Evan Mobley, Team Cavs Win 2022 NBA Skills Challenge: Recap, Highlights, Reaction

This year's Skills Challenge at the NBA All-Star weekend took on a new format, with Team Rooks, Team Cavaliers and Team Antetokounmpo competing to be crowned the best. It was Team Cavs that came out on top after a tough competition.

Team Rookies included Scottie Barnes, Cade Cunningham and Josh Giddey, while Team Cavs included Jarrett Allen, Darius Garland and Evan Mobley. Team Antetokounmpo meanwhile, featured Giannis Antetokounmpo and two of his brothers, Thanasis and Alex. 

All three teams competed in the first three rounds, which consisted mostly of shooting and passing. The winning team from each round was awarded 100 points in the first two rounds and 200 in the third. The teams with the most points advanced to the final round, and the champion was decided by the team that hit a half-court shot in the least amount of time. 

Here is a better look at the competition and the top performers. 

Team Cavs opened up the shooting competition in style thanks to Mobley and Garland. The team had a particularly smart strategy, allowing Allen, who finished with just five points, to shoot first before Mobley tacked on 18 points. Garland, the team's best shooter, finished with 24 points to help secure the Cavs a win, and 100 points in the Skills Challenge overall.

In the passing challenge, Team Cavs put up a good fight, but it was Team Antetokounmpo who took home the victory, and 100 points overall. Giannis, Thanasis and Alex combined for 88 points and held the tiebreaker over Team Cavs, who also finished with 88 points. The tiebreaker went to whichever team had the most outlet passes. 

The team relay challenge was a different story, with Team Rooks taking the victory over Team Cavs and Team Antetokounmpo. Cunningham, Giddey and Barnes finished the relay challenge in the fastest time to earn 200 points and clinch a spot in the finals. 

Team Cavs and Team Antetokounmpo finished the relay challenge in a tie, so the two teams entered a tiebreaker, with one player from each team tasked with shooting a three-pointer from the top of the key. Team Antetokounmpo chose Thanasis to take the shot, which was questionable at best, and he missed. Team Cavs went with Garland, who made his shot to send his team to the final round. 

Team Cavs took that momentum into the final half-court challenge, too. Mobley made a half-court shot in just 5.5 seconds to give Team Cavs the victory in the 2022 Skills Challenge. The Rooks, who shot first, made a half-court shot in 9.9 seconds. 

It was an incredible showing by Mobley and the Cavs, and doing it in front of the home crowd in Cleveland made the victory that much sweeter.