NEW YORK — Minnesota Timberwolves rookie Zach LaVine won the Sprite Slam Dunk contest at Barclays Center on Saturday, besting Orlando Magic guard Victor Oladipo in the final round to take home the crown as the most electrifying performer of All-Star Saturday Night.
Here's a breakneck, don't-blink look at how he did it:
And now, let's take a breath and enjoy the 19-year-old's outing a bit more.
LaVine thrilled the Brooklyn crowd from his very first dunk in the opening round of competition, with the Quad City DJs preparing his path to the floor with the theme song from "Space Jam" to set the tone for what would follow — LaVine tearing off his warmups to reveal a Michael Jordan "Tune Squad" jersey before throwing down an off-the-bounce, between-the-legs one-handed reverse:
After earning a perfect 50 for his first dunk, LaVine knew he had to come strong with his second ... and, thankfully, he did:
LaVine threw himself a lob from the 3-point arc, corralled the carom with his left hand, passed the ball behind his back and dropped the hammer with his right, eliciting oohs, aahs and stink faces all around en route to another 50, giving him a perfect opening round score of 100.
Brooklyn Nets big man Mason Plumlee and Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo fell short in their attempts to make an impact on the competition, bowing our in Round 1, leaving LaVine to move on to the finals to face Oladipo, who began his evening by donning a top-hat and entering the court singing Frank Sinatra's "New York, New York" before whipping out a "540" (that was really more like a 360) two-handed reverse that was impressive enough to earn him a perfect 50, too, show tunes or no:
The former Indiana star followed that up by enlisting some help from rookie teammate Elfrid Payton for an off-the-side-of-the-glass assist on his whirling 180-degree tomahawk:
Once in the final round, though, Oladipo seemed to either run out of gas, succumb to the pressure of matching LaVine's seemingly effortless acrobatics, or both. The young Wolf, however, just kept rising, taking a running start before grabbing a handoff from teammate and fellow rookie Andrew Wiggins to go through his legs and finish with the left, his off-hand, with authority:
And after Oladipo failed to convert his preferred attempt at his fourth and final dunk — a one-handed windmill off the bounce — before eventually coming from behind the backboard with a windmill, LaVine capped his evening with a flourish:
LaVine finished with 194 points out of a possible 200 en route to becoming the first Timberwolf to win the Dunk Contest since Isaiah Rider in 1994. The 19-year-old LaVine is also the youngest champion since an 18-year-old Kobe Bryant hoisted the trophy in 1997.
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Dan Devine is an editor for Ball Don't Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at devine@yahoo-inc.com or follow him on Twitter!
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