The usually beleaguered, largely vacant first couple blocks of Powell Street will suddenly come back to life this weekend, as all of Union Square becomes a hub of activity linked to the All-Star Game, which is being played Sunday at the Chase Center.

A number of basketball-related "activations" have taken over the big, previously empty storefronts of Powell Street. The long-vacant former H&M space has become the Foot Locker NBA Experience. The similarly long-vacant former Uniqlo is now bedecked with LED screens and a ticker in its windows, becoming the "Inside the NBA" Experience by American Express.

The recently vacated Express store at the prominent corner of Geary and Powell is about to reopen as Shoe Palace (not a pop-up), just in time for All-Stars Weekend, and with plenty of NBA-related imagery in its windows.

Some folks appear to have set up folding lawn chairs to camp outside of Shoe Palace for some reason, which seems ill-advised given the rain on its way, but maybe these are just placeholders because no one was actually sitting in the chairs. Update: The chairs are apparently related to a Jordan Brands retail launch, and Michael Jordan is rumored to be making an appearance Thursday?

And the space that, long ago, was home to Rasputin Music, at the corner of Powell and Ellis, is going to open as a pop-up "pizzeria" on Friday, sponsored by Puma, and with a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles theme and Hornets star LaMelo Ball's name attached. According to the signs, it's the LaMelo Ball Puma Pizzeria, but it is unclear whether any pizza will be served there. It's a promotion for these TMNT/LaMelo Ball sneakers, and currently inside the store you can see shoes inside a refrigerator case, and shoes on top of a couple of prop pizza boxes on the counter — though there is a menu with five pizzas listed: Donatello, Michaelangelo, Leonardo, Raphael, and LaMelo, with the latter being pepperoni. So maybe there will be free slices?

Ball will reportedly be there on Saturday.

Nothing appears to be happening in the former Gap store at the foot of Powell, but its windows have also been papered over with All-Star Game regalia.

The space at O'Farrell and Powell next door to Macy's is going to feature appearances by Golden State Warriors and Golden State Valkyries players, as well as DJ performances, courtesy of Golden State Entertainment.

Throughout the weekend, you can expect NBA star players and "legends" to making appearances at the various activation points.

And, apparently, despite the rain, artist Rachel Wolfe-Goldsmith is supposed to be doing a mural on Thursday in Union Square, as part of a larger collaboration with Bay Area Mural Project.

They are in the midst of setting up a mini basketball court in the middle of Union Square itself.

And the Nike Store has been fully decked out.

The thousands of basketball and sneaker fans haven't yet arrived, but it's nice to see Powell Street come alive again in anticipation of the big weekend — a weekend that will also see the Chinese New Year Parade on Saturday evening.

This will be a proving ground for the SFPD's new "hospitality task force" that is focused on the Union Square area. And at a press conference last week, SFPD Chief Bill Scott said, "These are some of the most traveled and the most visited streets and corridors in our city. It’s very important that we are pristine, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, not just for conventions, not just for conferences, not just for the NBA All-Stars, but every day.”

Mayor Daniel Lurie spoke to NBC Bay Area on Tuesday about the clean-up effort for the big weekend, and the state of the city overall.

"I couldn’t be more excited. This is what we’re built for in San Francisco," Lurie tells the station. "We are a city that has proven it can clean up for APEC, for example. We just had the JP Morgan Healthcare Conference that went so incredibly well. We want to do the same for the NBA All-Star Game."

As for the overall state of things, Lurie says, "I think it's early innings, but we are much closer to being all the way 'back' than I would say most people realize."

Previously: Brace Yourselves: SF’s NBA All-Star Game and Chinese New Year Parade Are on the Same Weekend In Mid-February