NBA All-Star Weekend Sunday is officially in the books, with all events taking place in one night in an effort to minimize the risk of COVID-19. The festivities began with Indiana Pacers striker Domantas Sabonis winning the Skills Challenge and Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry taking the 3-point contest home.
At the break of the 2021 NBA All-Star Game, Portland Trail Blazers guard Anfernee Simons won the Slam Dunk Contest before Team LeBron took off for a 170-150 victory over Team Durant to end the night. Overall it was a very successful event considering the limitations.
Now we are going to distribute some winners and losers, both literal and figurative.
It is usually a good sign that you have made a decent game if you don’t miss a shot – especially when you hit 16 of them. Giannis got a perfect 16 out of 16 on the field, including 3 out of 3 from a long distance (of course, two of them bet, but still count) on the way to 35 points and MVP honors from the All-Star Game. Giannis was also the chatty MVP of the court, as his microphone moments produced a lot of entertainment.
Antetokounmpo has acquired a lot of equipment in the last few seasons, and now he has one more trophy to add to the mantle.
LeBron has been using #washedKing as a motivator on Twitter for a few years, and is largely a sense of his own creation. However, with lost dunks like the one he had in the first quarter of Sunday’s All-Star Game, it might become more of a reality.
Honestly, he may have missed it on purpose just to be able to claim, “everyone said I was on the other side of the hill!” after the Lakers won a big series of playoffs in a few months. That LeBron … always one step ahead.
He scored just four points in 2-by-7 shots in 12 minutes, then decided not to take the court in the second half when his team moved on to victory. LeBron certainly has nothing to prove to anyone in terms of his basketball career, but Sunday night was definitely a failure.
Winner: Stephen Curry
Everyone knows that Stephen Curry is the greatest sniper in NBA history, but it’s still a wonder to see him work. Curry had an absolute showing in both rounds in the 3-point contest, beating Mike Conley on his last chance in the final round:
People who don’t understand art should watch Curry throw the ball and try to explain why tears are streaming down their faces. He continued his absurdity during the All-Star game, hitting several shots from inside the half-court and one legitimately from the midfield in a battle with teammate Damian Lillard just before the break.
Oh yes, and he also threw a two-handed dunk to the ground, for those who may not know that he can still get up.
Curry finished with 28 points out of 8 out of 16 3-point shots in 21 minutes. In a season of ups and downs for the Warriors, it must have been nice to be able to lift a trophy again and put on a show for the fans.
A tough question for the two 76ers All-Stars, who were unable to participate on Sunday after their barber reportedly tested positive for COVID-19. The 76ers are the leaders of the Eastern Conference and Embiid is the favorite for MVP, so both players would probably have liked to show their skills on the national scene. It just shows how even the most banal activities off the court can put players at risk.
Winner: Damian Lillard
One of the best things about the Elam ending is that there is always a chance to win the game. Last year’s All-Star Game was an amazing free throw, but this time we got the winner we deserved when Damian Lillard stepped up from midfield to give Team LeBron the victory:
It was an exclamation point in an incredible game in which he scored 32 points out of 8 out of 16 out of 3 points, many of which came from more than 30 feet. Dame is having a season of the caliber of MVP and showed all her talents on Sunday.
Loser: Dunk Contest judges
All of the judges at this year’s Dunk Contest were previous winners, so there was some optimism that they would do a better job than in other years. It’s not the case. Cassius Stanley was stolen on his first try, with all nines, which is great if you want to set the standard that a 10 is not easy to win. But then they gave Obi Toppin’s much lower dunk multiple 10s, and the kangaroo court came into session.
Ultimately, Anfernee Simons won with several impressive displays of uprightness, but the trial was all over the place. Well, there’s always the next year.
Winner: Mike Conley
Not only did Conley lose the title of “best player who never made an All-Star team” when he replaced Devin Booker, but he also had an impressive display in place of Booker in the 3-Point Contest. Conley came face to face with Curry, putting pressure on him with a 27th place in the final round, before losing on Steph’s last shot.
Conley won the HORSE competition during last summer’s hiatus (remember that?), And he almost got the epic win on Sunday.
Winner: Gladys Knight
The national anthems of the All-Star Game have a varied history, to say the least, so it was refreshing to see living legend Gladys Knight beat him on Sunday. It would be impressive for anyone to do what she did, but when you add the fact that she still screams at 76, she deserves even more respect.
Larry Bird. Brent Barry. If you plan to keep warm during the competition, you better win. Luka Doncic did the opposite of that, blowing two consecutive single passes through his chest en route to an embarrassing Skills Challenge defeat for eventual champion Domantas Sabonis.
Apparently, he didn’t even warm up for the competition, which may be why he continued to use his warm-ups during the race.
Luka is always having fun on the court, but maybe he should take things a little more seriously next time.
Winner: Great versatile men
Once again, the new generation of big man was on display during the Skills Challenge, with Domantas Sabonis becoming the fifth unarmed in the past six seasons to win the competition.
Nikola Vucevic also had a good performance, beating Robert Covington in the first round and upsetting Chris Paul before losing to Sabonis in the final. If you needed any confirmation that the centers are as qualified as the other players on the court, you would receive it on Sunday.