Taco Bell Skills Challenge
The Skills Challenge was full of surprises, but in the end, it was the home team who ran away with a shocking win.
Like the Rising Stars Game played one night earlier, the event revealed a new format. This year there would be three teams of three players. The same skills would be put to the test, though, as each team would have to display precision in dribbling, passing, and shooting. Whichever two teams had the highest scores through the first three rounds would advance to the final.
“I loved the change,” Jarret Allen of the Cleveland Cavaliers said. “It was good being able to play with my teammates out there, just to compete with them on a different stage.”
In an event that requires the players to complete an entire obstacle course, perhaps the most creative aspect of it was the themes of each team. One team (Team Cavs) was comprised of actual teammates. However, another (Team Rooks) was made up of all rookies, while the last was a real brotherhood (Team Antetokounmpos).
Cleveland was represented by youthful stars in all-stars Allen and Darius Garland, plus the favorite for this year’s Rookie of the Year in Evan Mobley.
Team Rooks included Josh Giddey of the Oklahoma City Thunder, Scotty Barnes of the Toronto Raptors, and Detroit Pistons guard Cade Cunningham, who had just come off an MVP effort in the Rising Stars Game.
Reigning NBA champion Giannis Antetokounmpo and his brothers, Alex and Thanasis, represented Team Antetokounmpos.
Qualifying Rounds
Team Rooks got things going, scoring a total of 32 points in the shooting portion worth 100 points. It didn’t seem like much until it was followed by 20 from Team Antetokounmpos. The shooting was less than impressive. That is, until Rookie of the Year candidate Evan Mobley and all-star Darius Garland shot the lights out for Team Cavs, who scored 44 points to easily win the shooting round.
In the passing round, also worth 100 points, Team Rooks approached with a system that earned them a score of 88. Giannis put his passing ability on full display as he carried Team Antetokounmpos to the same score. Team Cavs scored 70, leaving a tiebreaker between rooks and Antetokounmpos. Giannis and company took the match by default, as they converted more outlet passes.
Worth 200 points, the team relay made sure each team still had a shot to move on. Team Rooks finished the course with a time of 1:18, a time which Dwayne Wade insisted would not be good enough. However, the legend would be shocked as neither of the following teams would be able to best the youngsters.
This put Team Rooks in the next round and Team Antetokounmpos and Team Cavs in sudden death. Thanasis was set to shoot against Garland from the top of the key, and the first to make it would move on. After an off-the-mark attempt by Thanasis, Garland stepped up cool, calm and collected, and knocked it down.
Final Round
The final round was simple; each team had a minute and a half to make a shot from halfcourt. Whichever team made it the fastest would win it all. Team Rooks got things started once more in the final round and left little room for error to those following. In just 9.9 seconds Cunningham banked in a shot, giving his team a great feeling as they headed to the sideline.
Imagine how tragic it must have felt when Mobley cashed his shot in only 5.5 seconds. Especially for Barnes, who just couldn’t seem to catch a break all weekend up to this point.
Team Cavs had a simple plan according to Garland, and they seemed to stick with it.
“Just trying to make shots and go as fast as we can,” Garland said about their approach. “That’s all we planned for.”
MTN DEW 3-Point Contest
This year’s 3-Point Contest hosted a selection of names that had proven themselves as worthy of mention among the league’s best shooters. However, Karl-Anthony Towns, the big man of the group, showed out best and took home the hardware.
Zach Lavine was the first to be eliminated after scoring 14 in the first round. Luke Kennard, 45-percent three-point shooter of the Los Angeles Clippers and the favorite to win the competition, led the way through the first four shooters with a score of 28.
The Memphis Grizzles’ Desmond Bane, a 42-percent three-point shooter, was next to go after the Brooklyn Nets’ Patty Mills scored 21. Following in elimination was CJ McCollum of the New Orleans Pelicans, who was put out thanks to a 22 score by Karl-Anthony Towns.
