Anfernee Simons wins dunk contest, Damian Lillard hits a 3 from half court

In an action-packed All-Star Sunday for Trail Blazers fans, the Blazers had involvement in three of the four events. Though Robert Covington wasn’t able to make it out of the Skills competition’s first round, he made a nice gesture on the TNT broadcast before the game. Covington donated $25,000 to students who were part of the virtual fan audience. Covington surprised these students with the donation, and they also went to Tennessee, Covington’s Alma Mater.

Anfernee Simons wins dunk contest, Damian Lillard hits a 3 from half-court

Next was the three-point competition, which Damian Lillard opted out of, but Stephen Curry won. Curry had an exciting final round where he had to hit the night’s final shot to take the contest over late inclusion Mike Conley.

Lillard came off the bench in the main event of the All-Star Game, but was still one of the key contributors in terms of scoring and shot attempts. In the first-half, Lillard had one of the night’s highlights, as he hit a three from behind half-court. We’ve seen Dame pull up a few steps in front of half-court, but this was something else. Dame picked up his dribble and then deliberately stopped with his feet beyond the half-court line.

We know that he has practiced this actual skill before though. He said in pre-season that he had been working on making shots from half-court, this time, he pulled up and made it. Nothing but net too. Dame’s deep shooting continues to amaze fans and the league.

At halftime of the All-Star game, Anfernee Simons competed in the dunk contest. He went up against rookies Obi Toppin and Cassius Stanley. Simons is one of the bounciest athletes in the league, but he doesn’t often have a chance to show it in games.

In the contest, he had three great dunks, that eventually ended up giving him the win. He positioned the ball on a smaller net above the square on the backboard, grabbing the ball from up high and then jamming it. Then he took off his Blazers jersey to reveal a throwback Toronto Raptors jersey, honor Houston Rockets, and NBA legend Tracy McGrady. He copied a dunk from T-Mac’s 2000 dunk contest.

In the final, he took the win with a dunk where he had his face up by the rim and blew a kiss when he got close.

In the All-Star game itself, Team LeBron James with Lillard on board were more efficient and the better team overall. Lillard himself had the final shot to hit the target score, hitting a deep three.

Lillard had 32 points and 8 three-pointers. Final score Team LeBron 170 – Team Durant 150.