CHICAGO. – Miami Heat forward Derrick Jones Jr. won a Slam Dunk Contest that required overtime with two extra rounds, edging Orlando Magic big man Aaron Gordon in a six-dunk display.
Jones won by a single point on his birthday Saturday night.
“It was great, a great competition,” Jones said.
Using 7-foot-5 Celtics center Tacko Fall as a prop just in front of the rim, Gordon bounced off of two feet and over Fall for a two-handed walkoff slam. It was good for only a 47, the first non-perfect mark for Gordon.
Jones ran from the opposite 3-point line and jumped from 13 feet and banged in a lefty dunk for his one-point win.
To start the first dunk off, Jones caught the ball off the side of the backboard and moved the ball from his right hand to his left and under his left leg before throwing it in.
Gordon followed with another 50, his fifth of the night, with his own rendition of the around-the-leg windmill.
Gordon’s fourth dunk of the night was a perfect score and brought the stadium to a fever pitch. He received a 50 for a wicked power dunk grabbing an assist from teammate Markelle Fultz off the side of the backboard.
Jones scored 50, taking the ball from a helper on a bounce off the backboard, under his leg and through.
Jones cleared two men who were facing the basket, took the ball back while elevating, put it under his left leg and crammed it in with an authoritative left hand.
Gordon, using Chance The Rapper to hold the ball, pulled the ball from his helper’s hands and locked down his third perfect 50 in three tries.
Gordon nailed a perfect 50 — 10s from all five judges– with the fourth and final dunk of the first round. He matched it with his second slam — plucking the ball from the hands of Chance The Rapper while jumping over him and moving from one sideline toward the other, spinning his body back to the basket in midair to finish the slam.
Jones followed up a miss and a birthday serenade from the United Center crowd to score 46 points for his first dunk. Jones positioned teammate Bam Adebayo inside the elbow and leapt over him for a slam.
His second dunk appeared to defy gravity and brought all of the judges to their feet. Jones scored 50 with a looping 360-degree dunk, passing the ball under his leg before whipping it through with his left hand.
The Milwaukee Bucks’ Pat Connaughton, not in uniform but outfitted to resemble the Woody Harrelson character in the film “White Men Can’t Jump,” brought Milwaukee Brewers outfielder Christian Yelich on the court.
Connaughton scored 45 for grabbing the ball from Yelich’s shoulder blades while bounding over Yelich and emphatically finishing the dunk. The crowd erupted in boos at the resulting score of 45.
On his second try, Connaughton positioned Giannis Antetokounmpo at the cargo circle in the lane. Connaughton ran full speed and grabbed the ball from Antetokounmpo, tapped the backboard and crammed home a two-handed flush for a perfect 50. — Reuters
