Kristaps Porzingis Wins 2017 NBA Skills Challenge: Recap, Highlights, Reaction
The NBA may be dominated by guard play, but Kristaps Porzingis of the New York Knicks proved the big men are a force to be reckoned with by defeating Gordon Hayward of the Utah Jazz to win the 2017 NBA Skills Challenge.
The Jazz have been one of the best stories in the NBA this season, though they have the misfortune of playing in the same conference as the Golden State Warriors, San Antonio Spurs and Houston Rockets. It's hard to get attention, even when leading the Northwest Division, because of that trio.
Hayward's abilities have been a critical component of Utah's rise in the Western Conference this season.
The Knicks haven't had much to cheer about this year. Porzingis' emergence as a bona fide star is pretty much all New York basketball gets to root for.
In the thrilling final, Porzingis almost literally edged out Hayward to take home the title. The two men arrived at the basket for the layup at virtually the same time, but Hayward got into the hoop for a dunk.
Porzingis would have his revenge on the three-point attempt, nailing his first shot to give the big men a win for the second straight year.
Rob Perez is of the opinion this is all the Knicks needed to salvage their season:
New York center Willy Hernangomez seemed excited his teammate was able to give the Knicks a marquee win:
Not SportsCenter on Twitter got in on the fun and dysfunction around the Knicks, providing a "quote" from Phil Jackson after Porzingis walked off with the trophy:
“I just tried to hit the shot, which is the most important part in this whole thing,” Porzingis said on the TNT broadcast (h/t Ananth Pandian of CBS Sports). “The first one went in and I was able to win.”
Hayward and Boston Celtics star Isaiah Thomas were the first to advance into the final guard pairing. As part of the guard matchups, they defeated Washington's John Wall and Phoenix's Devin Booker, respectively.
Thomas particularly dazzled during the opening round. He nailed the pass portion of the challenge, connecting on his first attempt with a perfect assist. After an easy layup, the Celtics star put away Booker by nailing a three-pointer on his second try.
The big men provided the most entertainment and drama. The showdown between DeMarcus Cousins of the Sacramento Kings and Kristaps Porzingis of the New York Knicks was a sight to behold.
Porzingis made it to the three-point shot before Cousins, but the two wound up trading shots and even knocking each other's ball out of the way in one instance before Porzingis was able to put one through to advance.
The Undefeated had some fun with that particular matchup:
Anthony Davis, who was representing the hometown New Orleans Pelicans, was unable to give the partisan crowd a reason to celebrate. He started off strong with a crisp pass through the basket, but Nikola Jokic of the Denver Nuggets caught up to him at the three-point line and got his first three-point attempt to go through the hoop.
Hayward and Thomas had all the makings of the best showdown of the event. Utah's All-Star came out on top when his sixth three-point attempt went in to secure a spot in the championship round.
Porzingis wasted no time asserting himself in the final against Hayward. He breezed through the obstacle course and got his second three-pointer to go in before Jokic's attempt from what appeared to be at least 30 feet away clanked off the side of the rim.
After that, it was all about Porzingis riding off into the sunset as the 2017 Skills Challenge champion. Karl-Anthony Towns of the Minnesota Timberwolves defeated Thomas in last year's final but opted to sit out this year.
The rest of the year might belong to players like James Harden, Stephen Curry, LeBron James, Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook. But All-Star Saturday's Skills Challenge is when the big men show who the real stars of the NBA are.
