Jayson Tatum won the Skills Challenge on A DANG HALFCOURT SHOT
Tatum defeated Trae Young in the championship round by beating him at his own game.
Luka Doncic tried to shoot from half court. Trae Young tried to knock one down, too. But it was Jayson Tatum who drilled a shot from the middle of the floor while trailing Trae Young to win the Skills Contest Championship on Saturday. The pair of young players couldn’t help but laugh. That’s the kind of event that kicked off All-Star Saturday night.
“Trae was already ahead of me, I saw him miss the first shot,” Tatum said. “We were just out there trying to have fun.”
"NO HE DIDN'T!"@jaytatum0 hit the half-court bomb to defeat Trae Young and win the #TacoBellSkills challenge! pic.twitter.com/5NMz3h4Ajt
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) February 17, 2019
The Skills Challenge matchups were picked by Karl-Anthony Towns and Atlanta rapper Ludacris, who randomly selected numbers that were representative of each player. Here’s how those matchups panned out.
Round 1
Nikola Jokic vs. Nikola Vucevic
Vucevic got off to a quicker start, but he missed the three. That gave The Joker a chance to come from behind and steal the win.
Nikola Jokic wins the battle of the Nikolas to advance to the #TacoBellSkills semifinals! pic.twitter.com/0AxwTBN7cm
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) February 17, 2019
Mike Conley vs. Jayson Tatum
Conley also got off to a quick start, but he also let Tatum sneak back in by missing his first couple 3s.
.@jaytatum0 takes down Mike Conley to move on to the #TacoBellSkills semifinals! pic.twitter.com/6ZQbku6Fmq
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) February 17, 2019
TRAE YOUNG WAS BUILT FOR THIS COMPETITION
Trae Young pulls up from DEEP to beat De'Aaron Fox
— Peachtree Hoops (@peachtreehoops) February 17, 2019
OK. Maybe not. Young missed all three of his chest passes and fell well behind De’Aaron Fox. But Fox missed his first 3. So Young hit a running three-pointer from 30 feet out to sneak a win.
Wow. @TheTraeYoung edges De'Aaron Fox to advance to the #TacoBellSkills semis! pic.twitter.com/HjacqU8jG8
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) February 17, 2019
Luka Doncic held it down
Luka's just having fun with it!
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) February 17, 2019
He beats Kyle Kuzma to move on to the #TacoBellSkills semifinals! pic.twitter.com/rNvN1OSM5Z
Round 2
Jayson Tatum knocks off NIkola Jokic
Because, you know — you’ve gotta make the first three!
.@jaytatum0 edges the Joker to move on to the #TacoBellSkills championship! pic.twitter.com/zstyvXmkC3
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) February 17, 2019
TRAE YOUNG ELIMINATED LUKA DONCIC
This was the matchup we all wanted to see, and Young eliminated Doncic by knocking down his first three.
Trae's not playing around!
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) February 17, 2019
He beats Luka Doncic to advance to the #TacoBellSkills championship! pic.twitter.com/rMuoNxDuMa
Then the matchup culminated with Tatum’s victory over Young. Here’s some history that the Celtics young star makes:
- In 2016, Karl-Anthony Towns defeated Isaiah Thomas in the championship and was met by some super, super hype teammates.
- In 2017, Kristaps Porzingis eliminated Gordon Hayward by stopping on a dime and hitting his very first triple in the championship round
- In 2018, Porzingis failed to defend his crown. Instead, Nets’ guard Spencer Dinwiddie defeated Chicago’s Lauri Markkanen to deliver the title across the Brooklyn Bridge