dime crew that their shuttle bus driver got lost, went over a bridge and may or may not be in Baton Rouge right now.

Rob Nice, who apparently works for the Hornets and has been the MC for all of this weekend’s on-court events, just welcomed the fans. He’s the guy who had everyone confused last night when he kept saying there was going to be one more dunk in the Dunk Contest after Dwight Howard and Gerald Green had done their final dunks.

Eighteen minutes before tip, and the Western Conference team emerges from the locker room to T.I.’s “What You Know.” Everyone tosses stuff (I’m assuming balled-up shirts) into the crowd. The East comes out to more T.I. (”Bring ‘Em Out”) and tosses stuff.

Layup lines. Nothing special going on, except I notice the West team’s rebound line is set up right under the basket. That’s unusual. No one on the East team is dunking — not even Dwight.

There might be more people standing around the court than in the stands right now. It’s a zoo.

Does anyone notice or care that, including next year’s game, it’ll be six straight Western Conference cities hosting All-Star? Starting in ‘04 it’s been L.A., Denver, Houston, Las Vegas, New Orleans and Phoenix in ‘09.

The area where the players will be introduced is set up to look like one of the patios that overlook the Mardi Gras parade. Should be pretty cool when it’s all lit up and the stars are up there.

Kevin Garnett, Doc Rivers and Byron Scott held press conferences before the game. (No love for Caron Butler?) Asked if it’s been hard for him to watch the Timberwolves struggle, KG said, “It’s not difficult at all. I’m not a part of that organization anymore, so it’s not difficult at all. Obviously I have personal friends there that I talk to every now and then. But no, no personal feelings at all.”

Byron Scott said, “I was given the orders as well to play [Kobe] as little as possible. So our discussions basically came down to him playing the first three or four minutes of the game, and then basically getting him out for the entire rest of the first half and the entire second half.” Kobe is out here warming up.

Still warming up, Dwight tries to get Joe Johnson on a crossover, then puts his hand on J.J.’s head AND 1-style to get space and brick a three. Ray Allen is wet from three, not missing very often.

The court is cleared and people are setting up at the player-intro stage. The clock says we’re 11 minutes from tip. And we have to be close, because they’re playing “Let’s Get it Started” in the arena. That’s like standard now, isn’t it?

The arena goes dark and they play some audio clips of All-Star Games past. Then we get Chris Rock’s intro on the scoreboard. “LeBron James is only 23 years old, and he’s been dominating the League for like TWELVE YEARS!”

Harry Connick Jr. and Branford Marsalis welcome the fans again, and from where I sit I can see their teleprompter. The Mardi Gras patio lights up and it looks like there’s a party going on with a jazz band playing.

The East reserves and coaches (plus Caron and KG) line up on the steps. Huge ovation for KG when he’s introduced. Not much noise made for Joe Johnson. Big-time ovations for Paul Pierce and Rasheed, who’s dancing the entire time.

The starters come out. D-Wade, Dwight Howard and LeBron are dancing, of course. Chris Bosh and Jason Kidd sit this one out. When LeBron threw up the Roc, one of the media-types sitting in front of me threw it up, too. OK, dude. Dwight is introduced as Dwight “Superman” Howard.

The West team comes out to a bigger ovation than the East. The trainers and assistants are also from the Hornets and get huge cheers. What up, Kenny Gattison and Darrell Walker. HUMONGOUS ovation for Byron Scott and even louder for Chris Paul. Monster pop for David West as well. My man Brandon Roy (206!) looks almost overwhelmed by the whole thing.

The starters don’t dance no mo’. Mix of boos and cheers for Kobe. Guess the fans don’t like that he’s not gonna play much, or it could be the fact that Kobe has a love/hate thing with fans in every city. None of the West starters got nearly as much love as the Hornets crew.

Deborah Cox sings the most soulful rendition of “Oh Canada” I’ve ever heard. That’s followed up by an amazing jazz trio (vocalist, sax, bass) version of the “Star-Spangled Banner.”

