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.

Kyle Kuzma holds the trophy aloft after his MVP performance in the NBA Rising Stars game

British starlet OG Anunoby, who plays for the Toronto Raptors, showed his skills in Charlotte

Luka Doncic of the Dallas Mavericks was the star attraction for the world team on Friday night

Boston Celtics’ Kyrie Irving bossed the touchline as he coached the American team for the tie

It was an end-to-end game between the sides with 25 dunks finished in the first half of action

‘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. 

Kuzma, scoring a dunk, admitted afterwards that losing last year was harnessed as motivation

The bonus of $25,000 also acted as a reminder to players what was on the line for a victory

‘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.

‘I want us to share the ball and not one guy dribble it 20 times and hoist something up – like Luka does with the Mavs,’ Nowitzki said, laughing a bit at his own joke.

Irving’s message was succinct. ‘Just have some fun,’ Irving said. ‘It’s OK to compete.’

Doncic talked Phoenix’s DeAndre Ayton out of taking the opening tip for the world team, with the young Mavericks star jumping against Fox instead of having either center handle the honors. 

Dallas Mavericks star Dirk Nowitzki went through plays with the world squad during a time-out

There was pressure on Doncic to deliver under Nowitzki’s guidance but he was all smiles

Young was throwing an alley-oop lob to Atlanta team-mate John Collins for a 360-degree dunk in one possession, then crossing over Josh Okogie in almost comical fashion on the next.

‘We gotta play some defense,’ Mitchell implored teammates at one point. It was unclear if anyone ever actually listened to his plea.

There was one foul called in the entire first half, Markkanen getting whistled for it with 4:13 remaining until half-time. The first half saw 25 dunks and 20 three-pointers in 20 minutes – the sides playing 10-minute quarters. Late in the half, Collins flashed a crossover dribble, then underhand-tossed a pass off the backboard to himself for a dunk that had players on both sides reacting in mock disbelief. 

This was the fifth year of the US vs. World format; the World now leads the all-time series, 3-2.

All 10 players on the world team hailed from a different nation, and four different continents were represented. And eight of the players in this year’s game were also in last year’s event – Mitchell, Collins, Tatum, Kuzma and Fox for the US; Markkanen, Simmons and 2018 game MVP Bogdan Bogdanovic were repeaters for the World side. 

Irving barely sat down during the game as he barked instructions at his talented young side

Donovan Mitchell showed his class at the end as he gave his match shoes to a young supporter

Nowitzki and the world coaching staff from the Denver Nuggets largely stayed seated the whole game, while Irving worked the sideline like an actual NBA coach would – even running time-outs, working alongside the Milwaukee Bucks’ staff. 

Brooklyn’s D’Angelo Russell, Phoenix’s Devin Booker and San Antonio’s Danny Green were at the game, and Minnesota’s Karl-Anthony Towns was courtside in a world jersey to represent for Okogie, his Timberwolves teammate. 

A pre-game moment of silence was held immediately before the Canadian and US national anthems in honor of the victims of the shooting in the Chicago suburb of Aurora, Illinois earlier on Friday.