NBA All-Star Saturday summary: Three point contest, Skills Challenge and Dunk Contest winners

All-Star Saturday ended with a bang as former G-Leaguer Mac McClung stole the show with an incredible arial display to win the AT&T Slam Dunk from Salt Lake City, Utah.

McClung stuns in Salt Lake City

It’s the busiest night of the All-Star Break and it’s generally the most talked about. No matter if the Dunk Contest is good or bad it’s going to be talked about in the days following. Fortunately for the NBA, a former G-Leaguer that was picked up by the Philadelphia 76ers this month was the talk of the town.

The night started with the Kia Skills Challenge, that was missing a bit of star power after Giannis Antetokounmpo dropped out of the competition. His brothers Alex and Thansis still participated as Jure Holiday completed the three man squad.

In the three round competition between Team Anteto, Team Rooks comprised of all rookies, and Team Utah a team made up of hometown players from the Jazz, point were awarded for winning each of the three competitions. The Rooks won the agility course in the first round and then Utah ended up winning the passing and shooting portions of the competition to earn the hosts the title.

Dame Dollar wins Three Point Contest

In the Starry Three Point Contest, it was Tyrese Haliburton who put on a show in the first round, posting a contest high 31, but his flame would fade in the title round. Damian Lillard knocked out Jayson Tatum and Lauri Markkanen to wrap up the first round and qualify for a three player final round between Haliburton and 2020 Three Point Champ Buddy Hield. Hield put up 25 to set the pace in the championship round, but Lillard ended his final rack hitting four of five to wrap up the Three Point title with a final round score of 26.

It was Mac McClung who stole the headlines coming out of All-Star Saturday. Before the weekend no one knew who the former G-League player was, but after putting on a spectacle with four breathtaking dunks he is now a house hold name for NBA fans. Three of his four dunks went for a perfect 50 score including his two dunks in the final round against Trey Murphy.

Now the attention turns to Sunday night when the world’s best players will square off in the NBA All-Star Game.

Mac McClung, meet the world.

World, meet Mac McClung.

This was the second 50 of the night, and it set him up for a chance to win the contest on his final dunk of the night.

This was the only dunk that Mac McClung didn't get a perfect 50 on. He got a 49.8 coming just .2 points away from a perfect night. Another thing to consider is McClung needed just one take for each dunk, not like others who take three, four, maybe even five takes.

Trey Murphy couldn't decide which dunk to do, so after asking the crowd, he did both.. at the same time.

Jumping over one person is impressive enough. Jumping over two people stacked on top of each other and tapping the ball off the glass before the dunk is just sick. Mac McClung made a name for himself in Utah tonight. 

Creativity is key for the Dunk Contest and Trey Murphy had a pretty well thought up first dunk to open the contest. He used GT Alvardo on his pattented sneak steal from behind and threw it down with the 360.

Some may take these competitions lightly, but Dame is a winner and he wants to be up there in the conversation of best shooters ever.

With his last shot, Lillard wrapped up the Three Point title with a final rack that saw four out of five three balls drop to just edge out Buddy Hield.

Damian Lillard knocked both Lauri Markkanen and Jayson Tatum out in the first round and that would be a little preivew of what was to come in the next round.

After the Skills Challenge the world's best shooters took to the court in the Three Point contest and Tyrese Haliburton got off to a terrific start posting a 31 in his first round. He cooled off in the second round and neither him nor his Pacers teammate Buddy Hield were crowned kings of the long ball.

The Rooks couldn't keep their lead, and in the end it was the hometown team, Utah, taking the title after a fantastic showing in the passing and shooting portions of the comeptition.

The night got started with the KIA Skills Challenge and Team Rooks came out of the gates guns blazing.. Paolo Banchero, Jabari Smith Jr. and Jalen Ivery won the first round with a top time of 1:15

MCCLUNG WITH A THIRD 50 OF THE NIGHT!!! HE ALMOST DID A 720 ON THE BASELINE JAM!!!

