Carmelo Anthony was asked for a prediction in the NBA All-Star Three-Point Contest, and while he didn’t give a victor, he had a word of advice for the losers, whom he figured would be everyone other than the Warriors’ “Splash Brothers”, Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson.
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Then it was the three-pointing shooting contest, or in the case of last year’s and this year’s event, the “Steph and Klay Trey Show” starring defending champion Curry again trying to fend-off his “Splendid-Shooting-Dub-Duo” sidekick Thompson as he had to do in 2015 to emerge the victor.
Did you happen to catch Jerry West with U.S. President Barack Obama during the Golden State Warriors’ visit to the Nation’s Capital?
LaVine decided matters with a flying between-the-legs one-handed dunk with a takeoff just inside the free-throw line. “I’m not going to lie, I got nervous when he hit his first eight, and I didn’t think he was going to miss”. “So I’m just happy I caught him on an off night”.
The six-foot-five LaVine, who won as a 19-year-old rookie last year, joins Michael Jordan (1987-88), Jason Richardson (2002-03) and Nate Robinson (2009-10) as the only back-to-back dunk winners. Silver does not like the tactic but sees no feasible way to change in-season. “Back-to-back years for Splash Brothers, it’s pretty cool”.
Phoenix rookie Devin Booker was third, with 16 points in the final round.
Houston’s James Harden, Los Angeles Clippers’ J.J. Redick, Milwaukee’s Khris Middleton, Portland’s C.J. McCollum and Toronto’s Kyle Lowry were eliminated in the preliminary round.
Stephen Curry said this was probably his last three-point competition.
Thompson and Curry – two major players for the Warriors – entered the contest as favourites, and they lived up to the expectations, sending a sell-out crowd at Air Canada Centre into a frenzy.
Towns beat Boston Celtics point guard Isaiah Thomas to win the Skills Challenge, further validating the evolution of the big man from a plodding post player to a playmaking force. “That’s fine. I’ll play the underdog for a night”. But Thompson, too, is on pace to set a career-high for 3-pointers made.
Minnesota Timberwolves’ Zach LaVine slam dunks the ball during the National Basketball Association all-star skills competition in Toronto on Saturday, Feb. 13, 2016.
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No, the Warriors don’t exactly need MJ’s permission to continue tenderizing the opposition to a historic degree, and no, this doesn’t necessarily constitute Jordan admitting that this year’s Warriors are a better team than his Bulls, or anything like that.
