Banchero helps Team Pau take Rising Stars
Paolo Banchero will be leaving Salt Lake City with bragging rights among the Orlando Magic’s young forwards.
Banchero and Team Pau won the Rising Stars competition Friday as part of All-Star weekend, beating Team Joakim 25-20 in the tournament’s championship matchup.
Pelicans guard Jose Alvarado, who won tournament MVP, knocked down the game-winning shot for Team Pau.
Banchero finished with 4 points, one block and one steal in the championship game.
Banchero and Team Pau beat Team Deron, with Magic secondyear forward Franz Wagner, 40-25 in the semifinals. Banchero had 9 points (4-for-6 shooting, 1 of 2 on 3s) and five rebounds in the first matchup while Wagner went scoreless (0-of-3) and had three rebounds.
Alvarado scored 13 points in the opening game.
Team Joakim beat Team Terry 40-32 in the semifinals to advance to the championship game.
The Rising Stars format, which was altered last season, featured four seven-player teams competing in a mini-tournament of three games (two semifinal games and one championship contest) instead of a single exhibition as in previous years.
The pool of 28 players for Rising Stars consisted of 11 rookies, 10 second-year NBA players and seven G League players.
Former NBA stars Pau Gasol, Deron Williams, Joakim Noah and Jason Terry served as honorary coaches for the tournament.
The 21 NBA players were drafted onto three seven-player teams by Gasol, Noah and Williams. The G League players were the fourth team and coached by Terry.
Banchero also competed Saturday’s Skills Challenge. in