Ross Is Slam Dunk Champ; Irving Wins 3-Point Contest
HOUSTON (AP) — Toronto rookie Terrence Ross beat defending champion Jeremy Evans to win the slam-dunk contest during All-Star Saturday night.
The 6-foot-6 Ross jumped over a ball boy, whipped the ball between his legs and threw down a one-handed slam to clinch the victory. Earlier, Ross donned a Vince Carter jersey, took a lob from high-school teammate Terrence Jones off the edge of the backboard, spun in the air, and then slammed home another one-hander.
Evans jumped over a painted portrait of himself and hurdled Dallas Mavericks forward Dahntay Jones for a dunk in his final round.
Ross earned 58 percent of the fan vote in the championship round. The first round was judged by former Houston Rockets Hakeem Olajuwon, Clyde Drexler, Dikembe Mutombo, Rudy Tomjanovich and Yao Ming.
Before the dunk contest, Cleveland point guard Kyrie Irving beat San Antonio's Matt Bonner to win the 3-point contest.
Irving, who will play in his first All-Star game on Sunday, started 7 for 7 in the final round and finished with 23 points — two shy of the record shared by Craig Hodges and Jason Kapono. Bonner finished with 20 points in the final round.
Players had one minute to take 25 3-point shots from five positions around the arc. Bonner had the highest score of the six players in the first round (19). Irving, who also played in Friday night's Rising Stars Challenge, had 18 points in the first round.
Earlier, Portland rookie Damian Lillard won the Skills Competition and the trio of Chris Bosh, Swin Cash and Dominique Wilkins won the Shooting Stars event.
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