The Blazers point guard outpointed Obi Toppin in the final of a Dunk Contest adapted to having to be played during the All Star Game halftime.

Anfernee Simons has proclaimed himself this morning champion of a Mates Contest that, without a doubt, will not go down in the annals of NBA All Star history , after beating Obi Toppin in an express final .

From the moment the poster and the format of the contest were unveiled, this edition was presented somewhat decaffeinated and very far from the already mythical of 1988, with Michael Jordan and Dominique Wilkins , or the one of 2000, with Vince Carter , Tracy McGrady and Steve Francis .

Anfernee Simons tried to kiss the rim and became the king of dunks in the NBA AllStar Game 2021

And the protagonists have been three players practically unknown to the general public: Anfernee Simons , third-year guard / guard for the Portland Trail Blazers; Cassius Stanley , a rookie for the Indiana Pacers but who has spent much of the season in their linked G-League team; and Obi Toppin , another ‘rookie’ (New York Knicks), No. 8 of the last draft and maximum ‘matador’ of last season in the NCAA.

And the mechanics of the contest, adapted to the fact of being held during the All Star Game break : a first round with two dunks per participant, the best two would advance to the final and once there, they would only perform a dunk and after seeing both , the judges would display a sign with the winner’s name.

Simons, the best already in the 1st round

In the first round, Stanley opened fire, being scored (somewhat low) with a 44; Toppin made the best dunk of the three (48) and Simons stayed in the middle of the two with his 46.

In the second dunk of the first round, Stanley tried a couple of times a dunk of extreme difficulty and when he failed, he switched to a very plastic but very simple dunk (37 points), which left him out of the final.

Simons performed a tribute to Tracy McGrady by donning his jersey and shooting a 360º dunk. His score, almost perfect: 49 points

And finally, Toppin , who had made the best first dunk, closed the first round by making a dunk jumping over his father, Obi Toppin Sr. and his teammate, Julius Randle , which earned him 48 points.

Thus, the score after the first round was: Stanley (81), Toppin (94) and Simons (95), the latter two going to the final.

A final to a single mate

In the final, Toppin signed a spectacular dunk from the personnel line, passing the ball between his legs (achieving it on the second attempt); while Simons made an apparently simple dunk, but with which he has shown tremendous jumping ability, almost kissing the rim.

After the deliberation of the judges, each one has shown the name of its winner: two votes for Obi Toppin and three for Anfernee Simons , who was proclaimed Champion of the Mates Contest, being the first Portland Trail Blazers player to achieve it and succeeding. to Derrick Jones Jr. in the record of a contest that, clearly, must reinvent itself and return to past times that, this time, were much better.

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