10:18 - A couple minutes into the third, and the West is cruising 89-65. I suppose that shouldn't surprise too much, since the Western Conference is superior to the East this year by a fairly wide margin. At least, against most teams that aren't the Hawks, who just went 3-1 against them in the last week or so. Ok, so I know we still aren't in the same class as many of the Western teams, but we are 9-11 against them on the season. All things considered, that's really not so bad.

10:23 - Amare Stoudemire has eight points already in the quarter, giving him 19 on the game. Look out for him for MVP honors. Why am I so obsessed with that? I don't know. But I do know this - he and McGrady are both wearing #1 jerseys in this game. I guess it doesn't matter, but having had to do basketball stats a few times in my life, I can tell you that is an unnecessary complication.

10:25 - Ha! Right as I say that, Stoudemire hits a jumper, and the PA announcer goes, "Basket by Trace..." followed by Stoudemire giving him a look. Hey, you want your name pronounced when you score, wear a jersey number no one else has.

10:35 - The West is killing the East right now, 110-78. I can only help but think that if JJ was playing more, they'd only be down by like 24 or so.

10:38 - Shaq gets another basket, giving him 8 points. This won't be an All-Star game though until he launches a three.

10:39 - The East has two #32s on the court - Shaq and Rip Hamilton. In case you cared.

10:42 - The third quarter comes to an end, with the West in control 119-88. They say the fourth quarter is when the game gets serious, but somehow I doubt that will be the case tonight. They are honoring Magic Johnson during the break between quarters, which also reminds me of his final All-Star appearance when he went one-on-one with Isiah and others on his way to MVP honors. They need to do more of that kind of stuff I think. Like Shaq trying to take someone off the dribble. Really Shaq doing just about anything will amuse me, probably.