Teresa Weatherspoon shoots for the East. Nathaniel S. Butler/WNBAE/Getty Images

Before a sellout crowd at Madison Square Garden, Leslie and the Houston Comets' tandem of Cynthia Cooper and Sheryl Swoopes combined for 21 points in the first half, when the West jumped to a 10-0 lead and never looked back.

"I felt really honored to have this award," Leslie said. "Obviously, a few other players probably had the opportunity to get it as well. I guess basically I'll leave here believing that I'm going to be a part of history, being the first MVP." Proving too strong in the paint and in transition, the West stretched its cushion to 17-2 on Cooper's three-point play with 14:07 remaining in the half.

In the opening 20 minutes, the West held a huge 32-6 advantage inside and a 15-0 edge in fast-break points while outscoring the East starters, 27-7.

Natalie Williams of the Utah Starzz scored 14 points and Sacramento's Yolanda Griffith added 10 for the West, which held the East to 35 percent (26-of-74) shooting and maintained a 48-36 edge on the boards.

"I thought we had a tremendous height advantage," said West coach Van Chancellor of Houston. "I thought we were stronger than the East inside. We decided to run America's offense, get high-low, try to pound the ball inside some."

"There wasn't much we could do to combat their size advantage," East coach Linda Hill-MacDonald added. "We had three post players, they had five. I tried to rotate them as best as I could. You just put them in there and let them play." Washington forward and Queens, New York native Chamique Holdsclaw experienced a rough homecoming. The only rookie in the starting lineup, the former Tennessee star suffered a fractured left index finger late in the first half after scoring five points and did not return.

"I think it was within the first three minutes," she said. "It was the first time I went in. I was starting the game and Teresa Weatherspoon passed me the ball and Michele Timms tried to steal it and the ball just hit me dead on the tip of my finger."

"The initial prognosis is three weeks," Holdsclaw added, "but I think I'll be playing this Saturday when we go to Charlotte."

With the West starters on the bench, the East pulled within 31-29 on a layup by Washington's Nikki McCray with 4:39 remaining in the half. But Griffith hit a turnaround jumper to ignite a 12-0 spurt that gave the West a 43-29 halftime cushion.

"Our defense was about 300 percent better than I ever dreamed it would be in an All-Star game," Chancellor said. "I thought it was good. We were switching on screens. We looked like we had been working on defense for a long time."

Detroit's Sandy Brondello provided a spark off the bench in the second half by hitting three baskets, but the East got no closer than 66-57 on a jumper by Vickie Bullett of the Charlotte Sting with 5:33 remaining. The final score represented the West's biggest lead.

"I suppose when you're down 17-2, there's pride on the line," Brondello said. "Also, I just think it makes it a little bit more exciting for the fans that we made a comeback. I was going in there and just trying to play my game, get it and shoot."

Griffith punctuated the win with a breakaway layup with 2:43 remaining, giving the West a 73-59 cushion. The 6-5 Leslie recalled her dunk in warmups, a feat she was not able to duplicate in the game.

"I was pretty surprised no one noticed because they weren't paying attention," Leslie said. "I dunked. It was a good one, wasn't it? If Yolanda and I were to switch spots when she had the breakaway layup, I could have done it. "

Shannon Johnson and Taj McWilliams of the Orlando Miracle and Brondello all scored eight points for the East, which went nearly four minutes before scoring in the first half. The East missed its first six shots and did not get on the board until Holdsclaw's jumper with 16:04 remaining.

Johnson replaced teammate Rebecca Lobo, who was voted in as a starter at power forward despite playing only one game before suffering a season-ending torn ACL in her left knee.