Injury robbed Milwaukee Bucks fans of seeing Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard going against each other in the NBA All-Star Game final on Sunday night at the Chase Center in San Francisco, as Antetokounmpo’s calf strain prevented him from playing for the “Global Stars” vs. Lillard’s “OGs” team.

Antetokounmpo, who has been out of action since Feb. 5 with the injury to his left calf, had to watch as Lillard’s team won the game 41-32. Lillard, who entered the weekend nursing a sore hamstring, played just 2 minutes, 42 seconds of the final after it was paused for quite some time for a broadcast break. He missed his only shot.

The league introduced a new format to the all-star contest for this year, featuring four teams playing in a mini-tournament. The games were played to 40.

The league’s 24 all-stars were “drafted” onto eight-person teams by TNT analysts Charles Barkley, Shaquille O’Neal and Kenny Smith, and the fourth team was a rising stars squad comprised of first-and-second year players.

Lillard, part of O’Neal’s “OGs” helped his team advance to the final by hitting the game-winning shot – a three-pointer – to give them a 42-35 victory over the “rising stars” team managed by Candace Parker. Lillard punctuated the moment with his signature “Dame Time” wrist tap.

The Bucks point guard scored a team-high nine points in 8:31 of game play.

Antetokounmpo, the league’s leading vote-getter for the 2025 NBA all-star games, was on hand for the festivities and watched his team beat Smith’s “young stars” squad 41-32.

Along with Antetokounmpo, Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James and Minnesota star Anthony Edwards sat out the games with injuries.