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Date: 2/13/2016
Outlet: Ball Don't Lie
Author: Kelly Dwyer
Karl-Anthony Towns is your tallest-ever Skills Challenge winner
The NBA’s Skills Challenge was expanded to include big men in 2016, and if Saturday’s back and forth is any indication, the future is bright for this league’s tallest types.
And its shortest ones.
Minnesota Timberwolves center Karl-Anthony Towns became the second rookie (Damian Lillard, 2013) and by far the tallest NBA player to win the competition.
Towns knocked off 5-11 Boston Celtics All-Star Isaiah Thomas, who was one made three-pointer away from being the shortest player to ever win the event. KAT, at 7-feet tall, is also the youngest player to have ever won the Skills Challenge.
Towns beat out Golden State All-Star Draymond Green and Sacramento center DeMarcus Cousinsin the NBA’s unofficial “big” bracket before taking on the diminutive Thomas in the final round. The challenge asks that players dribble through obstacles before firing a 25-foot chest pass into a target, followed by a drive up court for a layup, and then a drive back to the other side for a three-pointer to cap things off.
KAT missed his first four three-pointers against Thomas before nailing one, immediately being mobbed by Green, Cousins, and fellow big man Anthony Davis (who fell to Cousins in the opening round; despite a Cousins mishandle in the obstacle series).
Thomas (who was the runner up in 2015 as well) made his way toward the final round by knocking off Denver Nuggets rookie Emmanuel Mudiay prior to topping Portland shooting guard C.J. McCollum, who beat Lakers second-year point guard Jordan Clarkson in the first round.
As noted in Dan Devine’s preview of the event, Towns (who shoots 37 percent from long range on the year) was Las Vegas’ longest shot to take the Skills Challenge.
Patrick Beverley, the Houston guard that won last season's contest, had to bow out due to an ankle injury.
Wolves Press Clippings
Date: 2/13/2016
Outlet: Dime Magazine
Author: Jack Winter
Karl-Anthony Towns And The Bigs Reign Supreme In A Thrilling Skills Challenge
It was David versus Goliath in the Taco Bell Skills Challenge, but the results didn’t align with scripture. In the event’s first bracket-style formatting that would inevitably pit a guard against a big man for the trophy, Karl-Anthony Towns won the event in dramatic fashion over Isaiah Thomason All-Star Saturday from Toronto.
Thomas and CJ McCollum advanced past Jordan Clarkson and Emmanuel Mudiay, respectively, with ease in the first round, showing the dribbling, passing, and shooting skills that make them such dynamic playmakers. The interior players, meanwhile, struggled compared to their more diminutive peers – at least initially.
Draymond Green held an easy lead over Towns after the Minnesota Timberwolves rookie misfired on each of his chest passes, but the Golden State Warriors chameleon ultimately lost because he missed a pair of triples. Towns, on the other hand, drained his second try. Davis held a similar lead over Cousins after the Sacramento Kings star fumbled the dribble, but the long-ball doomed him, too.
The champion made lite work of McCollum in the small-man semifinals. Why? McCollum, one of the most electric ball handlers in basketball, lost his dribble while making his way through the obstacles. Towns defeated Cousins with even greater ease, setting the stage for a championship matchup with Thomas – who stands some 15 inches shorter than his competitor.
Both finalists raced through the first legs of the last round, prompting a full-court foot race for the layup and ensuing three-point try on the other end of the floor. But the jumper doomed Thomas and Towns when it mattered most, as both players needed more than three tries to connect. Towns got the first look at his fourth try, though, splashing it through the hoop before Thomas could to take home the crown.
Basketball, some say, is a game no longer meant for big men. But if the Skills Challenge – not to mention his remarkable rookie season, of course – is any indication, Towns will lead a pack of seven-foot somethings that continue shifting the shape of the sport for years to come.
Wolves Press Clippings
Date: 2/13/2016
Outlet: Ball Don't Lie
Author: Eric Freeman
LaVine nabs Rising Stars MVP, Porzingis and Wiggins score big
Zach LaVine's big moment this All-Star Weekend was supposed to be his performance in Saturday's dunk contest. That's still likely to be the case, but the Minnesota Timberwolves guard offered a pretty excellent opening act with an MVP performance in Friday's BBVA Rising Stars Challenge.
LaVine scored 30 points to help lead Team USA to a 157-154 win over Team World in a characteristically defense-averse contest. He had plenty of opportunities for amazing dunks, although it did sometimes appear as if he was holding back so as not to give too much away of what he has planned for Saturday night.
Nevertheless, LaVine made it a point to assert himself all game long. That shouldn't come as a surprise, because he made it clear earlier in the day that he intended to capture MVP honors:
It should not come as a surprise that LaVine was not the only player to put up big numbers in a game that's never featured much defense. Team USA guards Jordan Clarkson (25 points on 8-of-20 FG) and Devin Booker (23 on 5-of-8 from deep) added notable lines in the win, but it was Team World who had more top-level individual performers. Kristaps Porzingis (30 points on 12-of-16 FG and 5-of-8 3FG), Andrew Wiggins (29 points on 13-of-15 FG), and Emmanuel Mudiay (30 points and 10 assists) were all efficient and put on great shows.
Gaudy scoring numbers aside, this was one of the most atypical games in the history of the event. It was a one-possession game in the final few possessions, which means that players and coaches began to take it very seriously. Team USA took a timeout to avoid a five-second call on an inbounds pass, and Team World fouled to extend the game on the proceeding play. Hell, there was even a replay review to decide a critical out-of-bounds call.
It was a long way from the elbow passes we're used to seeing. Thankfully, Jabari Parker restored sanity with a very fitting dagger — a dunk right in the face of Porzingis:
That was a close one. We almost had to treat the Rising Stars Challenge like a real basketball game.
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