When the teams were lined up, I realized that KG is the tallest guy on the East by far. He looks like he’s a good 7-foot-1. Chris Tucker and T.O. are back in the same courtside seats they had last night. T.O.’s outfit is extra-sparkley. Apparently we’re not gonna get Jay-Z and Beyonce this year, although Jay was apparently in town for a party last night.

FIRST QUARTER

The West unis are white in the front, gold in the back with red trim. The East had blue in front, silver in back with red trim.

D-Wade opens the scoring with a breakaway dunk, then LeBron hits Dwight for a nasty alley-oop. On the other end, Yao has his hook shot demolished by Dwight. Is the East trying to win this thing?

Kidd leaves it for a trailing Bosh to walk right down Canal Street and dunk. Nice D, Yao. Duncan and ‘Melo get on the board for the West, but then Bosh dunks right in front of Yao again. 8-4, East.

Kobe is super un-involved in the West offense. He’s barely touched the ball. At the 9:13 mark, Iverson gets fouled and Steve Nash checks in for Kobe. I get the feeling he’s done for the evening.

David Thompson’s in the building, as is Dominique.

LeBron goes backdoor and gets a lob from Kidd. ‘Bron looked like his chest was at rim-level on that one. Kidd then tries to go off the glass for Dwight, but there’s too much congestion in the lane. That’s why you have to bring back guys like Kidd and Nash — and going forward, Chris Paul — in All-Star Games. Point guards make the thing entertaining.

D-Wade gets another underwhelming breakaway basket. He’s just been off all weekend, highlighted by that terrible Skills Challenge performance. He seems to be losing his smile.

Bosh puts a move on Yao that loses the big man, but CB4 barely catches iron on the finger roll. He comes back on the next possession with another dunk, then takes about three and a half steps on a breakaway dunk. He’s your early MVP with 8 points.

The Pistons all check in at the same time, replacing D-Wade, Bosh and Kidd. At the first timeout it’s 18-9 East with 5:54 left in the first quarter. Kobe has his right hand wrapped in ice and towels. He’s definitely done.

Bill Russell is here. Do you think he ever puts on all 11 rings (two on one finger) just because he can? Does he rotate which ones he wears out in public? What’s the system of deciding on the one he’s going with? If I ever get to interview Bill Russell, I’m asking him that.

Paul Pierce and Antawn Jamison are in the game, replacing Dwight and LeBron. So it’s Pierce, Jamison and the Pistons. The West starters (minus Kobe, plus Nash) are still on the floor, but Amare is about to come in, I’m assuming, for Yao. It’s nice to see that Yao isn’t completely exhausted all the time this season like he used to be.

Nice little two-man game between Nash and Duncan leads to a Nash brick. On the next dead ball, Dirk and Amare get Duncan and Yao. Kobe’s on the bench, no longer with the ice.

Amare gets a dunk underneath, then A.I. steals the inbounds, toes the sideline and throws an oop for Amare. It’s a little high, though, and STAT can’t convert. On the next possession A.I. tries to hit Amare with a touch pass, but Amare didn’t see it coming in time. They don’t seem to have the best chemistry.

Pierce wets a three and Amare scores inside, then A.I. and Dirk miscommunicate and create a turnover. TV timeout with 2:10 left in the first and the East up 26-19. Iverson is putting on his shooting shirt, so I presume he’ll be out when play resumes.

Now on the floor: Chris Paul, David West, Dirk, Amare and Nash. West cuts through some less-than-inspired defense by Rasheed and Jamison for a dunk that gets the crowd amped.

Pierce hits a couple jumpers, answered back by Dirk and Amare hitting a three. Except for Amare, there’s no one on the floor who’s gonna catch a sick dunk. The coaches need to think about this kind of stuff.

Chauncey posts up Nash, then hits Rip on the baseline for a jumper over Amare. Which makes me realize that I think the Pistons would definitely knock off the Suns in a Finals matchup.

End of the first quarter, the East leads 34-28. Still no PT for Boozer, Ray Allen, Joe Johnson or Brandon Roy.

