Obi Toppin wins the dunk contest at the NBA’s All-Star weekend in Cleveland. Karl-Anthony Towns triumphs in the three-point contest.
Towns, the Minnesota Timberwolves centre, edged Trae Young of the Atlanta Hawks and Luke Kennard of the Los Angeles Clippers in the final round of the show event on Saturday (local time), setting a Finals record with 29 points. Young and Kennard finished with 26 points apiece.
In the three-point contest, competitors must each shoot five threes from five different positions and hit as many distance shots as possible within one minute. “I think among great players, I’m one of the best shooters in NBA history – I needed this trophy to prove that,” Towns said. At 6-foot-11, the 26-year-old is the second tallest player to win the three-peat. Only Dirk Nowitzki, who was the top three-shooter in 2006, was taller at 2.13 metres.
Towns honoured his late mother at the competition by wearing a necklace of hers. Towns’ mother had died in April 2020 from the effects of the coronavirus. Usually, the NBA prohibits the wearing of jewellery.
New York Knicks’ Obi Toppin claimed victory in dunk contest marred by conspicuous number of mistakes. The 23-year-old outplayed Juan Toscano-Anderson of the Golden State Warriors in the final and impressed the judges the most. Toppin scored 47 out of a possible 50 points on his final dunk when he pulled the ball through his legs after bouncing, tapped the device against the board with one hand and dunked through the hoop immediately afterwards.
In the third competition, the so-called Skills Challenge, Jarrett Allen, Darius Garland and Evan Mobley prevailed as Team Cavs. In the play-off final against a team of rookies, the Cavs hit a shot from the centre line the fastest. The Skills Challenge combines dribbling, passing and throwing actions.
