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The festivities began with the NBA Talent Challenge and Norris Cole participated along with seven other contestants. After his performance, it appeared Cole had the win on lockdown.
.@pg30_Cole killing it on the piano! #NBATalent https://t.co/r1mp11pxoU
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) February 13, 2016
However, Jeremy Evans was decided the winner through the fan votes casted of this inaugural event thanks to his incredible ability to sketch really well. Cole had to settle for second place.
.@JeremyEvans40 can draw! Wow! ✏️ #NBATalent pic.twitter.com/V9hnCcI8VB
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) February 13, 2016
An hour later, the Taco Bell Skills Challenge featuring Anthony Davis ensued. After taking an early lead when DeMarcus Cousins dribbled the ball off his foot, Davis was unable to make a three-pointer by the time Boogie splashed one home on his second attempt.
Cousins and Karl-Anthony Towns advanced from the bigs group during the first round, and C.J. McCollum and Isaiah Thomas from among the smalls.
After they both easily made the finals, Thomas and Towns had a photo finish for the trophy. Following a slew of missed three-pointers, Towns was able to find the bottom of the net first.
Almost immediately, he was tackled by DeMarcus Cousins and Anthony Davis -- the players probably overjoyed by the fact that not only the big men scored the win over the guards but because Towns also hailed from the University of Kentucky.
There will be a similar reaction when the center position is added back to the all-star ballot https://t.co/FAKXMVra1o
— Michael Lee (@MrMichaelLee) February 14, 2016
At 7'0", Karl-Anthony Towns is the tallest player to win the NBA Skills Challenge.
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) February 14, 2016
Previous tallest was 6'4" (Dwyane Wade & Jason Kidd).
Before the start of the real Three-Point Contest, Draymond Green and Kevin Hart squared off in their own three-point battle. Lo and behold, they each made 12 shots! (Does the result beg the question about whether Green is overrated? j/k)
Kevin Hart's one shining moment: https://t.co/rjqev7cUFZ https://t.co/IwM8fH09I9
— SB Nation (@SBNation) February 14, 2016
Unfortunately, Hart was still declared the loser because he failed to meet an important requirement.
You must be this tall to win the trophy.... pic.twitter.com/RG3FZxpBoP
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) February 14, 2016
During the first round of the Foot Locker Three-Point Contest, Klay Thompson posted the highest score with 22 points and James Harden, Devin Booker and J.J. Redick all tallied 20 points apiece.
No problem for Stephen Curry to advance, right? Well, he had 17 points as he headed to his final rack, all consisting of money balls, but he missed the first three! No worries, he made his final two shots. LOL!
When you make your last two shots to advance to the Three-Point Contest finals! #StephenCurry #SPLASH pic.twitter.com/PRLrFaIRt7
— GoldenStateWarriors (@warriors) February 14, 2016
Meanwhile, Booker advanced to meet the Splash Brothers in the finals after he emerged from the three-way tiebreaker between he, Harden and Redick.
In the final round, though, Booker went first and put up a very pedestrian 16 points. Next, Curry posted a very solid total of 23, yet it did leave Thompson an opening. Well, he seized it by scoring 27, making all five of his moneyballs!
.@Klaythompson seals the deal in #FootLockerThree Point Contest https://t.co/bBVyPeQX4p
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) February 14, 2016
The final event of the night was the Verizon NBA Slam Dunk Contest between Will Barton, Andre Drummond, Aaron Gordon and Zach LaVine, the defending champion.
Barton went first and scored a 44 for this dunk, but it likely should have scored higher. For some reason, Magic Johnson inexplicably gave it a 6!
Will Barton with the first #VerizonDunk! https://t.co/0PAL2Vowhn
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) February 14, 2016
Drummond followed with a 36. (It didn't help he had missed on his first two attempts.)
Drummond with the 36 on his first #VerizonDunk https://t.co/UzDzx4w4eo
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) February 14, 2016
Gordon converted his first dunk attempt and scored a 45.
All 9's for Aaron Gordon's first #VerizonDunk https://t.co/c8fITm10Bn
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) February 14, 2016
With the crowd still waiting to explode, Lavine gave them a reason to get excited. He scored a perfect 50 after this beauty.
All 10s to start off for Zach LaVine! #VerizonDunk https://t.co/Vpfdm7yQmY
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) February 14, 2016
Drummond's second go-round didn't fare much better with a score of 39, but the problem wasn't him. Rather, he had enlisted Steve Nash to creatively pass him the ball with his feet, but the former MVP wasn't able to connect on the first several tries. (Nash is renowned for his soccer skills.)
Steve Nash coming out of retirement for Andre Drummond's second dunk! #VerizonDunk https://t.co/8lcKQ5wpYn
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) February 14, 2016
Barton failed to slam through a second dunk attempt and was given a 30, the minimum score, regardless of whether the ball goes through the hoop or not.
Gordon's second dunk was quite impressive as he scored a 49. Shaquille O'Neal was the offending judge that only rewarded him a 9.
Oh okay Aaron Gordon! #VerizonDunk https://t.co/WSfrt7TadP
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) February 14, 2016
For LaVine's final attempt of the first round, he also scored a 49. Once again, Shaq failed to hand out a 10.
Oh man oh man! #VerizonDunk https://t.co/vj5qS9KxEJ
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) February 14, 2016
Not surprisingly, Gordon and LaVine met in the final, and boy, did they put on a show!
WOW! #VerizonDunk https://t.co/M9KDXiPPWa
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) February 14, 2016
Another 50! #VerizonDunk https://t.co/JMnLLISugy
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) February 14, 2016
Let that be like a 60... https://t.co/tX9cvD9iiI
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) February 14, 2016
It was nothing but 50's on all of their attempts! Thus, the dunk contest went to sudden death.
Like it's nothing! #VerizonDunk https://t.co/MwjuBt2M6o
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) February 14, 2016
Zach LaVine won't let his title slip away! #VerizonDunk https://t.co/oqAaCN4dWM
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) February 14, 2016
.@Double0AG is putting on a show https://t.co/f9LTMvpDR4
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) February 14, 2016
Zach LaVine seals the deal! #VerizonDunk https://t.co/cRnqITtSYu
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) February 14, 2016
In the last two dunks above, Gordon's jackknife earned him a 47 while LaVine scored his fourth 50 in a row during the final round. Consequently, Zach Lavine repeated as champion.
Drop the mic, the NBA Dunk competition is back. Although I felt Gordon was better prior to the dunk-off sudden death, LaVine was no slouch so we should all be able to sleep at night. Next time, though, let's just hand out two trophies because neither player should have walked away the loser.