Donovan Mitchell won the Slam Dunk Contest and presented two Dunks with a perfect score. In the final he leaves Larry Nance Jr. behind you. Devin Booker crowned himself the winner of the Three Point Contest and set a new record with 28 points. Spencer Dinwiddie wins the Skills Challenge because he beat Lauri Markkanen in the final.
Participants: Joel Embiid (Philadelphia 76ers), Al Horford (Boston Celtics), Lauri Markkanen (Chicago Bulls), Lou Williams (L. A.) Clippers), Jamal Murray (Denver Nuggets), Spencer Dinwiddie (Brooklyn Nets), Buddy Hield (Sacramento Kings), Andre Drummond (Detroit Pistons)
The skill-challenge was once a pure thing of the guards. Since its introduction in 2003 until 2015, a small player with the corresponding skills has always won, the participation of Big Man was a rarity. But with Karl-Anthony Towns and Kristap’s Porzinigis the Bigs triumphed two years in a row.
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The first half started with two groups. On one side the Bigs competed against each other, on the other side the Guards. Horford and Embiid started, with the Cameroonian losing his handling and having to make up a large backlog. However, the Celtics-Big gave away several threesomes, so Embiid still prevailed. In the duel between Markkanen and Drummond the Finn won, although Dre also splashed after the rookie had wet his threesome.
With the guards, on the other hand, Hield could not take advantage of an early advantage, Dinwiddie immediately sunk his distance throw and prevailed. Murray was thrilling, Lou Williams failed three times through the ring on the pass, but Murray put the threesome on the ring twice. When Sweet Lou approached the triad, the Canadian met.
The quarter-finals
Markkanen then again delivered an almost perfect lap, only once he missed the pass. Embiid, on the other hand, continued to run in spite of missing passport, so he would have been disqualified anyway. In the guards, Dinwiddie again showed no nerves (only 28.9 percent pullup-three this season) although he was again trailing the triad. Murray forgiven his triple again and the Guard of the Nets met promptly.
The semi-final
The finals featured the two best players so far. But Markkanen had problems to play the pass, while Dinwiddie made no mistake this time. He came to the three-line with a huge lead, but this time he forgiven. The second attempt, however, did not even reach the midline.
“I’m happy to win back the guards,”said the Nets playmaker after receiving the trophy,”I knew that Lauri would hit his threesome when he got to the perimeter. Luckily, I closed the bag before.”
Page 1: Taco Bell Skills Challenge
Page 2: JBL Three-Point Contest
Page 3: Verizon Slam Dunk Contest