The NBA All-Star weekend more than lived up to the hype this past weekend as the festivities made the trip north of the border to Toronto, Canada for the very first time. A relatively warm Canadian winter gave way to extreme cold temperatures for the weekend, but that wasn’t enough to put a damper on another memorable weekend. Here is a quick recap of the best of the best from the 2016 All-Star festivities.
LaVine Defends Dunk Title
The 2016 Slam Dunk contest was arguably the most memorable since the NBA All-Star weekend back in 2000 when former Raptors’ star Vince Carter won the competition. Orlando Magic sophomore Aaron Gordon produced easily the most incredible dunk ever by a runner-up in the competition, relying on mascots and hoverboards to add to the excitment, but it wasn’t enough to beat out the defending champion in Minnesota Timberwolves guard Zach LaVine. Gordon matched LaVine’s perfect scores throughout the competition, but in the final tiebreaker it was LaVine that ended it with a between-the-legs dunk from a step inside the free throw line. LaVine became just the fourth player in NBA history to win back-to-back Slam Dunk contests.
Thompson Wins Three-Point Competition
Klay Thompson won the battle of the Splash brothers in the three-point competition. Thompson hit his final eight shots to record 27 points in the final round of the competition and edge out his Golden State teammate Stephen Curry and Phoenix’s Devin Booker to win the competition. Curry, who was the defending champion, posted 23 points in the final round and while that was a record, Thompson had an incredible stretch to break that. Thompson made 19 of his 25 shots in that final round and finished with a ridiculous 37-for-50 mark, which was 74-percent of his three-point shot attempts. Meanwhile, Booker finished with 16 while fan-favorite Kyle Lowry (Toronto Raptors), J.J. Redick (Los Angeles Clippers) and Khris Middleton (Milwaukee Bucks) were eliminated in the early rounds.
Rookie Towns Wins Skills Competition
The favorite to win this year’s NBA Rookie of the Year award celebrated his first appearance at the NBA All-Star weekend by taking home some hardware. Minnesota Timberwolves’ center Karl-Anthony Towns beat out Boston Celtics guard Isaiah Thomas to win the Skills Challenge, making a statement in the first year the competition was open to frontcourt players. Towns was joined by DeMarcus Cousins, Draymond Green and Anthony Davis on the podium when he accepted the award as the big men stuck together in a statement after they proved they deserved to be there.
Westbrook Earns MVP; West Wins All-Star Game
Oklahoma City Thunder guard Russell Westbrook won the NBA All-Star Game MVP honors for the second straight year as the West registered a record-setting 196-173 win over the East. It’s interesting because many people were betting on Kobe Bryant to win the award with the assumption that he’d have a fantastic showing in his final All-Star Game. He ended up playing 26 minutes, which was the second-most on the Western Conference All-Stars, but his numbers were just never good enough to put him in contention for MVP conversation. He was at +150 favorite to win the award entering the night.
The two teams topped last year’s record mark with 269 combined points with Westbrook leading the way as he scored a team-high 31 points with eight rebounds, five assists and five steals in just 22 minutes of action. Meanwhile, Bryant closed out his final All-Star appearance with 10 points on 4-of-11 shooting with seven assists, six rebounds and a steal. Raptors’ teammates Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan combined for 32 points in the losing effort for the East, while Indiana Pacers’ guard Paul George posted a game-high 41 points on 16-for-26 shooting. George’s 41 points were just one shy of Wilt Chamberlain’s record of 42 (set in 1962), but the Western Conference All-Stars clearly realized that record was in doubt. They started to double-team George by the end of the game to make sure that he didn’t break the record on their watch. Overall, the pace and tempo helped make the game that much more exciting as the players wrapped up an exciting NBA All-Star weekend in style.
