It was a great show, an NBA reunion with a record crowd and a record number of points.
But a late skirmish nearly spoiled all the fun.In a game that featured 18 former NBA players, the South beat the North 178-166 Saturday night in the Italian basketball league's All-Star Game before 14,771 fans at the Palaeur Arena.
Former NBA guards Brian Shaw and Darwin Cook combined for 63 points for the winners, overshadowing a record 50-point performance by Micheal Ray Richardson in a losing cause.
Wes Matthews, who dazzled the crowd with his acrobatic drives and scored 35 points for the North, was voted the game's Most Valuable Player.
But Matthews was involved in a fourth-quarter scuffle with Brazil's Oscar Schmidt that many players said took away from the fun.
About halfway through the final period, the two players tangled and the 6-foot-8 Schmidt had to be restrained by three players as he tried to go after the slight Matthews, barely over 6 feet.
The coaches took the two players out for the rest of the game. Afterwards, their teammates stood between the two in the corridor leading to the lockerrooms.
Neither player would comment on the incident.
"Oscar banged Matthews and Matthews threw a punch," said Danny Ferry, the No. 2 overall draft pick in last season's NBA draft, who scored 22 points for the South.
"Everybody put on a great show tonight, but unfortunately there had to be a fight," said Shaw, Ferry's teammate on Messaggero Roma. "Oscar was waiting for him after the game. Everybody stood there and kept them apart."
Richardson said, "I know guys want to win, but fighting is not called for. It was stupid and immature. I think the fight threw everything off. Everything was going smooth, then that gave the game a bad taste."