Creativity was clearly the focus of this year’s Sprite Slam Dunk competition, leading up to it and during the competition itself. Imitation would not be accepted. If you didn’t bring something new to the contest, you would be staring at five NBA legends green cards with nothing but 8s on them.
Howard brought the spice tonight. And it wasn’t just spicy. It was down right impressive. Howard dominated both rounds of the competition, scoring 50s on both of his first round dunks and receiving 78 percent of the fans’ votes in the finals.
The key to Howard’s victory may have been that his two best dunks (the two he showed us in his YouTube video) were not in the same round.
Toronto Raptors guard Jason Kapono defended his title in this year’s Foot Locker Three-Point Shootout with 25 points, tying the all-time record set in 1986 by Mark Price, as part of NBA All-Star Saturday Night at New Orleans Arena.
Kapono became the first back-to-back winner of the Foot Locker Three-Point Shootout since Peja Stojakovic won the 2002 and 2003 titles. Kapono entered the final round facing Cleveland Cavaliers point guard Daniel Gibson, who finished in second place with 17 points, and Dallas Mavericks forward Dirk Nowitzki, who took third with 14.
Stojakovic, of the hometown New Orleans Hornets, also competed Saturday night along with Richard Hamilton of the Detroit Pistons, two-time MVP Steve Nash of the Phoenix Suns.
For his first run through the obstacle course of the PlayStation® Skills Challenge, Utah Jazz point guard Deron Williams said he was a little nervous. He shook off those jitters very quickly. After advancing to the final round, Williams put together a flawless performance - no missed shots, every pass through the hoops - and set a record time for the final round at NBA All-Star Saturday Night, winning another duel with perennial rival Chris Paul.
Not moving at full speed, Williams clocked 31.2 seconds in the first round. In the final round, he covered the course in 25.5 seconds, just one tick off the all-time mark set by Steve Nash in the first round in 2005. Paul, the All-Star point guard of the host New Orleans Hornets, posted a strong final-round time of 31.2.
A pair of Eastern Conference All-Star guards were eliminated in the first round. Jason Kidd of the New Jersey Nets clocked 39.7 seconds and two-time defending champion Dwyane Wade of the Miami Heat lost his dribble and timed 53.9 seconds. Paul had the best first-round time at 29.9.
Tim Duncan and David Robinson are no strangers to winning with one another, so, with the added help of San Antonio Silver Stars sharpshooter Becky Hammon, it’s no wonder they won yet another crown. After an impressive run in the first round, Team San Antonio took care of business in the finals of the 2008 Haier Shooting Stars challenge against Team Chicago, as Duncan drained a half-court shot to give the Texas threesome a time of 35.8 seconds.
Tim Duncan and Team San Antonio took this year’s Shooting Stars title on Saturday.Deron Williams grabbed this year’s PlayStation Skills Challenge title in record time Saturday. Jason Kapono successfully defended his Three-Point Shootout title Saturday. He dunked. You decided, Dwight Howard beat Gerald Green in Sprite Slam Dunk contest.
