ORLANDO Magic guard Mac McClung captured his third consecutive crown in the NBA All-Star Slam Dunk Competition on Saturday night (Sunday morning in the Philippines) at the Chase Center in San Francisco, California.
McClung, who spend most of the season with Orlando’s NBA G-League-affiliate Osceola Magic, delivered four consecutive perfect scores to get the best of the San Antonio Spurs’ Stephon Castle in the final round.
In the dunk competition, McClung jumped over a person in all four of his successful attempts, including one that also included a car in the first round and a double dunk for his third perfect score when he jumped over somebody spinning on a hoverboard.
“Truly, stuff like this doesn’t happen without standing on the shoulders of a lot of people,” McClung said on the TNT broadcast. “I had a lot of help. People were opening gyms to fit a car in. People were allowing me to use their car. I’m just really grateful right now.”
“This might be it for me, but we’ll see. If they want me back then I’ll think about it,” added McClung, who also bested Matas Buzelis of the Chicago Bulls and Andre Jackson Jr. of the Milwaukee Bucks in the competition.
Miami Heat’s Tyler Herro edged out Golden State Warriors’ Buddy Hield in a tightly-contested championship round of the NBA All-Star Three-Point shootout.
Herro finished with 24 points, while Hield fell short of a championship with 23 points. Reigning two-time champion Damian Lillard of the Bucks failed to reach the final round.
Cleveland Cavaliers tandem of Donovan Mitchell and Evan Mobley emerged as champions in the Skills Challenge defeating the Warriors’ Draymond Green and Moses Moody.
Meanwhile, Castle produced 12 points, three rebounds and two assists while leading Team C to a 25-14 win over Team G League in the championship game of the NBA Rising Stars event.
Team C, also featuring the Los Angeles Lakers’ Dalton Knecht, the Memphis Grizzlies’ Zach Edey and Jaylen Wells, the Utah Jazz’s Keyonte George, the Phoenix Suns’ Ryan Dunn and the Golden State Warriors’ Trayce Jackson-Davis, earned a spot in the All-Star Game tournament Sunday night (Monday in the Philippines).
Castle hit 5-of-8 shots from the floor in the decisive contest, while George hit a 3-pointer to give Team C the victory by reaching the target score./PN
