On Saturday night, the NBA's All Star weekend featured the annual trio of fan favorite competitions: the 3-Point Contest; Slam Dunk Contest and the Skills Competition.
First up, Spencer Dinwiddie of the Brooklyn Nets claimed the title in the Skills Competition, as the LA-native took advantage of being close to home.
"I'm not actually from the valley," Dinwiddie said when asked about being from Woodland Hills. "I just went to school out there. I'm actually from L.A."
After Dinwiddie cleared the court, the festivities turned to the sharp shooting talents in the league. The three-point contest featured another hometown hopeful in Paul George of the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Larry Nance Sr and Larry Nance Jr
Side by side pic.twitter.com/5O487kHV84— CJ Fogler (@cjzero) February 18, 2018
Unfortunately, George threw up blanks and promptly exited the competition in the opening round. LA Clippers forward Tobias Harris, though, caught fire in the opening round and joined Klay Thompson and Devin Booker into the final round of the sharp shooting contest.
Entering the night as the favorite, Thompson recorded a strong score of 25 points, but Booker's record tally of 28 gave the Phoenix Suns guard the three-point shooting title.
"I'm going dunk contest next," Booker joked after the victory. "No, I'm just kidding. No, you know, obviously, hopefully I can come back and maybe win it again."
Sideline view of Larry Nance's first dunk. pic.twitter.com/dpJxTXXVjM— RealGM (@RealGM) February 18, 2018
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Finally, the night concluded with the highly anticipated Slam Dunk contest. Former Laker Larry Nance Jr., who was traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers at the NBA Trade Deadline, changed into his dad's old Phoenix Suns jersey for his first dunk of the night. Nance's father, who was in attendance, won the first ever Slam Dunk Contest and appreciated his son recreating pop's classic dunk.
"It was awesome," Nance said about mimicking his father in front of an international audience. "Very cool moment for my family."
Utah Jazz rookie Donovan Mitchell took the lead after the first round, with Nance finishing second and qualifying for the final round.
Dennis Smith Jr. is on something DIFFERENT �� (via @dallasmavs) pic.twitter.com/0dHexUu0zb— SLAM Magazine (@SLAMonline) February 18, 2018
In the final round, Mitchell and Nance went head-to-head, and both players put up 50-point perfect dunks. Mitchell eventually claimed the victory with a 360 dunk that gave him a two-point edge in the final round: 98-96.
Double tap off the glass for Larry Nance pic.twitter.com/nPwtPwZDSD— CJ Fogler (@cjzero) February 18, 2018