AFTER THREE OF FOUR DUNKS THAT WENT FOR 50 THE FORMER G LEAGUER IS THE NEW SLAM DUNK CHAMPION!!!!

Murphy throws down a 360 windmill, but that's not going to be enough to top McClung. Somehow, someway it got him a 49.2 from the judges in another very generous score.

McClung starts from the baseline and jumped over a guy, double clutched and threw it down on the reverse.

FOR THE SECOND TIME TONIGHT HE GETS ALL 50s!!!

Murphy throws up a between the legs alley oop to himself and threw down the windmill. It was a nice dunk, but for me, it didn't deserve the 48.8 that it got.

Mac McClung is making a name for himself here tonight. Lisa Leslie was the only reason he didn't gets back to back 50s, but 49.8 isn't the worst.

Sims is a little too attached to putting his arm in the rim. The score he gave himself is far from the score I would have given him, but the judges are being plenty generous tonight in Utah.

Murphy was in between two dunks so he ended up doing both.

Martin bringing his dad out was a nice touch, but the dunk left a little to be desired.

McClung with a 360 reverse windmill gets the crowd on their feet and with the way the judges are scoring that had to be a 50, but Lisa Leslie didn't see it that way. He gets a 49.8 and is in first place after two rounds.

Sims had someone come out and clip something to the net. He put put his arm in the rim again and grabbed the piece of paper only to unwrap a 50..

That was far from a 50 point dunk, but the judges give him a 48.3

Murphy just asked the crowd if they wanted a tomahawk or a windmill, and ended up doing both!!! It wasn't the prettiest dunk, but it was impressive.

The judges give him a 49.4.

Martin brought his dad out to give him the alley oop of the glass and he finished with the reverse jam and he gets a score of 47.2

No one knew who Mac McClung was before tonight. After tonight the world will know his name.

The third time was a charm for Martin who didn't get much love on the first two passes, but finished with a baseline reverse jam.

The altitude was impressive from Sims, the dunk was not as impressive. He still go a very high score and ends the first round in 2nd place.

Murphy's dunk was average, but the idea was great. He incorporated his teammate who is known for getting steals from behind and finished off the dunk with the 360

Here comes Mac McClung who was in the G-League just a week ago, and he put two guys in the paint, stacked one on top of the other, took the ball from one, hit the glass with the ball and slammed it home!!!

All 50s from the judges!!! That was sick from the former G Leaguer.

Martin didn't get much help from his assister Deshawn Tate and Martin threw down the reverse baseline jam on the third try.

His first dunk goes gets a soore of 46.0.

Jericho Sims threw it off the glass and gave a little homage to Vince Carter by putting his arm in the rim. He tried to put two arms in the rim, but the left arm could't quite get down.

The first dunk of his night, goes for 47.6 which puts him in the lead.

Trey Murphy is going to get us going in the dunk contest and it was his teammate Alvarado coming from behind, stealing the ball and laying it off the glass and Murphy threw down a 360 on the alley oop.

His first dunk registers a 46.9.

It's time for tonight's main event!!! The AT&T Slam Dunk Contest is about to kick off from Utah!

It's Jericho Sims of the Knicks, Mac McClung of the Sixers, KJ Martin of the Rockets and Trey Murphy of the Sixers.

Dame Dollar has been widely conisdered as one of the best shooters of all time, and he adds to his long list of milestones with his first Three Point title for him and for the Portland Trailblazers.

Haliburton was the dark horse coming into this contest, and hit just one in the first rack. He was sitting on the bench for a long time after posting 31 in the first round and ended 2ith 17.

DAMIAN LILLARD IS THE 2023 STARRY THREE POINT CONTEST CHAMPION!!!

Lillard follows up Hield and he was drilling it from the start. and needed the last shot to drop to eliminate HIeld and he dropped it to end with 26 and send the former champ packing.

