In the final section, Wade saw that James and Anthony couldn't handle the freshmen and wanted to step up and go off.
As a result, the sophomore team's offense became somewhat chaotic due to too many players touching the ball. It was basically James playing against James, Anthony against Anthony, and Wade against Wade!
The freshman team took the opportunity to counterattack, even tying the score at one point!
The Denver fans present gave the freshman rookies their warmest applause and cheers.
Even though, at the crucial final moment, Howard wanted to step up and become the team's hero, Wade seized the opportunity for a steal. Wade passed long to the rushing James, who flew in for a powerful dunk, sealing the victory!
In the end, 133:130, the sophomore team narrowly defeated the freshman team by 3 points. Anthony, with the advantage of playing at home, scored a game-high 31 points and 5 rebounds, and was named the Rookie Game MVP.
Carter: "I'm really not interested in participating in the Slam Dunk Contest anymore! However, I've never participated in the Three-Point Contest. If you don't mind, can I represent Xi Meng and participate in the Three-Point Contest?"
"You participate in the Three-Point Contest?" His Airness grinned.
"What's wrong? Don't you have confidence in me? I've been practicing my three-point shooting skills diligently with Xi Meng recently!"
"I support Vince! His three-point shooting percentage has become more and more stable recently! He can completely compete for the Three-Point King!" He Xi Meng chimed in from the side.
His Airness waved his hand: "It's not that I don't believe in Vince, but if Vince doesn't participate in the Slam Dunk Contest, then who will?"
"How about that kid Josh?" He Xi Meng suggested.
Carter nodded: "That kid has excellent physical condition and a keen sense for dunks! I can spare some time recently to teach him a few moves and help him design his competition dunks. I think he has a great chance of winning!"
His Airness nodded, thinking it was better than no one participating.
"Then it's happily decided! Xi Meng participates in the Skills Challenge, Vince participates in the Three-Point Contest, and Josh participates in the Slam Dunk Contest!"
His Airness waved his hand and directly treated the Denver All-Star Game as his home court, showing no politeness at all. If possible, he wanted to claim all the honors for himself.
The news of He Xi Meng preparing to make a comeback and participate in this year's Three-Point Contest and Skills Challenge immediately led the league's headline news.
The veteran players heard this unfortunate news and couldn't help but get headaches.
"Let that guy go to the Slam Dunk Contest! He hasn't won a Slam Dunk Contest championship yet..."
The new players, upon hearing the news, couldn't help but grit their teeth, ready to slay a legend and use it as a stepping stone to their own ascendant reign.
He Xi Meng's final choice of the Skills Challenge instead of the Three-Point Contest made Ray Allen breathe a sigh of relief.
As long as He Xi Meng didn't participate, Ray Allen believed his chances of winning were quite high!
Competing with He Xi Meng for the Skills Challenge championship were Suns point guard Nash, Wizards point guard Arenas, and Nuggets point guard Boykins!
Before the competition officially began, Arenas once again boasted to pump himself up: "Experience does not represent victory! Youth represents infinite possibilities! I don't mean to offend anyone, but I want to say that the future belongs to us young people..."
Facing Arenas's provocation, He Xi Meng and Nash, both members of the '96 Golden Generation, chose to respond to the young generation's doubts with action!
In the preliminary round, both He Xi Meng and Nash broke the 30-second mark, easily blocking Arenas and Boykins from reaching the final!
In the final, He Xi Meng and Nash completed all the tasks in one go. However, He Xi Meng played it safe and did not push at full speed, with the final result stopping at 25.7 seconds!
This result was nearly 9 seconds faster than He Xi Meng's championship-winning time two years ago, which was undoubtedly outstanding!
And historically, Nash, the champion of the 2005 All-Star Skills Challenge, had a winning time of 25.8 seconds.