ALL STARS NOT ALL ON THE COURT - HEY, THIS IS L.A.

Byline: KEVIN MODESTI

The signature moment of the 2004 NBA All-Star Game at Staples Center came in the final minutes when Shaquille O'Neal, showing off open-court ball-handling skills rarely seen in the seriousness of Lakers games, dribbled from beyond the center stripe, threw down a one-handed dunk and tumbled into the front row of the crowd.

Luckily, the 7-foot-1, 340-pound Shaq landed on the only fan big enough to withstand the collision - ``American Idol 2'' winner Ruben Studdard.

The two men hugged and laughed, and then Studdard patted his own chest, as if relieved to still be breathing.

``I just want to let everybody know, I'm suing Ruben Studdard,'' O'Neal joked after the game, in which he won the Most Valuable Player award and Lakers teammate Kobe Bryant helped to lead the Western Conference over the Eastern Conference 136-132. ``When I got the dunk, I accidentally bumped him, and he had his hand on my (butt), and he wouldn't let me go. I'm suing you, Ruben!''

It wasn't always that easy Sunday night for the NBA All-Stars to make an impact on the fans, given that many of the 19,662 people in the stands were more famous than the players - or thought they were, anyway.

Early in the game that marked the midseason extravaganza's first appearance in Los Angeles since 1983, there were moments of surprising silence in the building as the fans waited to cheer the next sensation lob-dunk by Tracy McGrady, no-look pass by Allen Iverson or in-your-face shot block by Jamaal Magloire.

By the end, though, as the teams traded leads and pride took over, the intensity and the defense rose up and the actors and singers in the crowd had to marvel at the unscripted drama that sports provide - even a virtually meaningless exhibition like this.

Shaq's dunk-and-tumble gave the West the lead with less than three minutes to play. A bank shot by San Antonio's Tim Duncan rattled through the hoop with 26.1 seconds on the clock to put the West in front to stay. Bryant and Minnesota's Kevin Garnett hounded Milwaukee's Michael Redd into missing a 3-point shot that would have tied the score in the dying seconds.

``Hardly any defense early (in the game), but at the end it tightened up,'' said Bryant, who scored 20 points, topped only by O'Neal's 24. ``Good show.''

But enough about the basketball.

Fittingly, given the location, the night was mostly about the sideshows.

Some had a little to do with the sport: Bryant showed up barely an hour and a half before tip-off, blaming ``L.A. traffic'' for the tardiness that caused him to miss taking of the team picture. Facing rape charges in Colorado and a storm of speculation here about whether he'll leave the Lakers at season's end, Bryant was booed by a small portion of the crowd during pregame introductions, but otherwise heard an ovation matched only by the one for O'Neal.

The rest was pure Hollywood and hip-hop.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger welcomed the crowd from midcourt: ``I love L.A. ... superstars, All-Stars. I love this game!''

OutKast, the Grammy-winning hip-hop duo, performed before the game.

Christina Aguilera and Nelly Furtado sang the U.S. and Canadian anthems. Beyonce Knowles (lowered to the stage atop a giant disco ball) and Michael McDonald got the spotlights at halftime. On TNT's cablecast, the musical acts were shown on a seven-second delay, in case anybody decided to imitate the Janet Jackson-Justin Timberlake Super Bowl halftime shock show.

The players couldn't throw an errant pass or shoot an air ball - which they did frequently in bids for highlight-reel roles - without hitting a celebrity who might have paid hundreds or thousands of dollars for a prime seat.

Hoops junkies like Jack Nicholson, Denzel Washington and Penny Marshall were in the front row. Star Jones accepted a marriage proposal, shown on the arena video screen, during a late-game break in the action. Ashton Kutcher, P. Diddy, Elliott Gould, Naomi Campbell, Will Smith, Joe Pesci, Ted Danson and Mary Steenburgen, and Ruben Studdard's season one ``American Idol'' counterpart Kelly Clarkson got face time. So did non-basketball sports luminaries Reggie Jackson, Lennox Lewis and Serena Williams.

In a courtside clash of sport and celebrity almost as brutal as the Shaq-Ruben run-in, NBA legend Bill Russell sat two chairs to the right of Paris Hilton, separated only by her boyfriend Nick Carter. They did not appear to have anything to talk about.

So nobody got the wrong idea about the frivolity of the event, the players entered the court from beneath a mock-up of a movie marquee. Faced with having to put on a show for people who put on shows for a living, they had some high-flying moments and a little suspense at the end. The ``home'' team won and Lakers Shaq and Kobe were heroes.

``Can you dig it?'' Shaq roared into a microphone at midcourt when his MVP award was announced.

The fans roared back. They were feelin' it. Ruben Studdard may be feelin' this one longer than anyone.

CAPTION(S):

4 photos

Photo:

(1 -- color) Beyonce, fresh off winning five Grammys, performs during halftime at the NBA All-Star Game on Sunday.

Hans Gutknecht/Staff Photographer

(2 -- color) .. the james ...

(3 -- color) .. the celebs ...

(4 -- color) .. the camaraderie