Starting 5, Feb. 15: 75th NBA All-Star Game tips today with new U.S. vs. World format
All-Star Sunday arrives at the Intuit Dome with a fresh structure and plenty of momentum. The 75th NBA All-Star Game hits the court at 5: 00 p. m. ET, capped by a winner-take-all championship following a round-robin semifinal slate. Saturday’s exhibitions — a record-tying 3-Point Contest victory for Damian Lillard and a show-stopping dunk by Keshad Johnson — set the stage for a distinctly global celebration of the sport.
New U. S. vs. World format reshapes the midseason showcase
This year the weekend debuts a three-team setup: USA Stars, USA Stripes and Team World. The day opens with a round-robin of 12-minute games — each team will play at least two games, and the two teams with the best records advance to a one-game, winner-take-all final. If teams finish tied in the round-robin, point differential will decide who moves on. The structure is designed to compress the action and spotlight both emerging American talent and the sport’s global stars.
USA Stars leans young and athletic, anchored by veteran scoring punch and multiple players 25 or younger. USA Stripes offers a different mix of experienced American All-Stars, while Team World stitches together international size and creativity, led on paper by two of the game’s most unique bigs. Expect a fast, unpredictable pace as styles clash and rotations get tested in short bursts.
Pre-game notes include a scheduled All-Star press conference from LeBron James at 2: 30 p. m. ET. The league’s annual weekend gatherings also featured a commissioner presser on Saturday afternoon, adding a ceremonial tone to the celebrations ahead of tipoff.
Saturday’s events delivered storylines and spectacle
All-Star Saturday continued the pageantry that defines midseason weekend. Damian Lillard, who is sidelined for the season with a torn Achilles, nonetheless returned to the court and captured a record-tying third 3-Point Contest title. The win extended the veteran’s legacy in the shooting showcase and handed fans a memorable moment despite his absence from regular-season play.
The dunk exhibition produced its share of jaw-dropping athleticism as Keshad Johnson soared in the slam contest, grabbing headlines with an emphatic finish and reminding viewers why the aerial showcase remains a staple. The Shooting Stars event, a multi-player accuracy relay that replaced the prior skills showcase, brought additional variety to the night and tapped into cross-generational storylines by pairing current players with retired stars and college standouts.
Those exhibitions set the tone for Sunday: big plays, quick runs and the kind of highlight-driven sequences that play well in a compact game format.
What to watch tonight
Key things to monitor include how coaches manage minutes and rotations in 12-minute bursts, which bench pieces seize the short windows to alter momentum, and which team adapts quickest to the tournament rhythm. Individual matchups of note feature younger guards from USA Stars against the length and spacing of Team World’s international frontcourt, and how veteran American wings in USA Stripes impose themselves in clutch moments.
The early 5: 00 p. m. ET start shifts the All-Star crown into prime positioning ahead of other major winter programming, and the compressed format should produce a rapid-fire finish. For fans, the night is a mix of spectacle and competitive intrigue: a celebration of shooting, slams and global talent with a concise, trophy-deciding finale to close out the 75th edition.
