The NBA is hoping for a little more competitiveness in this year's All-Star Game

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Last season's All-Star Game played out in a way that the NBA hopes to never experience again. Nobody was interested in defense and almost nobody was watching the game, at least according to the abysmal television ratings.

So, the league sent a message: Make the All-Star Game better.

How that'll work is anyone's guess. But they'll give it a shot on Sunday night, when the NBA's midseason showcase game returns to Indianapolis for the first time in nearly four decades — with a return to the old no-draft, Eastern Conference vs. Western Conference, 48-minute game format that the league had gotten away from in recent years.

Nobody wants, or expects, Game 7, playoff-type intensity. Nobody is going to risk injury, nor should they, and everyone can agree that injuries — Golden State's Stephen Curry, Phoenix's Kevin Durant, the Los Angeles Lakers' LeBron James and Milwaukee's Giannis Antetokounmpo all either missed the game entirely or played very briefly because of injuries — helped doom the ratings.