SECOND QUARTER

Deion Sanders is in the house. Archie Manning is also here (sitting in front of the Colangelos) and gets a huge ovation. Deion took part in a “NOLA Knowledge” contest, and on a multiple-choice question he said, “I’ll say None of the ‘Bove.”

Lineup for the West: Dirk, Roy, West, Paul and Amare. For the East it’s Joe Johnson, LeBron, Kidd, Ray and Dwight.

B-Roy wastes little time, scoring on his first two touches. OK, Seattle! In case you didn’t know, we put out ballplayers: B-Roy, Jamal Crawford, Nate Robinson, Martell Webster, Rodney Stuckey, Aaron Brooks, Spencer Hawes … I’ll give us Marvin Williams, too, even though he’s from Bremerton.

Kidd finds LeBron wide open underneath, who’s not used to being that open and takes a while to get up for a dunk. CP then puts a sky-high floater in off the glass. Roy scores again a couple of possessions later, answered right back by a Ray three.

On a switch, Dirk ends up being guarded by future teammate (?) Jason Kidd. Dirk tries to get past Kidd with a pump fake and drive but it doesn’t work. I know some people don’t like the Mavs trying to get Kidd if it means giving up Devin Harris, but I say you have to take your shot at the championship when it presents itself. Harris is nice, but is he worth taking a chance on when you know Kidd is more likely going to get you a ring?

Boozer checks in for Dirk, so now everyone’s gotten to play. On the next timeout, Kobe’s giving everyone dap with his left hand.

E-mail from the stands from Dime’s Editorial Director, Pat Cassidy, who’s sitting with some of our pals from the NBA: “I mean, I know he played here and all, but Archie Manning gets twice the ovation that Bill Russell does?” Pat also informs me that there’s a kid sitting near him with a Celtics Allan Ray jersey on. Not Ray Allen, but Villanova’s own Allan Ray.

Also, ‘Melo apparently switched shoes after the first timeout. I’m still holding out hope ‘Melo puts on the Dime Melo M4’s. Nothing wrong with free pub.

CP and Boozer hook up for an alley-oop. You think Deron Williams is jealous? Roy follows that up with a three. He’s now got 9 points and 3 boards.

Crazy sequence: Kidd tosses an oop for LeBron, who can’t convert but turns it into a dunk for Dwight. Then CP hits Amare with an oop. Then Dwight returns the favor, lobbing it to LeBron for a dunk. And I think I may have missed a crazy dunk in there somewhere. Dwight is going to injure a finger on a dunk one day — if he hasn’t already.

A couple plays later, CP and Roy are all alone on a break. CP goes off the glass but B-Roy can’t finish the dunk. I just had a feeling he wasn’t gonna make that. That’s not really his game.

During a commercial break, Alyssa Milano is being interviewed and she’s asked how New Orleans looks today. Instead of answering truthfully (that some of the city is still f’d up), she gracefully ducks the question and says New Orleans is the heart and soul of America.

T.O. is shown on the scoreboard and booed. Loudly. What did he ever do to the Saints? Speaking of people who no one seems to like, what would happen if O.J. Simpson showed up at a big event? How vicious would the boos be? Would they even show him on the big screen? He might not make it out of the building alive if they did, and you know everyone sitting near him would get tired of all the beer and ketchup being tossed at them.

Rasheed takes a three left-handed and bricks. Next time down he goes righty and misses again. He looks so enthused to be here. It’s 64-57 East with 2:39 left in the half. In final minute of the half, Rasheed takes another lefty three, this time making it.

Kobe’s wearing some kind of black half-glove looking thing on his right hand. From my angle he looks like Captain Hook. Is he really gonna sit on the bench the whole game? Last year when A.I. was hurt, he was ghost well before halftime.

Halftime, 74-65 East. Who’s the halftime show again? It’ll be hard to top Toni Braxton and Christina Aguilera from last year. OK, looks like we’re getting Harry Connick Jr. I was holding out hope for Lil’ Wayne and Birdman, or maybe Juvenile. Better yet, how about a Cash Money Millionaires reunion? As long as it’s not Romeo, I’m good.

