If Marbury had played more selflessly, the Western Conference rookies could have suppressed the Eastern Conference rookies during their rotation time.
However, Marbury was suppressed by He Ximeng and did not get the chance to start, so he was already filled with frustration. As soon as he took the court, he went all out, and did not cooperate well with Nash. Therefore, the Western Conference rookies gained momentum but couldn't score, and the score continued to rise alternately.
The game on the court was quite exciting, with both teams playing intensely back and forth, but the score was never pulled apart.
As the game neared its end, for the Eastern Conference rookies, Iverson, Antoine Walker, Camby, and Dampier performed the best and scored the most.
For the Western Conference rookies, Kobe, thanks to He Ximeng's assists and coordination, was outstanding in scoring, having already scored a game-high 31 points! Of course, Kobe's form today was truly good, and it was obvious he was well-prepared.
Besides Kobe, He Ximeng, Knight, and Marbury all scored in double digits.
With less than half a minute left in the game, the score was tied at 91-91.
From the score, it can be seen that this Rookie Challenge had defense, and both teams were playing relatively seriously, not just a shooting battle.
In the final moments, Iverson took over the Eastern Conference rookies, drove into the paint, and made a difficult fadeaway jump shot for two points!
He Ximeng gave the final offensive opportunity to Kobe.
Kobe, with the ball on the perimeter, was double-teamed by Kittles, wanting to use a three-pointer to kill the Eastern team. As a result, the ball bounced off the rim. In this crucial moment, Knight, under the basket, desperately tipped the ball towards He Ximeng beyond the three-point line...
He Ximeng, at the moment the countdown timer for the end of the game lit up, shot a three-pointer...
If this shot were to be meticulously examined and reviewed on video, it would likely be invalid due to being over the time limit.
However, the All-Star Weekend is mainly for performance, and the outcome of the game is not that important; what matters is that the game is exciting!
He Ximeng, under the expectant gazes of all the fans, shot at the buzzer. The ball traced a very high arc and fell precisely into the basket!
All the fans raised their arms and cheered, as if He Ximeng had helped the Cavaliers kill their opponents...
In the VIP box, Kayla and Scarlett hugged each other, cheering and jumping with the rest of the fans, witnessing the creation of this game-winning moment...
The teammates on the court rushed towards He Ximeng like a tide.
Conversely, He Ximeng was probably the calmest person on the court!
He stood quietly in the center of the court, spread his arms, smiled, and looked up at the stadium ceiling, fully enjoying a game-winning moment that belonged to him...
Although this game was not important, and this game-winning moment was not so precise, this did not prevent He Ximeng from quietly enjoying the applause and cheers of all the fans.
No one can refuse such a glorious moment! Even though He Ximeng had lived two lives, he was no exception.
After the Western team celebrated, Iverson came up first to congratulate He Ximeng and Kobe for leading the team to victory.
"This was a stolen victory, Allen. This victory should have belonged to you!"
Iverson was surprised that He Ximeng would say such a thing after the game.
With He Ximeng saying that, Iverson felt a bit embarrassed.
"Losing is losing! There's nothing to deny! But I have one advantage: I never give up... In the regular season, we'll settle it then..."
"I am ready anytime..."
This intense and exciting Rookie Challenge left all the audience with endless aftertaste.
Iverson had 19 points, 9 assists, 4 rebounds, 3 steals, and 3 blocks, making him the leading scorer for the Eastern Conference rookies. If the East had won, Iverson would have been the MVP of this year's Rookie Challenge. 138reading.com
He Ximeng had 17 points, 11 assists, 2 rebounds, 2 steals, and 1 block, ranking second in scoring for the team.
The leading scorer for the Western Conference rookies was He Ximeng's teammate, Kobe. Kobe had 31 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals, and 1 block. Thanks to He Ximeng's buzzer-beating shot at the end, he successfully won the MVP trophy for this year's Rookie Challenge!
Is it a case of the snipe and the clam fighting, with the fisherman benefiting? No!
From the beginning of this game, He Ximeng had no intention of over-performing. It was the All-Star Weekend, and it was good for everyone to have fun. Especially with a perfectionist like Kobe on the team. If He Ximeng had the intention of competing with Iverson for the best rookie title, he would have to get past Kobe first...
And He Ximeng was not willing to fall out with Kobe over a Rookie Challenge; it was completely unnecessary.
The current outcome was actually the best!
He Ximeng got the game-winning moment, and Kobe got the final honor!
He Ximeng received extra rewards from Kayla that night, and Kobe received extra rewards from Vanessa that night... Everyone got what they wanted.
The rewards were wonderful, but perhaps it was because Kayla's rewards for He Ximeng were too generous that the next day, in the Three-Point Shootout, He Ximeng's touch was off. He only made 9 out of 25 shots, and only 2 out of 5 money balls, finally scoring a meager 20 points!
A score of 20 points, in a year when everyone's form is not good, is not too bad and could barely make it to the finals.
For example, in last year's Three-Point Shootout, Tim Legler won the Three-Point King title with 20 points.
The year before that, in the 1995 Three-Point Shootout, Glen Rice won the final championship with only 17 points.
However, there were too many strong contenders this year. Kerr scored 24 points in the preliminaries, last year's champion Tim Legler scored 22 points, and the previous year's champion Glen Rice scored 21 points!
He Ximeng, tied with future Three-Point King Hornacek at 20 points, was unfortunately eliminated along with him.
In the end, Kerr defeated Tim Legler and Glen Rice in the finals with 22 points to become the champion of the 1997 All-Star Weekend Three-Point Shootout, crowned as the league's newest Three-Point King...
Compared to He Ximeng's lackluster performance in the Three-Point Shootout, Kobe's performance in the Slam Dunk Contest was quite solid! He was not affected by Vanessa's special rewards the night before and advanced all the way, defeating Ray Allen, Michael Finley, Bob Sura, Chris Carr, and Ham, and successfully won the 1997 Slam Dunk Contest trophy!
Yes, you read that right! The 1997 Slam Dunk Contest also invited future Three-Point King Ray Allen!
When Ray Allen first entered the league, his physical qualities were explosive, and his dunking skills were top-notch among rookie players.
A player who was both an accurate three-point shooter and an elegant dunker, it turns out, existed!
It's just that later, Ray Allen's three-point shooting was so outstanding that people forgot he had participated in a dunk contest! Ray Allen is probably one of the most hidden and underestimated dunkers in the league's history!
Of course, from the current perspective, Ray Allen is probably no longer the most hidden dunker...