All-Star Weekend

Well, All-Star weekend has come to a close, so I'll take you through a quick recap of the events.

The Slam Dunk contest was it's usual high excitement low skill affair.  None of the major NBA stars participated Saturday or for the years before.  Many executives want to get rid of the event since many participants don't deserve to make it, but I'll take you through the highlights.  Kenneth Faried went off the backboard and through the legs for all 10's but did not advance.  James Flight White ran through a line of flight attendants to dunk from the free throw line but choked the first two times and dunked from a foot past the line on the third.  But it all came down to Jeremy Evans and Terrence Ross.  Evans started off by reverse dunking over former jazz center Mark Eden.  He also dunked over a painting of himself then signed it but it wasn't enough.  Terrence Ross the champion started with a 360 windmill from behind the backboard and sealed the deal with a through the legs dunk over a kid.

The participants for the skills challenge were Jeff Teague, Brandon Knight, and Jrue Holliday for the East (all new participants) and Jeremy Lin, Damian Lillard, and Tony Parker for the west. But the contest started off on a bad note as Teague missed shot after shot and wasn't much better with the passing.  But Brandon knight finished in almost half his time to give the East a good chance.  But Jrue Holiday finished with an even better score of 29 seconds putting the pressure on for the west.  Lin started off the West with a okay 35 But Lillard backed him up with a first place 28 allowing Tony Parker to relax.  But Tony choked and ended up with a 48 putting the East in the lead.  Now time for the championship round Lillard facing off against Holliday.  Jrue finished with a 35 second time worse than his first and Lillard took advantage of that finishing with a 29 to take the trophy.

The celebrity game was it's usual low scoring joking affair and defending Mvp Kevin Hart showed his skill putting up 8 points 6 assists and (kind of) beating Usain Bolt in a race.  He picked up his second Mvp and led the West to a 58-38 win.  The game is fun television and a good way to kick off the weekend.

In the three-point contest the East squad consisted of Paul George, Steve Novak, and Kyrie Erving and the West consisted of Stephan Curry, Ryan Anderson and Matt Bonner.  The West bested the East 54-45 in the first round and Erving took it away for the East in a 23-20 win over Bonner in the final round.

And finally the big event, the NBA All-Star game.  The game was dominated by point guards: Kyrie Erving and Chris Paul putting up outstanding numbers and keeping the D guessing.  But the big men were having fun too Blake Griffin threw down at least 5 ally-oop's and the Dunking was more impressive than the dunk contest.  Even Kobe passed last night ending up with 6 assists.  And even struggling center Dwight Howard shot a three. And immediately after KD stole the casual inbound and threw it down.  And Kobe kept tight on Lebron stuffing him twice including at the last possession.  But CP3 ended up with 20 points and 15 assists beating Durant's 30 points for Mvp honors and led the west to a 143-138 victory.