TORONTO — The Saturday night All-Star Weekend matchup everyone yearned for was defending champ Stephen Curry against fellow Warriors Splash Brother Klay Thompson. And that battle did not disappoint.
Nevertheless, that shooting display took a back seat to the Slam Dunk Contest, which has seen its share of the painfully dull, but reached new heights this year as the Timberwolves’ defending champ, Zach LaVine, held off the challenge of the Magic’s Aaron Gordon.
But LaVine needed three extra rounds to do it as the two young, acrobatic stars combined to rack up a ridiculous six consecutive perfect scores of 50 before Gordon got a 47 to LaVine’s 50 in third extra round.
“I was prepared for four [extra rounds]. To tell the truth, he came with something that no one else has done. He did two dunks that were just crazy with the mascots, jumping over them. We just kept pushing each other,” said LaVine, the MVP of the Rising Stars Game on Friday, who posted five perfect scores out of six, getting a 49 the one time he came up short.
“In my personal opinion, man, we did some things that nobody else did.”
LaVine beat Gordon when he soared from the foul line, went under his leg and dunked for his final 50.
Gordon would have won most years, displaying a couple dunks on which he leaped over the Magic mascot, one going under his legs — not between — and dunking.
“Out of my first four dunks, I think potentially I could have won. It could have gone either way,” Gordon said. “Zach’s an incredible dunker, he went through the legs from the free-throw line. That is insane. So off that dunk, you’ve got to give it to him. That’s why the trophy’s with him and not with me.”
LaVine continued Minnesota’s run of success: Timberwolves rookie Karl-Anthony Towns won the Skills Challenge on Saturday.
To no one’s surprise, a Splash Brother won the shootout. To a lot of people’s surprise, the winner was Thompson.
“It was like déjà vu last year,” said Thompson, who lost to Curry in the championship round in 2015. “Not gonna lie, I got nervous when he hit his first eight [in the final round] and I didn’t think he was going to miss.
“Back-to-back years for Splash Brothers, it’s pretty cool,” added Thompson, who made his final eight shots to claim the trophy .
“He definitely shot well tonight. I still think I can hold my own in the competition. But the way that he finished…was amazing,” said Curry, who eliminated Suns rookie Devin Booker in the three-man final round. “The pressure of knowing what number he had to hit and making five out of five was fun to watch.”
Shooting against Curry, the NBA’s 3-point leader, is a daily ritual for Thompson.
“We love to shoot against each other,” Thompson said. “You know, I’ve never been on a team with someone who shoots it better than me, so it’s a privilege to work with him
every day. He makes me that much better.”
No Hack-a-Shaq change
Commissioner Adam Silver held his customary press conference before the events, and the most intriguing item was that, despite 5 ½ times greater use by teams, there will be no change this season to the Hack-a-Shaq tactics. Silver does not like the tactic but sees no feasible way to change in-season. Any change would need Board of Governors approval but Silver claimed “the networks” and “fans” are opposed.
“Change will not be enacted this season. But it’s an issue that we’ve been studying for some time now,” said Silver who noted the competition committee recommended continuing to monitor the situation. “My personal view, as I said last week, is beginning to change. … I’m beginning to feel that a change needs to be made.”