On Tuesday, a report came out stating the NBA and NBPA are progressing toward a deal to hold the 2021 NBA All-Star Game on March 7. That same night, everyone witnessed a mini All-Star Game when Kyrie Irving, Kevin Durant, James Harden and the Brooklyn Nets hosted Kawhi Leonard, Paul George, and the Los Angeles Clippers at the Barclays Center.

Irving finished with a game-high 39 points in the Nets' 124-120 win. Durant added 28 points on an efficient 11-of-13 shooting, while Harden had a 23-point, 11-rebound, 14-assist triple-double. Kawhi Leonard scored 33 points for the Clippers to go along with five rebounds, five assists, four steals, and two blocked shots. George added 26 points, four rebounds, six assists, and two steals.

The Clippers held a 12-point lead in the first half, seemingly getting whatever they wanted as they constantly got into the paint and took advantage of mismatches. Brooklyn's small-ball starting five with no DeAndre Jordan got killed on the boards early and often, but was able to stay in the game thanks to some tough shotmaking by Durant and Irving.

“I thought we did a good job [defending Brooklyn's starts],” Clippers coach Tyronn Lue said after the game. “I thought outside of Kyrie a few times in transition, but Kyrie’s a tough shotmaker and he made some tough shots. I thought Durant made some tough shots. That’s what they do, so all you can do is try to contest them and make it hard for them and you gotta live with the results. But I thought overall, we tried to stay in front of their guys, we took the one-on-one challenge defensively, and like I said, Kyrie just made a lot of difficult shots, which he’s capable of doing.”

Brooklyn started to find a rhythm offensively when Harden, DeAndre Jordan, and Joe Harris faced the Clippers' second unit in the second quarter. Jordan repeatedly outworked Ivica Zubac inside, while Harris broke free from his defenders to nail timely 3-pointers.

“I thought we just made some mental mistakes,” Lue added on where the Clippers lost the game. “We fouled three jump shooters. We talked about going into the game, we’ve gotta contest sideways on these guys. We fouled three jump shooters. One time we came out in the zone and we didn’t know we were in the zone, Joe Harris makes a 3 to kind of get them going in the corner, and then the very next play, offensive rebound, Joe Harris makes another 3, kind of got them going.”

The third and early fourth quarters saw shots exchanged back and forth between the two teams. LA took a 102-97 lead midway through the fourth before Brooklyn did something we hadn't seen them do since acquiring Harden: play defense! The Nets got stops, and the defense sparked a 21-6 scoring spurt that gave them a 118-108 lead over the Clippers with under two minutes to play.

“We had some bad mistakes out there,” Kawhi Leonard said, agreeing with Lue. “Fouling shooters, just giving them points. They’re already great scorers. So we just gotta keep letting them be great and not make it easy on them by fouling on jump shots. Some of our pickup points were messed up on the defensive end. But that was pretty much it in the second half.”

A good portion of the fourth quarter for Brooklyn was Durant, Irving, and Harden taking turns scoring. Coming into the game, the Nets had the best offensive rating in NBA history since acquiring Harden. The show they put on display is one of the many reasons they're a serious contender to win the NBA championship this season.

“As good [of] defense as we played all night, the fact of the matter is they have some of the best iso players in the world,” Paul George affirmed. “Kyrie, James, and KD. I thought it was a stretch there where we played great defense. We were in their face, and it was almost like each one of them took turns making a shot. They’re just tough, they’re tough to guard, super confident in their shotmaking ability that, you know, defense, I thought, couldn’t be any better on some of those possessions.”

Paul George, who is still on a minutes restriction per Lue, finished with a nice line on the night. However, he only took one free throw despite creating contact at the rim throughout the first half. When asked about playing through some of the calls, or non-calls, George let everyone know exactly how he felt.

“I mean, I think it was disrespectful that I had one free throw attempt today. I am going to leave it at that. The amount of plays I initiated or created contact, and to get sent to the line (one) time, I mean definitely played (mumbles), that’s the answer to the whole question.”

The game had most fans drooling at the idea of a seven-game series between the two star-studded teams. It'll take a while and a lot of things falling into place for that to happen, but we will get to see the Clippers and Nets battle it out in a few weeks back in Los Angeles.