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MVP Durant drops in 36, East All-Stars hold off West, 152-149

Feb 27, 2012, 5:03 GMT

Los Angeles - Kevin Durant won the hardware, Kobe Bryant set the record and the West All-Stars survived the East.

Durant poured 36 points to capture the NBA All-Star Game Most Valuable Player trophy while Bryant had 27 to pass Michael Jordan as the all-time scoring leader and the West held off a furious rally to beat the East, 152-149 on Sunday at Orlando's Amway Center.

Blake Griffin tallied 22 points and made a huge steal in the final seconds and Russell Westbrook added 21 for the West, who improved to 37-24 all-time in the exhibition series.

LeBron James led the East with 22 of his 36 points in the second half while Dwyane Wade recorded just the third triple double in All-Star Game history with 24 points, 10 assists and 10 rebounds.

Trailing by 20 with eight minutes left in the third quarter, James went into attack mode and the East stormed to within 150-49 on two free throws by Wade with 22.8 seconds remaining that capped a 31-12 run.

The East had a chance to level the game or take the lead after Bryant split a pair of free throws with 18 ticks to go. Deron Williams (20 points), however, came up short on a three-point attempt.

The East recovered the ball but Griffin intercepted James' cross-court pass and converted one-of-two free throws with one second left, making it 152-149.

The East had a final shot to send the game into overtime, but Wade missed a three-pointer from the left corner at the buzzer and the West escaped with the victory.