Philadelphia

- Kobe Bryant was ready to have the time of his life in his hometown of Philadelphia during All-Star weekend. That meant eating cheesesteaks and TastyKakes, visiting his high school and spending time with his friends and family.

It also meant winning the Most Valuable Player award last night during the 51st NBA All-Star Game at the First Union Center during the West's 135-120 victory over the East.

Bryant scored 31 points, and had five assists and five rebounds. It was the most points scored in an All-Star Game since Michael Jordan had 40 in the 1988 game.

Also for the West, Gary Payton had 18 points and Kevin Garnett and Tim Duncan had 14 points each. Tracy McGrady, who had a crowd-pleasing dunk where he threw the ball off the glass, finished with 24 for the East. Paul Pierce had 19 and Michael Jordan, in his 13th All-Star Game, scored eight.

The West's 13 3-pointers set an All-Star Game record and the combined 22 3-pointers also set a mark.

Instead of leaving town with a flood of fond memories, Bryant left with some disappointing feelings because of the shower of boos directed at him at different times during the game, followed by louder boos when he was announced as the game's MVP.

"I was pretty hurt," said Bryant, who became the sixth Los Angeles Lakers player to win the MVP award. "I just wanted to go out there and just play hard. But they booed. I still like coming home. I still enjoy playing in Philly, nonetheless."

In a city where fans once booed Santa Claus, Phillies star Mike Schmidt, and musical group Destiny's Child during last year's NBA Finals, Bryant became the latest to feel the wrath from the Philadelphia fans. "I can just look at them as just being die-hard Sixers fans," said Bryant, who won an NBA title on the same court last season. "I guess they're being loyal to their team."

But this isn't the first time Bryant was booed here. This is also the same city where his dad, Joe "Jellybean" Bryant, played for the Sixers.

"My first game here during my rookie year, they booed me a little bit, too," Bryant said. "And that really hurt because it was like my homecoming. That was very, very hurtful."

Sixers guard Allen Iverson said he felt bad for Bryant. Iverson was booed by Cleveland fans when he received the MVP of the Rookie Challenge during All-Star weekend at Gund Arena in 1997.

"Here it was a happy moment and you just want to enjoy it," said Iverson, who had five points in 25 minutes. "But the booing took it away. It makes it worse because he's from here. But that's the way life is."

Although he was never booed in his hometown, Jordan didn't hesitate when asked the last place he was booed. "Last time I was booed? Cleveland, but I'm always booed in Cleveland," said Jordan with a smile.

Bryant got warmed up early when he scored 12 first-quarter points via dunks, jump shots and layups. His motor continued running and he finished the first half with 23 points and the West led, 72-55, at halftime.

The West and Bryant continued to dominate in the third as they coasted to a 23-point lead. Bryant had his game-high in points during the third and that's when the dissatisfied fans started to get worked up whenever he touched the ball.

"Kobe's a great guy, too, and that was just a bad situation and I hate that it happened to him," Payton said. "He deserved the MVP today. He did a great job."

Milwaukee guard Ray Allen went to work for the East. He scored 13 points during the fourth quarter. Allen's consecutive 3-pointers helped rally the East to within 10 early in the quarter. But the West wouldn't back down.

After Pierce's trey for a 10-point deficit with 8:21 left, the West went on a roll and pushed its lead to 20 following Dirk Nowitzki's 3-pointer with 4:34 left. The East couldn't manage another spurt as the West did them in.

Bryant, meanwhile, said he'll use his experience in Philadelphia as motivation.

"I'm the type of person where if something occurs in my life that's hurtful, I'm not going to let it hurt me but for so long," Bryant said. "I'm going to turn it around and use it as some type of motivation."