Team USA versus Team World
The Weekend kicked off with Team World beating Team USA 155-124.
Skills Challenge
Philadelphia 76ers’ Joel Embiid was accused of cheating in Round 2 when he missed throwing the ball into the net and moved on to the next challenge in the round. But he lost to Lauri Markkanen who moved on to the final round anyway.
Congrats to Spencer Dinwiddie of the Brooklyn Nets for dominating Lauri Markkanen of the Chicago Bulls in the final round.
3-Point Contest
The 3-Point Contest was embarrassing for most. Especially for OKC’s Paul George who managed to just score 9. Rookie for Phoenix Suns, Devin Booker won the contest with 28 points. Previous winner and Splash brother from Golden State Warriors, Klay Thompson was the runner-up with 25 points.
The Slam Dunk Competition
The Slam Dunk Competition was not that exciting for me this year. Less gimmicks and lack of creativity. The most exciting moments were Pacers’ Victor Oladipo attempting to dunk in a Black Panther mask that he was probably blinded by and Larry Nance Jr of the LA Lakers pulling off the dunk his father did in the old 1984 Phoenix Suns jersey. His father, Larry Nance was present, also assisting him in the final dunks of the competition. Larry Nance was the inaugural winner of the Dunking competition in 1984.
It was rookie, Donovan Mitchell of the Utah Jazz who pulled off Vince Carter’s 360-jam dunk to win the competition. He wasn’t even supposed to be in the competition. He replaced injured Aaron Gordon of the Orlando Magic.
Kudos to Mitchell for showing some well needed showmanship. He jumped over Kevin Hart in the earlier round, which is not much of a task, but provided some comedy for the crowd. Kevin Hart wasn’t ready.
The Winning Slam Dunk
Watch “Donovan Mitchell With Vince Carter Dunk – Slam Dunk Contest | 2018 NBA All-Star Saturday Night” on YouTube here:
NBA All-Star Game
Team LeBron versus Team Stephen
Both Teams took the much-anticipated All-Star Game pretty seriously this year. Both teams played for Charity. Team LeBron’s chosen Organization was the After-School All-Stars, while Team Stephen’s chosen Organization was the Brotherhood Crusade. The winning team’s LA Community based Organization was to receive $350,000USD. The losing team’s Organization was to receive $150,000USD. The players also funded a pool of money, adding thousands more to the winner and the loser’s Organizations.
The referees took the game seriously as well this year. A lot of fouls were called and defense was increased majorly on both sides. It was a close game throughout, but Team Stephen led for the majority of the game. They were tied at 144 each with a minute and a half remaining and right up to 40.2s remaining. DeMar DeRozan of Team Stephen hit a free throw, then LeBron scored a lay up assisted by Kyrie Irving making it 146-145. But it was Russell Westbrook’s two-point shot assisted by Team Captain, LeBron James that sealed the deal with 10.7s remaining in the game. It was left up to Team Captain Stephen Curry to make the final 3-point shot to force overtime but he just couldn’t find any space to shoot and was forced to pass the ball to DeMar DeRozan who let off the shot but missed. It was probably after the buzzer anyway. Team LeBron wins! They won 148-145.
LeBron James won his 3rd MVP All-Star title with 29 points. Starter, DeRozan led with 21 points from Team Stephen. Damian Lillard had an impressive performance from Team Stephen’s bench, also scoring 21.
Biggest Loser of the Weekend
The biggest loser of the weekend for Suga though? Fergi! What was she thinking?! She sang the National Anthem like she was singing Santa Baby. It was awkward for everybody. Shame on you Fergi. Twitter ripped her apart.
Great All-Star Weekend though! See you next year!
By: Gabrielle Burgess
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