How Much Was This All-Star Game An Improvement

The 2017 NBA All Star Game was a joke.  It was like the Pro Bowl, except because Football is much more dangerous, at least they have a good excuse for not trying.  So the NBA decided to liven things up by going away from East, and West teams, and having the top two vote getters pick their teams, playground style.  What we got yesterday was an improvement over last year, but by how much.  Last year both teams shot well over 50%, with the West shooting 58.7%, and the East shooting 56.9%, but the true indicator for just how little defense was played was in how the teams shot from two point distance.  The West shot 63 for 80, which was 78.75%, and the East was 56 for 78, or 71.79%.  In this year's game two point field percentages were down, but not by that much.  Team Stephen shot 64% from 2, while Team Lebron shot 69%.  What I saw was two team jacking up threes.  Despite the fact that this year's game had fewer shots in total, the teams combined for 1 more 3 point attempt than last year.  I get the logic.  Three points is more than two, and the league is becoming more dominated by the 3 point shot.  From an entertainment standpoint though, I would rather watch spectacular dunks, than players hitting uncontested 3 point shots.  If the teams shot well from 3 point range it would've still been better, but neither team shot that good from beyond the arc, so there were a lot of missed three point shots.  There was more effort on defense, but I think that there is too much credit being given for the defense in yesterday's game, because it still wasn't every good.  The NBA All Star Game is still an exhibition game, and we are in an era where players are more concerned about injuries, and more concerned are conserving themselves for the stretch run.  For those reasons the game is not being played with the competitiveness that it was in the past.  While the new format bought some new energy to the game, how long will that last?