Buddy Hield gets us started in the second round and the 2020 winner finishes with 25 after hitting four of his last five shots on the money ball rack! He started slow but warmed up as the round went on.

Markkanen went cold in the last rack and ended his round with 20 which was good enough for a tie with Tatum but not good enough to advance to the final round.

Hield is still in the running for a second 3 point title after posting a 23 in the first round.

Here is my favorite to win tonight. Damian Lillard started off with a great pace, great stroke and he knocks out Markkanen and Tatum with a score of 26!

Lauri Markkanen is the hometown representative and he started hot but cooled down as the round went on. He went to the last rack with 18, and made just one of his money balls to end with 20 which keeps Jayson Tatum alive.

Kevin Huerter is up next and he starts the round missing his first six shots, and ends the round with just 8 points after hiting just 5 threes.

It's the big man Julius Randle's turn. He is filling in for the injured Anfrnee Simons and the lefty posts a 13 after running out of time on the last rack.

Have a look at Haliburton's first round of 31!! I don't think anyone is topping that number here tonight.

It's Tyler Herro's turn and he missed the first seven shots. His long shooting motion left him with no time to get through the final rack.

He finishes with 16, and is officially out. Tatum however is still in the competition. I thought he got bounced after Hield hit 21, but the Celtic is still hanging around.

Next up is Buddy Hield from the Pacers! The 2020 Three Point champ started cold but bounced back with a final score of 21.

That knocks Tatum out of the competiton and keeps Hield in the running for a second 3 point title.

Next up it's Tyrese Haliburton from the Pacers. He had a hotter start than Tatum and he ends the first round with 31!!!

That short shot put motion worked out perfectly and he had time to spare after posting 31.

It's Jayson Tatum starting things off first and he started slow on the first few racks, but warmed up and had a perfect last rack to end with 20 points.

It's time for the Starry Three Point Contest!

There are 27 balls and players will have 70 seconds to move around the arc.

The Utah Jazz represent their home city with wins in the passing and shoting round to take the Skills Challenge here from Salt Lake City.

The Rookies came out firing in round one. They went after it and won the first round with a time of 1:15, but then crashed out in the passing and shooring round.

The Jazz had a very low barometer, and they surpassed the Anteto's with a score of 13 and the UTAH JAZZ represent their hometown with a Dub in the Skills Challenge with a score of 200!

It's wasn't the most exhilerating part of the weekend but the Jazz get it done in front of the hometown.

WOW!!! The Rooks made just one shot, and it took them 50 seconds to make it. They finish with 2 points. You could have picked three people out of the crowd who could have done better than the three rookies.

Rough go in the shooting round for Team Anteto. They have a grand total of 8 points after a minute. They hit two shots in the entire 60 seconds.

Here come the rookies.

It's time for the thrid round of the Skills Challenge. This round is all about the shooting. All three players will particpate at the same time. There is one ball and five different spot to shoot from. The players will have a minute to score as many buckets as possible.

Team Anteto are first looking to get on the board.

I am looking all over for highlights of the first two rounds, but TNT's Twitter isn't giving me any love. Stay tuned for highlights. I'll be posting as soon as they come out.

The Jazz represent in the passing round, taking a page out of John Stockton's book. They posted a score of 88 to win the second round and they get 100 points after the second round.

Here's how the scores look after two rounds:

Team Anteto: 0

Team Rooks: 100

Team Utah: 100

The Rookies followed their first round win with a 78 on the pasing segment of the Skills Challege. That is 6 points less than Team Anteto.

Here come the Jazz looking to make some noise on their homecourt.

RD 2 IS UNDERWAY

This round is just a free for all where all three players try to hit as many targets as they can and the Bucks end the second round with 84 points!

The course has been changed up from Round 1 to Round 2 and it's the Anteto team starting things off. This will be a passing round in which all members must hit passes on three different moving targets, but at the moment one of the targets isn't moving!

