The All-Star Game's Elam Ending also could be used in the G League and in a midseason tournamentNBAE/GETTY IMAGES
NBA President of League Operations Byron Spruell said it is a "good assumption" that the NBA next season will again use a target score to end the All-Star Game, according to Zach Lowe of ESPN.com. Spruell added that the decision is "not set in stone yet, as league higher-ups have not fully debriefed since Sunday." But Lowe noted there is "real momentum" behind the Elam Ending All-Star Game concept going forward. The NBA will "'discuss' using the target score system in the G League, but any full-scale adaptation there seems unlikely." There is "some concern about making G League play too different from play in the parent league." Spruell said that the "first step might be using the target score system at the annual G League Showcase." The NBA also will "discuss using a target score in the elimination rounds of any midseason tournament," should the BOG at some point "vote in favor of adding one to the league schedule" (ESPN.com, 2/19).
JUST A MATTER OF TIME...: In N.Y., Marc Stein wrote the "real issue here, sadly, is what so many of us loved about that fourth quarter is bound to backfire someday if the league sticks with this new format." Stein: "Just imagine if one of those All-Stars got hurt." The conversation "would have changed so quickly" had any of the players "throwing their body around Sunday night had sustained an injury of any note." Elam Ending scoring will "become the scourge of the league as soon as such intense play leads to an injury" (N.Y. TIMES, 2/19).
