LAS VEGAS — From Kobe Bryant to the last blackjack dealer, everybody believed the NBA was a big winner after gambling on a 72-hour All-Star extravaganza in Sin City.

Sure, the main event was a bit of a bust, but the All-Star game is always a crapshoot.

Bryant had 31 points, six assists and six steals in his second MVP performance at the league's midseason showcase, and the West set All-Star records for assists and field goals in a 153-132 win over the East on Sunday night.

Nobody could bet on this game in the local casinos — the favored West covered the 4Z\x-point spread — making the result even more inconsequential than usual. Instead, this outlandish weekend will be remembered for its setting — the first All-Star game held outside an NBA franchise city, and the first with a flock of bedazzled showgirls flanking Wayne Newton for a pregame rendition of "Viva Las Vegas."

"No doubt about it, we definitely enjoyed Las Vegas," said Phoenix's Amare Stoudemire, who had 29 points and nine rebounds. "I hope the All-Star game comes back here soon, because it was a lot of fun."

After an appropriately decadent performance featuring acrobats, a juggler, Elvis impersonators and the usual All-Star hijinks from 24 NBA stars, Bryant emerged as the game's best player in front of the southern Nevada fans who adopt the Lakers as their team.

With the crowd chanting "M-V-P" in the final minute, Bryant roared through the lane and threw down a vicious dunk over Chris Bosh's head. The weekend went a whole lot better for Bryant than his previous MVP outing in 2002 in Philadelphia — where his hometown fans booed his every move.

"As players, we always want to feel like we're appreciated for what we do," Bryant said. "To have this type of reaction here in this All-Star game is very humbling. I just feel very blessed to be able to come out and put on a really good show."

Most everybody knew the real show went on in the dozens of casinos and hundreds of clubs around the Las Vegas Strip, where athletes, celebrities, groupies, entourages and old-fashioned basketball fans partied the weekend away in a hip-hop hoop summit. The fun never stopped and the crowds never thinned for three days and four nights.

The weekend heated up Saturday when Boston's Gerald Green won the dunk contest with a much-needed injection of originality, and Miami's Jason Kapono was crowned the top 3-point shooter with a record-tying final performance.

By Sunday night, the glorified exhibition was all that remained — and the NBA's biggest stars rolled through a fairly nondescript contest featuring plenty of points and almost no defense.