Houston, TX – Toronto Raptors guard Terrence Ross dethroned reining champion Jeremy Evans by taking the top score in the final round of the 2013 Slam Dunk Contest.
For the second straight year, the champion was determined by fan voting, which gave Ross 58 percent of the vote after a memorable final two dunks.
Ross paid homage to former Raptor Vince Carter by wearing his old jersey and completing one of his signature dunks from the 2000 Slam Dunk Contest. The current Raptor received a pass off the backboard from the Houston Rockets' Terrence Jones to finish a Carter-esque reverse slam.
On his final dunk, he put the ball through his legs while jumping over a young ball boy to finish a one-handed windmill jam. After receiving the majority of the vote, Ross became the first rookie to win the contest since Atlanta's Josh Smith in 2005.
Evans put up a valiant fight in defending his crown however, completing two dunks while showing off his incredible leaping ability. In the final round, he straddled over a covered easel and threw down a one-handed windmill slam. His last jam came after jumping over a seated Dahntay Jones, who lobbed a pass over his head to a leaping Evans.
To reach the final round, Evans dunked two balls at once for the second straight year, only this time he did not use a prop. He did a 180 degree spin in midair before throwing a ball through the hoop with each hand.
Gerald Green and James White each had spectacular slams in the first round, but failed to advance further after neither was able to complete their second round of dunks.
For the first time, players were divided by their respective conferences during each competition. After all four competitions were complete, the West outscored the East in total points, 140-125, with NBA Cares and State Farm donating $350,000 to the Western Conference's charities and $150,000 going to the Eastern Conference's.
Earlier, Team Bosh of the Eastern Conference defeated Team Westbrook of the Western Conference in the Shooting Stars Challenge, with Miami Heat's Chris Bosh heading the squad.
Swin Cash of the WNBA's Chicago Sky and former Atlanta Hawks star Dominique Wilkins were accompanied by Bosh, whose team posted a final round time of one minute and 24 seconds to win the competition.
The shooting stars challenge is made up of NBA, WNBA and former NBA stars attempting to make baskets from six different marked spots on the court.
Portland Trail Blazers rookie guard Damian Lillard captured the second contest of Saturday night's All-Star festivities, defeating Philadelphia 76ers guard Jrue Holiday with a time of 29.8 seconds in the Skills Challenge.
The Skills Challenge is an obstacle course, which tests a guard's dribbling, passing and shooting abilities.
Lillard finished the course about six seconds quicker than Holiday in the final round to take the crown.
Cleveland Cavaliers point guard Kyrie Irving then bested San Antonio Spurs forward Matt Bonner to capture the 3-point contest.
Irving made his first seven shots in the final round en route to finishing with a best score of 23 points to beat out Bonner, who amassed 20 points.
Bonner had the top score of six players in the first round to advance to final, scoring 19 points. Irving finished right behind him with 18 prior to winning the final round.
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