Defense? West needed it to hold on

The chant started in a far upper corner of the Amway Center. A strange "D" word rarely spoken or talked about in the All-Star Game. Defensive-minded Tom Thibodeau did not even run his team through defensive drills in the All-Star practice at Jam Session on Saturday. This is not the time to yell at a player for a late rotation or a botched box out. Yet, the chant picked up steam. The East was in a wild comeback from a 21-point deficit scoring 84 points in the second and third quarter and 80 points in the second half. the East was in position to win the game and to take the lead for the first time. The chant grew louder as the heavily partisan East crowd in Orlando wanted desperately for its conference to pick up the win and make this a truly memorable All-Star Game. It certainly was, if not for the defense played late in the game to make it one of the most exciting finishes in recent All-Star history, then for the records that fell, the performances that occurred and, fi...