LaVine exits All-Star stage for Kobe and the NBA’s best

Either way those two dunks finished the first round and ensured the finals fans clearly were hoping for.

“If I would’ve prepared better, we would’ve been here all night, going 50 after 50 after 50”, Gordon said.

The above video shows all of the dunks from Gordon and Lavine, the two finalists who had to go into multiple dunk offs to decide a champion.

Gordon pulled off one of the most hard dunks ever performed in the contest: Taking the ball from the mascot’s hand, doing the between the legs midair which made it look like he’s sitting in midair over the mascot and dunking the ball. Cue another 50 and a court invasion from fellow players.

The dunk contest has been criticised for being predictable and boring in recent years, but LaVine and Gordon breathed new life into the contest with buckets of creativity and athleticism.

Gordon snatched the ball from the head of a mascot, sat in midair as he put the ball between his legs, then slammed it through as the crowd – and his peers – went wild. Another 50-point dunk. LaVine captured his second straight dunk title – and a second trophy in two nights.

“Ain’t nothing left”, LaVine said. It’s because of him I think I won. We might have 10 dunks in this LaVine/Gordon battle alone that might top those best-ever. Magic Johnson and Shaquille O’Neal gave it 10s. In his second go-round, Drummond used Steve Nash as a setup man with the retired Canadian NBA star using his soccer skills to tee up the ball.

He outlasted Gordon in a duel that needed two overtimes and ended only when there was literally no ball to use. Gordon had dunk of the night, but still didn’t win, was he robbed?

Earlier, LaVine managed a similarly impressive height-and-distance feat, receiving an alley-oop pass from old man Andre Miller, and throwing home with another leap that started just inside the free throw line. Towns, who was the tallest at 7-feet tall, won in the first year that the contest allowed forwards and centers to participate.

Thompson made 19 of his 25 shots in the final round, finishing with a total of 27 points.

“Not gonna lie, I got nervous when he hit his first eight (seven actually) and I didn’t think he was going to miss.” said Thompson. “It was exciting, back-to-back years for Splash Brothers, it’s pretty cool”.

NBA All-Star festivities have kept Toronto as the global hot spot, despite extreme cold temperatures, with all eyes around the world on the city this weekend.

Golden State Warriors guard Klay Thompson (11) wins the three point competition during the National Basketball Association all-star skills competition in Toronto on Saturday, Feb. 13, 2016.

I dedicate this dunk contest and the trophy to my late coach, Flip Saunders and the Saunders family.

Redick lost a first-round tiebreaker to Phoenix Suns rookie Devin Booker, who joined Curry and Thompson in the championship round.