Atlanta’s Trae Young made things interesting as the final shooter of the first round. The two-time all-star knocked down his final money ball to lift himself a single point ahead of Mills at 22. This made for a final round of Kennard, Towns, and Young.
Final Round
Towns started the round off and made things extremely difficult for Young and Kennard. The Minnesota big man was hot from start to finish, racking up the highest score of the night at 29.
Young followed Towns and improved on his score from the first round. However, he fell three points shy of Towns by scoring 26. Kennard then matched Young’s final round score, crowning him the champion.
“I said it everywhere,” Towns said about his prediction to be a real threat in the contest. “The only way I’m gonna lose is if someone outshoots me. I ain’t gonna beat myself out here.”
AT&T Slam Dunk
The main event, which Dwayne Wade scored as a 6 overall, finished in favor of the New York Knicks’ Obi Toppin.
DJ Khaled hosted a star-studded intermission before the contest, with performances from rappers Lil’ Baby, Gunna, Ludacris, and Lil’ Wayne, plus a performance by hip-hop and R&B legend Mary J. Blige. While the performance didn’t disappoint, the contest had a lot of hype to live up to.
Former NBA dunk contestant Kenny “The Jet” Smith made a bold claim regarding the favorite to win the contest, Jalen Green, stating that he felt Green was more of an in-game dunker.
“I wouldn’t jump with him in a game,” Smith said. “But I’d jump with him in a dunk contest.
Round 1
Cole Anthony started the contest with a score of 40. He utilized his dad, former NBA player Greg Anthony, as he completed a windmill dunk in Timberland boots. His score may have been affected by him taking a couple of wind-ups before completing the dunk. In his second dunk of the round, Anthony failed to complete a dunk, resulting in a 30 for a total of 70.
Juan Toscano-Anderson of the Warriors followed Anthony by jumping over teammate and all-star Andrew Wiggins while windmilling. He finished it in a single attempt and earned a score of 44. He channeled his inner Vince Carter for his second dunk, completing a 360-windmill on the second attempt for a 43 and total of 87, good enough to reach the final round.
Creativity took its place in the contest through Obi Toppin, who leaped over a man while putting the ball around his back before dunking. Three attempts landed him at a score of 44. Toppin scored 46 in his second dunk, throwing it off the backboard and putting it between his legs as he twisted for the reverse slam. Ninety total point landed him in the final with the highest first-round score.
Green looked to separate himself early. The rookie out of Houston tried to catch an alley-oop off the side of the backboard from teammate Josh Christopher and put it through his legs. However, after a few attempts it seemed that dunk wouldn’t go down. He took an alternative route by throwing down a safe alley-oop windmill that scored him 38. Green immediately followed due to having the lowest score through the first four dunks. After making a 360-between-the-legs dunk on his second attempt, he scored at 45 for a first-round total of 83.
Final Round
Toscano-Anderson was up first, and although he made the dunk on his first attempt, it wasn’t what he planned. Attempting to windmill and put his arm in the rim, otherwise known as a “honey dip,” he was only able to do a windmill without the honey dip. The dunk left him visibly disappointed and earned him a 39. He followed by failing to complete his second dunk, earning him a 30 for his efforts.
Toppin aborted mission on his first attempt of the round and elected to toss it off the backboard before putting it through his legs and throwing down a ferocious dunk that earned a 45 from the judges. With Toscano-Anderson scoring as he did, all Topping had to do was make a dunk and the win would be his.
The second-year man out of New York showed a lot of pride, though. Despite playing it safe for his previous dunk, he wanted to finish what he started. Toppin sealed the deal with a never-before-seen dunk in which he put it through his legs and tapped it off the backboard before flushing the dunk which scored at 47, the highest of the night.
“I definitely stuck with my strategy,” Toppin said. “All these guys are great dunkers. We just came out here, had fun, and put on a show.”
Up Next
The 71st NBA All-Star Game will take place Sunday at 8 p.m. EST on TNT.
