NBA All-Star Saturday Night: Skills challenge, 3-pointers and dunks on display

Dennis Smith Jr., Victor Oladipo, Larry Nance Jr. and Donovan Mitchell took the floor and competed in the 2018 NBA Slam Dunk Contest for All-Star Saturday night, and two of the best dunks of the night were 360s. A dunk that has grown and evolved with the game of basketball continues to have its legacy carried through the years.

By now the 360 dunk has become a staple in playgrounds, rec centers, high school gyms, and college stadiums around the world, but it wasn’t always that way. Instead the torso-contorting slam was a phenomenon that caught fire in the mid-to-late 1970s before falling prey to human creativity.

By now the festivities of All-Star Saturday night have begun. Prior to the skills challenge DNCE, Joe Jonas’ new band, played. It was a little bit lackluster on TV, but the crowd seemed to really enjoy it, particularly one special guest.

Oh hell yeah, our man Guy Fieri loves DNCE and he is HERE for All Star Weekend.

Zach LaVine and Aaron Gordon combined to produce one of the best NBA Dunk Contests ever. The two went back-and-forth trading spectacular dunk for spectacular dunk. Some of the dunks were so good, they might be in the conversation of the best ever dunks in the Dunk Contest.

The dunks were so good, the collective reaction in the Air Canada Centre was just a complete meltdown. Little kids could not believe what they were seeing. NBA Hall of Famers were left with mouths wide open in disbelief. Current NBA stars? Well they turned into a massive collection of fans who just happened to be able to celebrate by running all over the court.

The 2016 NBA Dunk contest is in the books and thanks to Zach LaVine and Aaron Gordon, the show was one of the best in recent memory.

The two posted perfect dunk after perfect dunk with LaVine ultimately prevailing in bonus dunks. While the videos of the dunks are incredible and the reactions are nearly as good, the photos are a close third.

Zach LaVine captured his second straight Dunk Contest title Saturday with a thrilling victory against Aaron Gordon. After winning, he shared a thoughtful post, dedicating the win to late Timberwolves coach Flip Saunders.

Saunders passed away at 60 in October after a battle with Hodgkin’s lymphoma. He was responsible for the decision to draft LaVine and coached him his rookie year. The talent on display during the dunk contest was phenomenal and LaVine ended it in the perfect way. Well done, all around.

It’s almost near impossible to make Aaron Gordon’s under-the-legs dunk over the Magic mascot even better. Luckily, we are graced with the power of technology to gawk at this dunk in a way we’ve never seen it before. The dunk starts in one angle and maneuvers to see every captured angle.

We’ve seen this before with plays and shot, but using this technology to watch this dunk is bliss.

How in the world could Aaron Gordon improve after using a mascot on a hoverboard to deliver a between-the-legs slam? Use the mascot AGAIN!

The setup was practically the same as before, with the mascot on the other side of the rim. And just like the other one, Gordon went up for the ball. But he didn’t put the basketball between his legs. Instead, Gordon leapt so high above the Magic mascot that he was able to but the ball under his legs for this perplexing dunk.

Both contestants had dunks that no one had seen before. The final round alone was better than the entire event has been most years.

After using it for a great first round dunk, Gordon brought back the Magic’s mascot, Stuff, which was riding a hover board. This time he didn’t jump over him. He grabbed the ball from the spinning mascot and went for a 360.

We can’t wait to see what LaVine does later on.

The NBA has tried a wide array of gimmicks to “fix” the NBA dunk contest in recent years. It turns out all they needed to do was involve some little kids.

Before the NBA players took to the court for the real NBA dunk contest. Some kids of NBA stars had their turn dunking on a much smaller rim and it was incredible. The solution to all problems is always have more little kids dunking.

The Splash brothers stole the show from the start. Thompson led all players with 22 points while Curry made 11 in a row. He also had to hit his last two shots in the moneyball rack to advance and swished them both. Thompson’s reaction to the last shot was priceless.

Curry might be the best shooter in league history, but his backcourt mate is not far behind, as he proved Saturday.

As Stephen Curry’s teammate, Klay Thompson has probably watched Curry take thousands of three-point shots during practice. He’s likely seen Curry do things that would have fans in awe. Yet, he still enjoys the show as much as we all do.

That was Thompson’s reaction as Curry made his final two money balls to advance to the final round. No one can deny a good show, and Curry is currently the NBA’s best entertainer, even to his teammate.

As part of NBA All-Star Saturday night, the NBA worked in a segment where Draymond Green and Kevin Hart get into a feud which leads to a shooting contest. The entire thing -- including a massive trophy with Green’s face on it -- was designed for Green to win and everyone to have a good laugh at Kevin Hart.

Early on it looked like exactly that would happen. Green put up 12 points during his turn, and Hart was struggling to make a single shot during the first couple of racks. Then, Hart caught fire and started making shots, including his very last to post a 12 and tie Green!

Andrew Wiggins really wanted to shine during NBA All-Star Weekend, but this isn’t quite what we were expecting. He looks more like a rock star than an All-Star. Look out, Russell Westbrook. Wiggins might be catching up to you.

The NBA’s best will be on display at All-Star Weekend, but they will all have their work cut out for them if they are going to top the Beale Street Flippers for the most impressive performance of the night.

Get one of these guys to teach football linemen how to backflip and there will be no question who wins the Piesman Trophy in 2016.

NBA commissioner Adam Silver reiterated his evolving view that the NBA’s intentional foul rules need to be changed, but admitted that there is “no clear consensus” on an alternative rule at this time.

“We’re just beginning to formulate what an alternative would look like,” Silver said during his annual press conference at the All-Star Game. “Until there’s a clear alternative that emerges, it’s easy to say ‘I hate the strategy,’ but it’s a much more difficult strategy to decide just what the new rule should be.”

While All-Star Weekend officially gets underway Friday night with the Celebrity Game and Rising Stars Challenge, Saturday night is the evening when the festivities truly kick off.

This year things will look a little different than years past. The Shooting Stars competition -- where current NBA players, WNBA players and so-called legends toss up shots from half-court -- is no more. Also, big men have been added to the Skills Challenge. The Three-Point and Dunk Contest remain the same and will no doubt be the night’s main event, but All-Star Saturday’s first event starts hours earlier.