71. All-Star Weekend this year is played in the Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse, which is played by basketball players on a daily basis. Clorox Rising Stars, i.e. the duel of the rising stars of the NBA, took place with the participation of this season’s NBA debutants, second years and players from the G League Ignite.
Clorox Rising Stars in a new formula
This time it was played in a new formula. Instead of two teams as in previous years, there are now four teams. They were composed of seven players. The teams were led by former NBA players Isiah Thomas, Rick Barry, James Worthy and Gary Payton.
In addition, apart from playing one match, this time there were as many as three. Two semi-final clashes were played to 50 points and the final duel to 25. Why so many points? 50 + 25 makes 75, and this is the anniversary of the NBA’s founding this season.
Interestingly, all three matches ended with free throws. In the first semi-final, Isiah Thomas’ team defeated James Worthy’s team 50:49. In the second semi-final, Rick Barry’s team won 50:48 with Payton’s team.
Barry’s team turned out to be better in the final. He defeated Thomas’s team 25:20. In the final, at 21:20, Cade Cunningham, the quarterback, selected with the first number in the draft last year, scored three points. A moment later, the result was decided from free kicks by Franz Wagner, winger of Orlando Magic.
– I am pleased with the change of the competition format. It was great fun. Great colleagues, coaches, great atmosphere. I definitely had a lot of fun, said Cade Cunningham after the game. He was named the MVP of the final match.
Before the start of the final match, a new competition took place during the All-Star Weekend. The players had to hit from five locations as quickly as possible. The best duo was Tyrese Haliburton () and Desmond Bane (Memphis Grizzlies). They did it in 39.1 seconds.
There will be a lot of competitions at the NBA All-Star Weekend on Saturday. The most important ones are the dunks and three-point shooters competitions. On the night of Sunday to Monday at 2 Polish time will start the 71st ever Match of the Stars. The team will face the team of Lebron James.
Source: Sport
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