Karl-Anthony Towns Wins Skills Challenge
A day after Minnesota Timberwolves guard Zach LaVine won MVP at the Rising Stars Challenge, teammate Karl-Anthony Towns took home the title at the Skills Challenge by beating Isaiah Thomas in the final round.
This was the first year big men were invited to participate in the Skills Challenge, and things were a bit sloppy at first. DeMarcus Cousins got off to an especially rough start:
BOOGIE!! pic.twitter.com/HfiPX6whvC
— Steve Noah (@Steve_OS) February 14, 2016
Although Cousins actually somehow won despite this mishap. The guards weren’t infallible either, botching passes and also losing their dribble:
CJ!! pic.twitter.com/Mfx2zmdOwC
— Steve Noah (@Steve_OS) February 14, 2016
But while the first two rounds were a bit underwhelming, the final round between Towns and Thomas was legitimately exciting. They were neck-and-neck the entire way, and both missed the final jumper several times until the 2015 No. 1 pick finally buried one to take home the title:
Congrats to the big man as the Wolves All-Star Weekend domination continues:
GREATNESS. pic.twitter.com/BSI6gUPyFq
— SB Nation NBA (@SBNationNBA) February 14, 2016
Here are the full results:
First Round
C.J. McCollum over Jordan Clarkson
Isaiah Thomas over Emmanuel Mudiay
Karl-Anthony Towns over Draymond Green
DeMarcus Cousins over Anthony Davis
Second Round
Isaiah Thomas over C.J. McCollum
Karl-Anthony Towns over DeMarcus Cousins
Final Round
Karl-Anthony Towns over Isaiah Thomas