All-Star Grades: Rising Stars | Celebrity | Skills
An all-new bracket format separated the best from the rest. Here's how this year's talented ball handlers fared.
Patrick Beverley, Rockets | Grade: A-
Result: Winner
Analysis: Replacing Washington's John Wall in the contest, Beverley made a mockery of the contest and won, but not because he ran away with it. Beverley, known for his defensive prowess, literally stole the skills challenge. He beat Isaiah Thomas in the first round by slipping in a layup right before Thomas could do the same as the two were battling to make a layup to win after missing all their 3-point attempts.
In the semifinal and final, he fell behind his opponent both times after missing all three chest pass attempts and yet still won because he was able to bury a 3-pointer before Toronto's Kyle Lowry in the semifinal and Milwaukee's Brandon Knight in the final. Beverley even twice lost the ball before attempting a 3 in the first round and the final, but he was clutch at the end once he got ahold of it. It wasn't pretty, but Beverley took advantage of his opponents' mistakes to win in true defensive-specialist fashion.
Trey Burke, Jazz | Grade: D
Result: Lost in first round
Analysis: The defending champion messed up the chest pass twice but still had a chance to escape his opening round with a 3-pointer only to see Brandon Knight bury his third 3-point attempt to win. Now Burke will resume trying to hold off rookie Dante Exum in Utah, which could eventually prove to be more difficult than any skills challenge in the future.
Brandon Knight, Bucks | Grade: B+
Result: Lost in finals
Analysis: Jason Kidd would have been proud of his point guard. Knight needed three 3-point attempts to beat Burke in the first match. In the semifinal against Kyle Lowry, Knight won easily by burying his first trey attempt. But in the final, he had two chances to win but missed his 3-point attempts before Beverley caught up to him and knocked down a trey for the skills title.
Kyle Lowry, Raptors | Grade: B
Result: Lost in semifinals
Analysis: The Raptors' point guard easily dispatched Atlanta's Dennis Schroder, navigating the obstacle course before going 3-for-3 on the chest pass, layup and 3-point attempt in the opening round. Lowry then bowed to the crowd after the deft performance. But in the semifinal, Lowry missed his first chest pass and Knight cruised after that.
Elfrid Payton, Magic | Grade: D
Result: Lost in first round
Analysis: The Magic rookie replaced Philadelphia's Michael Carter-Williams. Frankly, the only thing memorable about Payton's performance in getting dusted by Jeff Teague was his awesome hair.
Jeff Teague, Hawks | Grade: B-
Result: Lost in semifinal
Analysis: Teague flew right from the start through the obstacles, went 3-for-3 on the chest pass, layup and 3-pointer and looked like a force in the opening round. Teammate Al Horford looked very happy watching courtside. And Teague looked like he was cruising toward the final after Beverley missed all three chest passes in the semifinal.
All Teague had to do was make a 3-pointer as the Houston point guard was busy playing catch-up. But Teague first went to the wrong spot and shot a 3 from where Beverley was supposed to shoot his 3. And after Teague missed, the Atlanta point guard looked confused and that mistake cost him as Beverley caught up before burying a 3 to win. It was a rare time when an Atlanta Hawk looked lost this season.
Isaiah Thomas, Suns | Grade: D
Result: Lost in first round
Analysis: Maybe Thomas does need a Suns trade at the deadline to open up some minutes for him because he struggled with the skills challenge. He missed the chest pass twice and missed all his 3-point attempts. He still had a chance to win as it came down to making a layup to win, but he and Beverley kept knocking away each other's attempts under the basket until Beverley finally got one in before Thomas.