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Bryant, O'Neal Lead NBA West All-Stars

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The Associated Press

Published: February 16, 2009

PHOENIX - Shaq danced, Kobe dazzled.

And just like old times, they won again.

Bryant led all scorers with 27 points, O'Neal partied his way back onto the All-Star stage with 17 in just 11 minutes, and the Western Conference beat the East 146-119 Sunday night.

Back on the same team for the first time in nearly five years, the three-time champions shared the game MVP award. They helped the West get untracked after an awful start, then teamed up for a few buckets that helped blow it open in the third quarter.

And they did it in the ways that made them so different - Bryant with his cold-as-ice stare and focus, O'Neal as the oversized clown who made fans and foes alike laugh.

It was their first time on the floor as teammates since the 2004 NBA finals. O'Neal was traded to Miami that summer, breaking apart a duo that produced three straight titles but was perhaps better known for its frequent feuding that made the breakup inevitable.

"It felt like flashbacks," O'Neal said during an interview on TNT. "It felt like '99 to '02."

Bryant and O'Neal shared a slight hug after being announced as MVPs, then playfully fought over the trophy Commissioner David Stern handed to them.

Amare Stoudemire scored 19 for the West, which bounced back from its loss last year in New Orleans, when Bryant was limited to just a few minutes of action while resting a dislocated pinkie finger.

LeBron James led the East with 20 points. Paul Pierce and Dwyane Wade each scored 18, while Orlando's Dwight Howard had 13 points.

Porter To Be Axed By Suns

Suns coach Terry Porter will be fired today and replaced by assistant Alvin Gentry, a person familiar with the decision said Sunday night.

The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the official announcement had not been made.

The move was first reported by The Arizona Republic on its Web site Sunday.

The Suns were attempting, without success, to avoid making news over the All-Star weekend being staged on their home turf. The franchise also is in talks with numerous teams about trading Amare Stoudemire, a starter in Sunday night's All-Star Game.

Porter was four months into his first season on the three-year, $6 million contract he got to replace Mike D'Antoni, who left after four highly successful seasons to coach the New York Knicks.

Gentry, extremely popular with Suns players, has been a coach in the NBA for 20 years, including interim head coaching stints with Miami and Detroit. He was head coach of the Los Angeles Clippers from 2000 to 2003.

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