Clarkson started the course way too casual for the Jazz, and put his team behind. Kessler did his thing, but Collin Sexton got caught up on the jumper in th corner and the Jazz ran out of time.

The Rooks have 100 points after the first round after posting a best time of 1:15.

The Rookies just crushed the Anteto team's time of 1:23. They beat the time by nearly 9 seconds, and now here come the Utah Jazz.

Here come the Rooks! And it's Jabari Smith Jr. starting things off quickly. Great pace, and the Rooks are aiming for the title!

Team Aneteo comes up with a first round score of 1:23 which isn't great but isn't terrible. Alex went off course, but there was no deduction to the time.

Here we go!!! It's team Anteto starting things off here from Utah!!! Thanasis goes first, followed by his brother Alex and then Jrue Holiday.

Walker Kessler, Jordan Clarkson and and Collin Sexton are repping the Jazz and the hometown of the Utah Jazz.

Pablo Banchero, Jordan Ivey and Jabari Smith Jr. make up the Rooks team.

Here we go... We have three rounds of different skills challneges to get Saturday night started during the All-Star Weekend.

Giannis out

The three teams are being introduced, and Giannis Antetokoumnpo will no be participating in tonight's Skills Challenge. In his place it will be his Bucks teammate Jrue Holiday competing with the Antetokoumnpo brothers.

We have the Kia Skills Challenge to tip off the night!

Three teams of three players will go through an obstical course that consists of series of shooting, dribbling and passing . Which ever team complete the courses the in the quickest time win the Skills Challenge.

WE ARE UNDERWAY FROM UTAH!!!

We have a busy night from Salt Lake City, Utah and the fans are starting to fill the stadium. There is plenty of star power around the arena. We'll be sure to keep you up to date with all the celebrities who are in attendence tonight.

Last year it was Obi Topin who won the NBA's Dunk Contest in Cleveland. He won it with a between the legs dunk in an underwhelming contest that was once again highly anticpated. Let's see if we get a surprise here tonight.

Skils Challlenge

It may not be the most exciting, or headline worthy event on All-Star Saturday, but the 2023 Kia Skills Challenge promises to excite as Team Antetokoumnpo looks to redeem themselves after last year’s disappointing finish when they lost out to Team Cavs. Giannis Antetokounmpo and his brothers Alex and Thanasis will to toe-to-toe against the home town squad Team Jazz and Team Rooks which will consist of the top rookies of this season

Looking for a new Slam Dunk Champ

I may have got ahead of myself in the intro. The Three Point Contest has some top talent. The Dunk Contest might have you hitting your search engine to Google who TF these guys are. The days of MJ and Dominque are gone. This year it’s Trey Murphy, Kenyon Martin Jr., Mac McClung and Jericho Sims looking to be crowned the best dunker in the world. I don’t want to rain on anyone’s parade, but Dunk Contests between players that the common NBA fan has no idea who they sparks very little interest. Hopefully we are in for a surprise. Hopefully I’ll be eating my words by the end of the night.

From Downtown!!!

There are year’s where the top stars bow out of the Three Point Contest, and the Dunk Contest to protect their “self interests” but this year is not one of those years. We have some big time names ready to light it up from downtown in Starry Three Point Contest. Here are the eight contestants looking to be crowned the king of the long ball.

We are live from Vivent Arena

It’s All-Star Saturday from Utah and the NBA’s biggest and brightest stars will shine on the brightest stage from Salt Lake City! Tonight AS English will be providing live coverage, stats, and highlights of the 3-point Contest, Dunk Contest and the Skills Challenge.

All-Star Saturday

It’s All-Star Saturday from Utah and the NBA’s biggest and brightest stars will shine on the brightest stage from Salt Lake City! Tonight AS English will be providing live coverage, stats, and highlights of the 3-point Contest, Dunk Contest and the Skills Challenge.