A look back at the greatest All-Star Game of this century

The 2001 All-Star Game was a riveting affair that featured two players from the Milwaukee Bucks.

There have been a lot of memorable All-Star Games in this century. From Michael Jordan's final appearance in 2003 to the more recent ones that featured the completely-retooled format, the All-Star Game has become a must-watch event. However, none can top what happened in 2001—arguably the greatest All-Star Game of this century.

Epic battle

The stage was set at the MCI Center in Washington, DC, as the East All-Stars, which featured Milwaukee Bucks' Ray Allen and Glenn Robinson, Allen Iverson, Vince Carter, Tracy McGrady, to name a few, battled the likes of the West's Kevin Garnett, Tim Duncan, Shaquille O'Neal, and Kobe Bryant.

The West had their way early on, zooming off to an 11-0 start as Bryant, Garnett, Duncan, Chris Webber, and even Michael Finley got going to help them establish a comfortable lead. The West appeared to have the win in the bag as they were up 95-74 with nine minutes remaining.

Incredible comeback

However, the East—led by an in-his-prime Iverson—managed to mount an incredible comeback. A.I. was relentless in the fourth quarter, scoring 15 of his 25 points in that stretch to pull his team to within one, 106-105. However, the late great Bryant answered with a midrange jumper to raise the West's lead to three, 108-105.

New Jersey Nets point guard Stephon Marbury tied the game at 108-all with a triple. Bryant then answered right back with an improbable jumper over two East defenders, including the 7-foot-center Dikembe Mutombo, to put the West back in the lead. But Marbury was not yet done, as he buried another triple from basically the same spot to give the East a 111-110 lead.

The West had one last shot as Bryant passed the ball to Duncan down low. However, the San Antonio Spurs legend missed his hook shot while Webber could not get the putback to go in, giving the East an incredible win.

The Bucks' All-Stars certainly played key roles in the win, as Allen finished with 15 points while Robinson had eight.