Haltime stats: LeBron and Dwight have 12 points apiece, plus 7 dimes and 6 boards for LeBron. Dwight also has 3 steals. B-Roy has 11 points and 5 boards, while Amare and ‘Melo have scored 10 apiece.

THIRD QUARTER

To start the half the West have Nash, Iverson, ‘Melo, Duncan and Yao. The East has Wade, Kidd, LeBron, Dwight and Bosh. Wade opens the scoring again, this time with one of his signature slap-himself-on-the-wrist over-the-head shots. Does he do that slap to put a certain spin on the ball, or to create noise for a foul call?

Duncan and Dwight play volleyball at the rim, with ‘Melo getting involved for a sec. Then Yao takes a three and misses, which ‘Melo turns into a putback dunk. Does Melo ever hang on the rim?

Iverson changes shoes at halftime, going from a red/gold pair to a blue/silver pair. I like ‘em. Dwight muscles through Duncan and Yao for a dunk, and the PA system plays a second of Soulja Boy for him. I think he’s officially got a new nickname. I predict someone’s gonna put Howard on the cover of a magazine dressed like Superman in the next couple of months.

D-Wade hits a fadeaway over Nash that was very Jordan-ish. Then LeBron hits a fadeaway over Nash. The East should just attack Nash if they wanna keep this lead.

Yao takes another three. Air-ball. LeBron follows that up with an easy alley-oop. Then for the second time tonight, Bosh draws contact under the rim and yells “OH!” right into the court mics.

Ray Allen steals Rajon Rondo’s fake behind-the-back move and gets and and-one.

I think Doc Rivers is liking my idea. Paul Pierce takes Nash in the post, but misses a jumper, then Joe Johnson drives on Nash to set up Ray for a three. This is like Project Exposure. It’s 98-87 East with 4:34 left in the third.

I think that’s Ludacris sitting courtside, and I think he’s digging into some … salad?

Hustle by the hometown squad: West battles amongst three East bigs trying to get a shot off underneath (he can’t), then CP hits the deck trying to take a charge from Pierce (he doesn’t).

‘Sheed takes another three. Would it kill him to go inside every now and then? I will never understand how Vince Carter constantly gets killed for “settling” for jumpers when Rasheed — who’s like 6 inches taller — gets a free pass.

With 1:26 left in the third, it’s 104-93 East. Boozer’s gold and red shoes are gaudy as hell but kinda nice.

Seriously, what did the NBA gain from having Kobe get introduced, start, then play an uneventful three minutes of ball before retiring for the night? They should have just let Kobe sit out and had someone (Deron, Baron Davis, etc.) replace him. Deron was already in New Orleans anyway. Make him a jersey and get on with it rather than leaving the West essentially short-handed (OK, I know the game doesn’t matter) and having one less guy out there for the fans to watch.

Kobe’s still here, by the way, with the Captain Hook glove.

Pierce milks the clock down for the last shot of the quarter, with David West playing about 15 feet off of him. Pierce bricks the jumper. It’s 106-93 at the end of three with the East on top.

FOURTH QUARTER

Nothing exciting for three minutes, then Amare drove on Dwight and crowned him something fierce. Next possession, CP does something unnatural with the ball and hits Boozer for a swing-on-the-rim dunk. 108-103 East with 8:43 left in the ballgame.

Ric Bucher looks like he’s on Kobe patrol. He’s been lurking around behind the West bench all night.

Jet Li is here. I’m guessing he could kick everyone in the building’s ass. Well, except maybe Caron Butler. And I know Floyd Mayweather has been here all week, but I don’t know if he’s at the game. Floyd and his Philthy Rich crew seemed to have the Foot Locker on Canal Street locked down all weekend.

Duncan passes to Amare for another monster dunk (Dwight doesn’t get in the way this time), then LeBron and Dirk trade three-pointers. CP rips the ball out of Bosh’s hands and hits B-Roy for an alley-oop. CP almost gets another steal, but goes careening out of bounds and almost kills Jason Kidd, who was waiting to check in.

