Gordon claims shooting title
Robinson wins dunk contest
Houston’s Eric Gordon dethroned Golden State splash brother Klay Thompson as the NBA All-Star three-point contest champion.
And he did it in New Orleans, where he played the previous five seasons before leaving last summer in free agency.
Gordon’s score of 21 in a final-round tie-breaker defeated Cleveland’s Kyrie Irving, the 2013 winner who had 18. The pair had each finished with a score of 20 in the final round, meaning they each had to shoot 25 more balls to decide it.
Thompson was stunningly eliminated in the first round, missing a final shot from the corner that could have put him through ahead of Charlotte’s Kemba Walker.
Verizon Slam Dunk Contest: Glenn Robinson III of the Indiana Pacers won the slam dunk contest, beating Derrick Jones Jr. of the Phoenix Suns in the final round.
son of former Milwaukee Bucks forward Glenn Robinson, clinched the win with a perfect 50 on the final dunk of the night — going over three people for a reverse dunk and nearly touching his head on the rim in the process.
“This is just the beginning for me,” Robinson said.
Robinson started with a dunk where he leaped over Indiana teammate Paul George, grabbing the ball from the all-star before his slam that merited 44 points.
DeAndre Jordan of the Los Angeles Clippers and Aaron Gordon of the Orlando Magic were eliminated in the first round.
Taco Bell Skills Challenge: Big men continue to reign supreme in the NBA All-Star skills competition.
New York Knicks 7foot-3 forward Kristaps Porzingis won it, beating Utah’s Gordon Hayward in the final.
Those vanquished in earlier rounds included guards John Wall of Washington and Isaiah Thomas of Boston, both because they couldn’t make their initial threepointers required to close out the course before Hayward did.
Porzingis emerged from the big-men’s division that included the Pelicans’ Anthony Davis and Denver’s Nikola Jokic.
Porzingis and Hayward were neck and neck until the end of the course, but Porzingis hit his three-pointer first to end it.
D-League stars have their moment: Behind an MVP performance by Quinn Cook, the East team edged the West, 105100, in the NBA D-League all-star game at the SuRobinson, perdome.
Cook, the former Duke standout playing for the Canton Charge, led all scorers with 18 points. He also spread the wealth around with a game-high 12 assists.
Edy Tavares of the Mississauga, Ontario, Raptors 905 led all rebounders with 11.
Justin Harper of the Los Angeles D-Fenders paced the West with 17 points.
In the D-League skills competition, guard Scott Wood of the Santa Cruz Warriors won the threepoint shootout, while forward Troy Williams of the Iowa Energy took the slam dunk contest.