Chương 353: Chapter 353: Three-Point Contest
In two days, the highly anticipated All-Star Weekend would begin.
This year's All-Star starters were:
West: Dong, Huang Yu, Durant, Griffin, and Love.
East: James, Anthony, George, Wade, and Irving.
About half a month ago, the All-Star reserves were also announced.
The Western Conference All-Star reserves were: Harden, Howard, Curry, Westbrook, Lillard, Davis, and Aldridge.
The Eastern Conference All-Star reserves were: Bosh, Paul, Noah, DeRozan, Millsap, Johnson, and Wall.
The biggest highlight of this year's All-Star was the selection of two Chinese players, Dong and Huang Yu, as starters. However, there were also some disappointments, as players like Kobe and Duncan from the West and Rose from the East missed out due to injuries. Two fan favorites from the Spurs, Parker and Duncan, also failed to make the All-Star team.
This lineup also reflected the dominance of the Heat's Big Three, as all five of them made the All-Star team. In the West, the Suns had three players selected with Dong, Durant, and Curry, and if not for Kobe's injury, the Lakers might have had three players as well.
Apart from the Suns and Lakers, the only other Western team with two All-Stars was the Trail Blazers, with Lillard and Aldridge.
...
In addition to the All-Star Game, some Suns players were also participating in other events during All-Star Weekend.
Green was taking part in the Rookie Challenge, representing the sophomores against the rookies. Besides the Rookie Challenge, Green had also signed up for the Three-Point Contest.
Dong couldn't understand why Green had the courage to do this.
Just like Bynum last year, who had participated in the Three-Point Contest and set a record for the lowest score. It remained to be seen if Green would break this record this year.
Apart from Green, Curry had also signed up for the Three-Point Contest. He had lost to Dong last year, and with Dong not participating this year, Curry aimed to win the Three-Point Contest.
Dong, on the other hand, had only signed up for the Dunk Contest this year. The biggest highlight of the Dunk Contest was that James had also signed up, setting up a direct confrontation between Dong and James.
Since entering the league, James had repeatedly talked about participating in the Dunk Contest, and he was finally making good on his promise.
This year's Dunk Contest was arguably the most anticipated event of All-Star Weekend, as Dong and James would go head-to-head. Over the past few years, James' biggest rival had been Dong, who could be considered James' nightmare. Dong's presence had even threatened James' status as the best player in the league.
In this year's Dunk Contest, the two would face off in a different format.
Overall, James faced more pressure, as Dong was the reigning Dunk Contest champion, having already proven himself in the event.
Just looking at Dong's performance in last year's Dunk Contest, it would be extremely difficult to outdo him in terms of dunking.
...
February 15th.
The first day of All-Star Weekend began with the Rookie Challenge.
The sophomore team, led by Lillard, Davis, Green, and Middleton, easily defeated the rookie team, and Lillard was named the MVP of the Rookie Challenge.
February 16th.
There were three individual events on this day: the Skills Challenge, Three-Point Contest, and Dunk Contest.
The most anticipated event was undoubtedly the Dunk Contest, but it was the Skills Challenge that kicked things off.
This year's Skills Challenge featured players like Lillard, Dragic, Adetokunbo, and MCW. The competition was intense, and Lillard won by a slim margin of 0.1 points, claiming the Skills Challenge championship.
Many stars and journalists were watching from the sidelines.
After winning the Skills Challenge, Lillard held the trophy and made a bold statement: "This year, I signed up for the Skills Challenge, Three-Point Contest, and Dunk Contest. Last year, Dong won all three events. I want to achieve the same feat this year."
As soon as Lillard finished speaking, the cameras turned to Dong.
Dong touched his nose and smiled. "Good luck, young man!"
Lillard looked at Dong. "My idol used to be Iverson, but now it's you. Since Iverson retired, I want to outperform you."
"Hmm~"
Dong nodded, appreciating Lillard's courage. He added, "In life, you must have dreams. Without dreams, what's the difference between you and a salted fish..."
Green, who was nearby, pouted. "You want to beat Brother Dong? I'll show you in the Three-Point Contest later!"
After the Skills Challenge, it was time for the Three-Point Contest.
This year, six players signed up for the Three-Point Contest: Irving, Johnson, Curry, Lillard, Love, and Green.
It was no wonder Lillard had such confidence, as this year's Lillard was very similar to last year's Dong.
Last year, Dong was in his second year in the league, and not only did he make the All-Star team, but he also signed up for the Skills Challenge, Three-Point Contest, and Dunk Contest.
This year, Lillard also made the All-Star team as a reserve for the West, and he had even more events to participate in than Dong. Just yesterday, he won the MVP of the Rookie Challenge. If he could win the Skills Challenge, Three-Point Contest, and Dunk Contest, wouldn't he be just like Dong?
Curry, Green, and the others had already started warming up on the sidelines.
This year's Three-Point Contest was slightly different from last year's. There were five shooting spots, each with four one-point balls and a money ball worth two points. The difference was that one of the spots had five money balls worth two points each, so the total possible score was 34 points.
The players had one minute to complete their shots at all five spots.
The Three-Point Contest also had a preliminary round and a final round, with the top two scorers in the preliminary round advancing to the final.
Johnson was the first to shoot. He didn't perform well at the first two spots, making only three shots for 4 points. He adjusted at the arc and made three more shots, but his shooting at the remaining two spots was still subpar.
In the end, Johnson's score was 17 points, which was not enough to advance to the final.
Irving was the second shooter. He was a good three-point shooter, and at the first two spots, he missed only one shot. At the arc, his performance dropped, and he missed three shots. But at the last spot, he made the money ball, and with 13 seconds left, he had scored 16 points.
Irving's five money balls were placed at the last spot, and he had plenty of time to shoot, 13 seconds. He adjusted his position and picked up the first ball.
Swish!!!
The ball swished through the net.
Swish!!!
Swish!!!
Swish!!!
Swish!!!
He then made the second, third, and fifth balls, scoring a total of 24 points, a very safe score.
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