Kidd is guarding Dirk again. This time Dirk spins on him in the post and scores. The next time down they go to Dirk again and he misses a fadeaway over Kidd.

The West takes the lead on a Duncan basket, 114-112. Paul has a chance to extend it but misses a finger roll in the lane. On the East’s next possession, LeBron is iso’d on Chris Paul but air-balls a three. Timeout, and it’s the West ahead with 5:34 to play.

Taylor Hicks is brought out for another NOLA Knowledge quiz. This time it’s “Po’ Boy.” Kobe guess that it’s “A sandwich with no money.” Yao guesses it’s “A troublemaker.” Awfully presumptuous of you, Yao. That’s a stereotype.

Chris Paul goes for another layup but LeBron swats it. Which reminds me that Josh Smith would have turned this game out. The East tie it up on a bucket by Dwight, then LeBron gives them the lead with a reverse layup. Ray Allen plays some bad post D on Dirk and allows Dirk a dunk to tie it back up. The game is actually getting competitive now, and right as I write that, LeBron almost takes out David Robinson while going for a loose ball.

Roy hits a cutting Amare, who gets hammered by still gets the bucket. He misses the free throw, then Ray Allen sticks a three on the other end to put the East back up. CP answers with a jumper and B-Roy gets a layup to make it 122-119 with 2:30 left. Paul has like 14 assists.

Ray rattles in a three to tie it up, then sticks another one to put the East up by three with just under two minutes left. Didn’t I say he was hot in warm-ups?

Quick stat check shows that LeBron has 25 points, Dwight had 16 and 8 boards, and Ray has 14 points. Amare and Melo have 18 points apiece, while CP has 11 points, 13 dimes and 4 steals. Boozer has a double-double with 14 and 10.

Is the Bucks’ mascot really named Bango?

1:49 left coming out of the timeout. Chris Paul hits a three over Kidd to tie it up at 125-all, then Ray misses on the other end. LeBron pokes the ball away from Duncan for a steal, then drives on Amare and crushes on one Dirk.

West ball, and Chris Paul clobbers Ray on a screen with about 40 seconds left. He’s called for the foul, and D-Wade gets an and-one on Brandon Roy to make it a four-point game with 35.8 ticks remaining. B-Roy was legit pissed at the call.

Wade blocks a three attempt by Dirk (amazing play), leading to a Ray three. It looks to be over, but B-Roy hits a three to keep the West alive with 8.2 seconds left. This is actually pretty exciting.

Then again, they had to send Ray Allen to the line, and you can guess how that goes. Bong, BRICK (shocking), but the East get it back, up by four with 6.8 seconds left. They foul Ray with 1.8 seconds left after Dirk swung and missed at Kidd. Ray hits both freebies this time and that’s your game. 134-128, East. I’d say LeBron is your MVP.

Wow, I just noticed that Darrell Walker is wearing a black blazer with red checker-board pinstripes. Not enough to make him the Black Craig Sager, but still a little questionable.

Final stats:
Kidd — 2 points, 10 assists, 4 steals.
Wade — 14 points, 1 huge block.
Bosh — 14 points, 7 boards.
LeBron — 27 points, 8 boards, 9 dimes, MVP.
Superman — 16 points, 9 boards, 3 steals.
Ray — 28 points, 5 threes.
Rasheed — 3 points, 1-for-5, all threes.
Billups — 6 points, 4 assists.
Rip — 9 points.
Pierce — 10 points, 4 boards.
Jamison — 2 points, 12 minutes (lowest number aside from Kobe).

Iverson — 7 points, 6 dimes, 4 steals, 7 turnovers.
Kobe — 0 points, 0 shots, 3 minutes.
Duncan — 4 points, 9 boards.
‘Melo — 18 points, 7 boards.
Yao — 6 points, 5 boards.
Seattle’s Finest — 18 points, 9 boards, 5 assists.
CP — 16 points, 14 dimes, 4 steals.
Dirk — 13 points, 4 boards.
Amare — 18 points, 5 boards.
Nash — 8 points, 6 dimes.
Boozer — 14 points, 10 boards.
David West — 6 points.