Silver praises players, referees for talks

LOS ANGELES — Commissioner Adam Silver lauded the NBA Players Association and the National Basketball Referees Association for meeting to discuss tensions between the two sides, and said the league “should be playing a very active role in bridging that gap.”

Silver said at his annual state of the NBA address that he didn’t know much about Saturday’s meeting but had seen a joint statement.

“I was pleased to see they focused on themes of respect and empathy,” he said. “It’s a great statement about the league that these stakeholders think it’s important enough and they have an obligation to the game that they should be sitting down and talking to each other.”

All-Star events

Rookie Donovan Mitchell of the Utah Jazz put on a show in the slam dunk contest to cap off NBA All-Star Saturday. Mitchell edged Larry Nance Jr. by two points, sealing his victory with a close approximation of the 360-degree spin dunk that Vince Carter used to win the 2000 contest. ... Devin Booker of the Phoenix Suns won the three-point contest with a record 28 points in the final round. He beat 2016 champion Klay Thompson of the Golden State Warriors and Tobias Harris of the Los Angeles Clippers. ... Spencer Dinwiddie of the Brooklyn Nets won the skills challenge, beating Lauri Markkanen of the Chicago Bulls in the final round.