The first dunk of the game came 16 seconds in, Paul throwing a pass to Griffin as part of the West's 7-0 start. The West led after each of the first three quarters, though it was never ahead by more than eight points through three periods.
They finally pushed it into double figures early in the fourth fueled by former Oklahoma City teammates Russell Westbrook and James Harden, but couldn't put it away until a late run behind the guys from the city of Los Angeles - who along with Lakers center Dwight Howard gave Los Angeles all but one of the West's starting spots.
Paul hit two three-pointers, Bryant made a layup, and his block of James led to Durant's dunk that made it 136-126. Griffin had one last forceful dunk to help close it out, throwing a pass to himself off the backboard and climbing high in his neon green sneakers to slam it home and make it 142-134.
Harden had 15 points in his home arena, where the sights of the game were on the floor and the sounds were at the rim - which shook repeatedly after thunderous dunks for most of the game before, as usual, players tried to make some stops down the stretch.
The 76ers' Jrue Holiday scored six points and had an assist in 15 minutes.
Players' sneakers were a variety of pastels and fluorescent colors that looked as if they had come right from Easter Sunday church, many clashing so badly with their multicolored socks that they may as well have been created by spills out of random paint buckets.
But the NBA's high-flyers sure could leap in them.
Durant slammed one down so hard at one point that he stumbled backward after landing, appearing woozy. He went in as the career leader in points per game with 28.3 and may have won a second straight MVP award if not for Paul's big finish.
