NBA All-Star Saturday: 5 things we learned about Zach LaVine’s win and more

All-Star Saturday has been through some growing pains in recent years. It’s been dragged down by weird formats, boring execution and players who really had no business being there in the first place. But the 2015 version was notably different -- not everything went smoothly but it was fun from start to finish.

He did open with Quad City DJ’s to complete a serious Space Jam homage, but the most notable part of LaVine’s performance was its simplicity. The contest has been littered with unnecessary props and too many teammates in recent years, but LaVine brought it back to its roots and just slammed on the rim.

After LaVine threw those first two down, the rest of the contest was just a formality as we waited to give him the title. Those two back-to-back jams are as good as any dunk we’ve seen in a decade. There’s something to be said for nailing a dunk on the first attempt, and LaVine was flawless there. Even the best television shows aren’t quite as good if you accidentally read a spoiler before you watch it, but LaVine didn’t tip his hand for a second and left us all in disbelief, fearing for his safety as his head flew way too close to an unforgiving rim.

Of all the obviously terrible innovations the NBA has trotted out on Saturdays past -- last year’s dunk contest, cough cough -- they’ve finally found something that works really well. The “money rack,” introduced to the three-point competition last year, gives contestants an entire row of money ball shots that are worth double and even lets them choose where it goes. The added bit of strategy ends up being a game changer and adds a potential four extra points.

Curry absolutely used this to his advantage, hitting 15 of his 18 money ball attempts in two rounds to take home the three-point competition crown. At one point, he hit 13 straight shots in the second round, enough to propel him to a resounding victory and confirm his “best shooter in the NBA” credentials.

Teammate Klay Thompson also advanced, but had a disappointing final round that failed to live up to his friendly teammate rivalry. The Splash Bros have a long history of trying to one-up each other’s shooting prowess, but this was a pretty substantial win for Curry in a friendly rivalry that will wage on for years to come.

Let’s recap Beverley’s night: In the first round, he missed an entire rack of shots. In the semifinals and finals, he fell way behind his opponent because he took multiple attempts to get past the chest pass. In all three, his opponents attempted three-pointers that would have knocked Beverley out, and in all three, they missed every time it happened. Some how, some way, the feisty Houston guard won.

Skills Competition purists, if they exist, will likely complain about the new format that sticks two players going head-to-head on each side of the court. And it’s true: several players looked lost in the first round, even Beverley. But competition always makes things more interesting, and hopefully this is the way it will stay.

It’s a three-peat! Dominique Wilkins buried the half court shot for the win and he, Bosh and Swin Cash celebrated once again.

For some reason, Bosh is very, very good at this competition. The other finalist team actually looked poised for an upset, but after quickly getting to the half-court shot, they failed to make one in nearly 30 attempts. Instead, Team Bosh calmly went through their shots and let Wilkins bury one from 50 feet like it was the easiest thing on Earth.