Tatum, Harris, Diallo win titles at All-star Saturday
CHARLOTTE, N.C.» Boston’s Jayson Tatum got his gamewinner from midcourt. Oklahoma City’s Hamidou Diallo went over Shaquille O’neal to help win his trophy. And Brooklyn’s Joe Harris made all the shots at all the right times to deny Golden State’s Stephen Curry a storybook ending in his hometown.
Say this for All-star Saturday Night: It had flair.
Tatum won the skills competition, Diallo put on a show for the league’s annual slam dunk title, and in easily the most anticipated part of the night Harris held off the Warriors’ shooting star for the win in the 3point contest.
Harris made 12 straight shots in the final round and went a staggering 15 for 18 on moneyballs — the shots worth the most — to win the 3-point title. He finished with 26 of a possible 34 points in the final round, beating Curry by two. Sacramento’s Buddy Hield was third with 19 final-round points.
“Obviously, it’s incredible,” Harris said. “Steph is the greatest shooter of all time. But, again, shooting off of the rack for a minute is not indicative of being a better shooter than Steph Curry. I don’t want anybody to get it twisted at all.”
The night started with the skills challenge, and Tatum edged Atlanta rookie Trae Young in the final by making a shot from just past the midcourt stripe. Young was ahead of Tatum in the competition where players have to execute some passes, a layup and then a 3-pointer. So fearing that Young would make his 3 before Tatum could even get one off, he let it fly from about 50 feet.
“I didn’t want to give Trae a chance,” Tatum said. “I honestly didn’t know I was going to hit the shot, but I had to give myself a chance and throw it up there. It worked out for the best.”
When the skills challenge and 3-point contest cleared the floor, that left the dunkers. The slam dunk contest field of four — New York’s Dennis Smith Jr., Oklahoma City’s Hamidou Diallo, Charlotte’s Miles Bridges and Atlanta’s John Collins — was pared to Diallo and Smith for the final.
Diallo pulled off a dunk that will be talked about for years in the first round — dunking over Shaquille O’neal, hanging on the rim by his elbow, then tearing open his jersey to reveal a “Superman” shirt underneath.
Smith leapfrogged Miami’s Dwyane Wade and took a lob from Stephen Curry to give himself a chance with his last dunk, getting a perfect score from the judges — and a round of boos from the crowd, many of whom weren’t that impressed.
That left Diallo as the night’s final participant. Diallo got rapper Quavo out of the crowd, put the ball in his hands, then grabbed it as he went airborne for the slam that sealed the title.
“Atmosphere was great,” Diallo said. “Just came out and gave the crowd what it was looking for.”