sport news Kyle Kuzma steals the show for Team USA in NBA Rising Stars game as British ...

When the likes of the Los Angeles Lakers' Kyle Kuzma, Philadelphia's Ben Simmons and Boston's Jayson Tatum get to the NBA All-Star Game, this much is clear. They'll be ready.

Dunks, lay-ups, 3-pointers and little else. That was the play-sheet for the Rising Stars game on Friday night, one where Kuzma led all scorers with 35 points on the way to MVP honors and the US team defeating the World squad 161-144.

Tatum added 30 points for the US as the teams combined for 37 three-pointers, 55 dunks and shot a combined 12 free throws.

'Last year, the World team kicked our butts,' Kuzma said. 'They came in here and beat us by 30. A lot of us kind of remembered that.' It was 31, actually - 155-124, not that it matters.

Tatum added 30 points in the game for first and second-year players that was known for years as the Rookie Game. Atlanta's Trae Young finished with 25 points and 10 assists, Sacramento's De'Aaron Fox had 15 assists and Utah's Donovan Mitchell added 20 points, nine assists and seven rebounds.

Everyone looked happy afterward. The US squad had a bit more reason to look that way. 

'There's a $25,000 bonus for winning the game,' Kuzma said. 'So that's good.'

Philadelphia's Simmons led the world team with 28 points while Chicago Bulls' Lauri Markkanen had 21 points and Dallas Mavericks' Luka Doncic had 13 points and nine assists of his own.

Both teams shot 55 per cent but the difference was on three-point shots - the US team were 21 for 51, while the world squad went 16 for 52.

The mood from the outset was predictably light, even including the pre-game speeches from US coach Kyrie Irving of the Boston Celtics and world coach Dirk Nowitzki of the Dallas Mavericks.

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