108,713 watch East edge West
Dallas native Chris Bosh made the winning free throw with 5.0 seconds left on the clock.
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — The largest crowd to watch a basketball game saw an all too familiar sight.
Dwyane Wade did it again in north Texas.
Wade had 28 points and won MVP honors, and the Eastern Conference edged the West 141-139 on Sunday night in the NBA All-Star game.
The crowd of 108,713 at Cowboys Stadium watched Dallas native Chris Bosh make the winning free throws with 5.0 seconds left. The West had a chance to win it, but Carmelo Anthony’s 3-point attempt came up short.
The largest cheer of the night came earlier, when Mavericks owner Mark Cuban and Cowboys owner Jerry Jones came onto the court to announce the record crowd, which was also the largest in the $1.2 billion building’s short history.
They were booing at the end when Wade went to the line and made two free throws with 12.7 seconds left. Dirk Nowitzki of the hometown Mavericks tied it with two of his own five seconds later before Bosh put the East on top for the final time.
Wade, the MVP of the 2006 NBA finals when Miami won the title in Dallas, added 11 assists and six rebounds. LeBron James had 25 points, and Bosh finished with 21 points and 10 rebounds.
Anthony scored 27 and Nowitzki had 22.
“It’s meant to be a party,” Cuban said. “We say we’re going to throw the biggest party like you’ve never seen before and that’s exactly what it turned out to be.”
Cuban was joined at midcourt by Jones at the end of the third quarter to announce the record figure. The record was certified by Guinness Book of World Records, and there were already T-shirts celebrating the mark.
Jones spearheaded the building of the $1.2 billion stadium that opened last year in Arlington, a city of more than 370,000 people located between Dallas and Fort Worth.
The crowd for the second NBA All-Star game in the Dallas area was larger than any of the NFL games played in the stadium.
“I’m pleased looking at it,” Jones said. “The atmosphere, if you had had a highly competitive situation where these teams were playing for the world championship, imagine this 100,000 people being completely nuts.”
That could be the scene next February, when Cowboys Stadium hosts the Super Bowl. The 2014 NCAA men’s Final Four also will be played in the building.
The Cowboys drew 105,121 for their first regular-season game against the New York Giants last September to set an NFL regular-season attendance record. For their playoff game last month against the Philadelphia Eagles, the Cowboys drew a crowd of 92,951. That was the most in NFL history for a playoff game other than the Super Bowl.
“Everybody’s had a great time. ... You can just see people’s eyes just bugging out of their head,” Cuban said. “It’s crazy and I haven’t heard a negative comment yet.”
The only other time the NBA All-Star game was played in the area was in 1986 before a crowd of 16,573 at Reunion Arena in downtown Dallas. That facility was demolished last year.