Nets’ Harris knocks off Warriors’ Curry in All-Star 3-Point Contest
Thunder’s Diallo defeats Knicks’ Smith for Slam Dunk title
CHARLOTTE, Feb 17, (RTRS): Brooklyn Nets guard Joe Harris defeated Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry in the 3-Point Contest on AllStar Saturday Night at Spectrum Center.
Harris made nine in a row on the second and third racks and again mopped up on the moneyball rack with all five going in for a 26-point round. He reached the finals with 25 points in the opening round. rack has a potential value of 10 points.
Curry was the second-to-last shooter in the opening round, before defending champion Devin Booker of the Phoenix Suns finished with 23 to bow out, sending Curry, Hield and Harris to the finals.
Hield claimed the early first-round lead with 26 points with four made moneyballs on his final rack.
Harris set the bar high out of the gate to open the shooting. He drained all five of his shots on his final rack and made nine of his final 10 to rack up 25 points in the first round.
Toronto Raptors guard Danny Green nearly put himself in the finals with 23 points.
Seth Curry put up 16 points, sparked by a streak of four splashes in a row on his second rack, before Portland Blazers teammate Damian Lillard was credited with 17 points. Lillard was dropped from the leaderboard by Green.
“It’s like a dream come true coming out here,” said Seth Curry, a Charlotte native who is Stephen Curry’s brother. “I dreamed of being in the 3-Point Contest ... and putting on a show.”
Hometown favorite Kemba Walker of the Charlotte Hornets had 15 points, getting three of his five from the moneyball rack to go down. Dallas Mavericks forward Dirk Nowitzki, a former 3-point champion, ran out of gas and had 17 points.
After making his first three attempts, Milwaukee Bucks forward Khris Middleton had 11 points.
Rookie Hamidou Diallo showed off his imagination and 44-inch vertical leap to claim the NBA’s Slam Dunk Contest on Saturday.
The Oklahoma City Thunder guard needed a 43 to win on his second and last dunk of the finals to beat New York Knicks guard Dennis Smith Jr for the crown. Diallo called on rapper Quavo to hold the ball just above his head, sprinted from the right corner of the court and crammed a walk-off, two-hand jam. The dunk received a 45. “Atmosphere was great,” Diallo said. “I just came out and gave the crowd what they were looking for.”
There were props and propellers, guest appearances and perfect 50s, but in the end the night belonged to Diallo, a second-round pick out of Kentucky who was a five-star recruit out of high school.
“I was a little nervous,” Diallo said, adding that he would give the golden basketball trophy to his mom.
On his first finals dunk, Diallo was eye-to-rim, taking the ball off a bounce to the right side of the rim and authoritatively flushing it for a score of 43.
After a botched first dunk in the finals, Smith brought Dwyane Wade and Stephen Curry to the court. He stationed Wade in the middle of the lane facing the basket and Curry to Wade’s right.