Facing Carter's 22 points, Leonard felt he had the will but not the strength. The more he wanted to perform well, the heavier his mental burden became, hindering his best state. He only managed to hit 18 points, ending the finals in third place, not even surpassing Quentin Richardson.
Carter magically crowned himself the new Three-Point King of the 2005 All-Star Three-Point Contest!
"I told you you could do it! How about that, wasn't I right?" His Airness patted Carter's shoulder and laughed heartily.
He Xi Meng unexpectedly lost the Skills Challenge championship, but Carter surprisingly won the Three-Point Contest. With one gain and one loss, it made little difference to the Celtics as a whole.
After the three-point shootout, it was time for the final individual event: the Slam Dunk Contest!
The Denver organizing committee had kept fans on the edge of their seats for today's dunk contest.
This was because the invitation list leaked before the event included LeBron James, the "Little Emperor" of the Cavaliers, and Vince Carter, the "Half-Man, Half-Amazing"!
Fans were incredibly eager to see a peak showdown between James and Carter!
However, the final outcome was very disappointing: Carter did not participate, and James did not participate either.
Carter had a valid reason for not participating; he was in the Three-Point Contest.
James's reason was somewhat flimsy, a vague mention of feeling unwell and not being in good form.
But after the dunk contest concluded, James revealed his true feelings in an interview: "Why don't players want to participate in the dunk contest? Because all the dunks have been done before, and there are no more new dunks to invent. If we could invent some new dunks in the future, people might return to the dunk contest, but right now, every time a dunk is discussed, people always say they've seen the same move before..."
In plain terms, James was a great dunker, but creativity was a major headache for him. Whether this reason was true or not, it was what James said and what the fans heard.
Ultimately, the four slam dunkers participating in this year's contest were Josh Smith from the Celtics, Amar'e Stoudemire from the Suns, the "Birdman" Chris Andersen from the Hornets, and J.R. Smith from the Hornets.
Among them, two big men, the Birdman and Stoudemire, had too many mistakes, which somewhat diminished the overall intensity of the competition.
Nash's behind-the-back pass was creative, but its execution was only moderately spectacular.
Finally, Josh Smith, with a windmill dunk and a 360-degree aerial spin dunk, scored two perfect 50s in the finals, undoubtedly earning him the title of this year's Slam Dunk King!
These two moves couldn't be called original, as they were both moves previously performed by Carter!
However, in his tribute to these two classic moves, Josh Smith perfectly mimicked Carter's elegance, fluidity, and dominance!
So much so that the media after the event exclaimed: "Josh Smith has recreated Vince Carter's past flair, like a movie scene brought to life..."
How could it not be real?
Josh Smith's dunks were perfected through one-on-one guidance from Carter himself!
To use He Xi Meng's own words: "If Carter coached me like that, I could probably dunk like this too..."
The Celtics secured two championships out of the three individual events in the All-Star weekend.
This result left His Airness satisfied, with a hint of regret.
"What did I tell you? Xi Meng, if you had been just a tiny bit more serious in the Skills Challenge, we could have achieved an unprecedented Grand Slam in All-Star history..."
He Xi Meng rolled his eyes at His Airness. "What kind of look is that? Where do you see me not being serious? I was almost 10 seconds faster than last time... basically, I didn't waste any time at all..."
His Airness wouldn't budge; since He Xi Meng didn't win the championship, he just assumed He Xi Meng wasn't serious or didn't try hard enough.
Skill?
His Airness never doubted it.
Just as His Airness never doubted his own judgment...
In the 2005 All-Star Game, with Shaquille O'Neal, Yao Ming, and He Xi Meng all moving to the Eastern Conference, and with the addition of newcomers like LeBron James and Dwyane Wade, the Eastern All-Stars finally broke the nearly 10-year streak of being dominated by the Western All-Stars and successfully took control of the game.
Kobe Bryant, unusually, didn't exhibit his usual scoring urge and didn't hog the ball.
Tim Duncan continued to go through the motions, and Dirk Nowitzki followed suit.
Kevin Garnett, having already won the AMVP trophy the previous year, didn't have a strong desire this year.
Ray Allen, who had just lost the Three-Point Contest, wanted to step up and compete for the honor, but the East team didn't give him the opportunity.
On the East team, although Allen Iverson wasn't as volatile as in previous years, erupting in scoring at the slightest provocation.
LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Carmelo Anthony were still in a respectful mode, not vying for the initiative in the game.
Shaquille O'Neal, having won the AMVP in last year's All-Star Game, was also not competing this year.
Paul Pierce wanted to contend, but neither He Xi Meng nor Carter was willing to give him a chance.
The other Eastern All-Stars were mostly shrewd players who didn't want to get involved in the conflict between Pierce and the three Celtics All-Stars.
Jason Kidd, due to his lackluster performance, had not been selected for this year's Eastern Conference reserve All-Star roster.
Pierce's only helper was absent, leaving him essentially isolated and struggling to even know who to ask for the ball... he seemed to be in a rather miserable situation!
He Xi Meng originally wanted to help Carter compete for this year's AMVP trophy!
However, perhaps Carter had used up all his shooting touch in the Three-Point Contest, as he shot only 1-of-6 from three-point range in the All-Star Game. In the end, after contributing a couple of explosive dunks, he voluntarily withdrew from the competition.
While the new Three-Point King's shooting touch was cold, the old Three-Point King, He Xi Meng, was unerring!
With the mindset and principle that it was better for himself to shoot than to let Pierce or Arenas shoot, He Xi Meng, cheered on by the entire Denver crowd, shot from three-point range all the way to the half-court Logo line! He went 6-of-6 from three-point range, unintentionally scoring a game-high 18 points!
Ultimately, the Eastern All-Stars defeated the Western All-Stars 125:115, and He Xi Meng unexpectedly lifted the All-Star MVP trophy!
"Good kid! So you were waiting for me here!"
After receiving the trophy, His Airness immediately approached He Xi Meng, striking various majestic poses, happily accepting media interviews with He Xi Meng.
It was as if half the credit for this AMVP trophy belonged to His Airness...