After Billups, the fifth to take the court was Quentin Richardson!
Last year, in the Three-Point Contest, Carter had defeated Quentin Richardson and Ray Allen to claim the championship!
This year, an unwilling Quentin Richardson made a comeback, aiming for another shot at the title. However, perhaps influenced by Billups' off-game, Quentin Richardson also shot terribly, scoring only 12 points, just like Billups!
Boss Q was bewildered: This is acceptable?
With all five players having shot, regardless of how many points the defending champion Carter, who was last to appear, scored, Dirk Nowitzki, who was currently in second place with only 15 points, had already secured a spot in the finals. This left Boss Q speechless.
A score of 15 points, in most years of the Three-Point Contest, would indeed not be enough to reach the finals.
However, Dirk Nowitzki was incredibly fortunate. What could you do about it?
Thanks to the lackluster performances of the subsequent contestants, Nowitzki was directly fast-tracked to the finals, and He Xi Meng conveniently collected Boss Q's ten thousand dollars.
They kept saying "no, no," but Boss Q insisted on giving it, truly making it impossible to refuse.
"Although Dirk was lucky to make it to the finals, I still believe he's the least likely to win the championship..."
Boss Q wasn't going back on his word, but he was still stubborn, firm in his conviction about his judgment.
"If you're going to insist on saying that, then I'll reluctantly support Dirk..."
He Xi Meng didn't really want to bet this round, but with the atmosphere Boss Q had created, it felt almost impolite not to make a small wager.
"A bet of 100,000! Are you daring enough to continue?!"
"100,000 it is, if you're happy!"
If He Xi Meng remembered correctly, Boss Q still owed him more than 100,000 at this point!
While they were placing their bets again, Carter, the last participant, had also completed his preliminary round debut.
20 points! First place in the preliminaries!
Carter's steady performance had certainly restored some of Boss Q's dignity.
Carter with 20 points, Ray Allen with 19 points, and Nowitzki with 15 points, the three of them advanced to this year's Three-Point Contest finals.
In the finals, Nowitzki shot first. He calmly displayed his shooting ability, making 15 out of 25 shots, including 3 money balls, ultimately scoring 18 points!
A score of 18 points wasn't particularly high, but it was a reflection of Nowitzki's true skill level.
Among seven-footers (2.13 meters), Nowitzki's three-point shooting ability was undoubtedly top-tier.
The second player to shoot was Ray Allen!
Ray Allen's hands were hot on the first three spots, scoring 11 points. If he maintained his rhythm, it was highly probable he would surpass Nowitzki.
However, at the fourth shooting spot, Ray Allen suddenly faltered, missing all five shots and dropping out of the three-point king contention.
Faced with this unexpected turn of events, Boss Q's brow furrowed. He had a bad feeling...
Carter, the last to shoot, received a special cheer from Boss Q, who stood up to encourage him.
He Xi Meng joined Boss Q in cheering for Carter.
More than the outcome of the bet, He Xi Meng actually hoped Carter could win the three-point championship again, bringing a good omen for the team's upcoming games.
But Carter's situation mirrored Ray Allen's.
Having already scored 16 points in the first four spots, Carter only needed to make two more regular shots or one money ball to tie Nowitzki, and three regular shots or one regular shot plus one money ball to beat Nowitzki. ... In the end, Carter only made 1 out of 5 shots, and the crucial money ball rimmed out to the regret of the entire crowd...
17 points!
Carter lost to Nowitzki by a single point, failing to defend his title.
He Xi Meng, in his disappointment, won another 100,000 dollars from Boss Q.
Boss Q, bewildered, couldn't understand: Had Vince and Ray Allen fallen victim to Xi Meng's curse?
After the Three-Point Contest came the final individual event of the All-Star Weekend: the Slam Dunk Contest!
Compared to the star-studded lineups of the Skills Challenge and the Three-Point Contest, the lineup for the Slam Dunk Contest was truly meager!
Perhaps influenced by players like He Xi Meng and Duncan, the new generation of top players were increasingly health-conscious and less inclined to participate in the Slam Dunk Contest, preferring the Skills Challenge instead.
The league's upper management could do nothing about it and had to make do with what they had, barely gathering four contestants!
The first contestant was last year's dunk champion, Josh Smith, a former Celtics player who had now returned to the Hawks!
The second was the ninth overall pick in the 2004 draft, the future star of the Philadelphia 76ers, Iguodala!
Since the start of the season, rumors had been circulating about the Philadelphia 76ers trading away Iverson, and the player predicted to succeed Iverson as the new leader of Philadelphia was this talented Iguodala!
However, judging by the situation at the All-Star Game, the relationship between Iverson and Iguodala hadn't been strained by these rumors.
On the contrary, for this year's Slam Dunk Contest, Iverson was prepared to personally pass the ball to Iguodala to build momentum for him.
The third contestant in the Slam Dunk Contest was the Knicks' Nate Robinson, nicknamed "Nate the Great"!
During their NCAA careers, Nate Robinson and Iguodala were in a love-hate rivalry.
In the Pac-10 Conference standings, Iguodala, then the star player for the University of Arizona, ranked 13th in scoring and 5th in steals. Nate Robinson, from the University of Washington, ranked 12th in scoring and 4th in steals.
In college, Iguodala was consistently outperformed by Nate Robinson. Now, on the NBA stage, in terms of team status, Iguodala had turned the tables and was the primary player for the Philadelphia 76ers, a near-core player. Nate Robinson, on the other hand, was still striving for a starting position.
Thirty years east, thirty years west.
Since they were meeting on the stage of the Slam Dunk Contest, Iguodala wanted to avenge the humiliation of being suppressed by Nate Robinson in college, while Nate Robinson wanted to showcase his abilities by defeating Iguodala.
The final participant was the Celtics' Gerald Green.
The league hadn't originally invited Gerald Green because, throughout this season, Gerald Green hadn't had many opportunities to play for the Celtics, and even fewer chances to showcase his dunking ability.
The league's original invitation was extended to Hakim Warrick of the Grizzlies!
This guy was a spring-loaded athlete, nicknamed "The Helicopter," known for his vertical leap and incredibly fast elevation. While others jumped once, he could jump three times!
In the 2003 NCAA Championship game, the first time He Xi Meng saw this spring-loaded athlete beside Carmelo Anthony, his immediate thought was of Sakuragi Hanamichi from Slam Dunk.