After missing his first two shots, Blake Su hit 23 straight, scored 28 points, came back to beat Curry, won the Three-Point Contest championship, and broke the contest's scoring record once again.
With a magical performance, Blake Su claimed the Three-Point Contest title.
He even forced "King of Swagger" Larry Bird to admit defeat.
"Boom!"
The excited fans erupted into deafening cheers, wildly cheering Blake Su on.
"Wow."
At the commentary desk.
Mike Breen said excitedly, "Twenty-three straight makes. Blake Su... this era-changing center, his three-point shooting has truly reached the highest level."
"That's right."
Van Gundy was just as fired up. "When Blake Su missed his first two shots, I really thought he was definitely going to lose. I never expected him to come back from that.
"That was incredible!
"Blake Su winning this Three-Point Contest is truly remarkable.
"But Ray Allen and Stephen Curry were also fantastic. Both of them broke the Three-Point Contest scoring record too.
"In one All-Star event, all three finalists broke the scoring record. That has never happened in NBA Three-Point Contest history, right? But that doesn't even matter anymore.
"The three of them gave us a Three-Point Contest brilliant enough to go down in history. That's enough."
"Boom!"
The commentary sent the fans into an even greater roar.
"You bastard... tell me, did you miss those first two on purpose, then come back from the brink just to show off your 'The Man Born for Game-Winners' persona?!"
Curry jogged over to Blake Su and questioned him.
"Heh!"
Blake Su gave an awkward laugh, thinking, Am I really that scheming? Then he shrugged and said, "I didn't. I'm not. Don't go making things up!"
"Really?!"
"Really!"
"Fine!" Seeing how serious Blake Su looked, Curry dropped it. He flashed his bright white teeth, punched Blake Su lightly, and congratulated him. "Anyway, you won.
"Even though you're a center, when it comes to threes, you really are stronger, Blake Su. Congratulations on becoming the Three-Point King and setting a new scoring record."
"You weren't bad either."
Blake Su smiled.
"Of course."
Curry was not modest about it at all. When it came to threes, he had always been confident, had always done well, and he was still improving fast.
"Blake Su, good luck in the Slam Dunk Contest. You have to win it!"
"I'll do my best."
Yes.
Tonight was not only about that divine Three-Point Contest. Up next was the even more spectacular Slam Dunk Contest, the biggest highlight of the night.
Besides Blake Su, the contestants were Griffin, DeRozan, and Ibaka.
However, in truth, as soon as the list came out, the fans knew that this year's Slam Dunk Contest would most likely become a battle between "The Blake Show" and the "Monster Rookie."
Of course, that was only the most likely outcome.
The fans were also looking forward to seeing whether DeRozan and Ibaka could deliver any eye-catching dunks.
Before long, under the arena's still-roaring atmosphere, the Slam Dunk Contest began.
The Slam Dunk Contest was also divided into two rounds. Each round gave every participant two dunk opportunities, with two minutes for each attempt. Five judges would score the dunks, with a minimum of 6 and a maximum of 10 points from each judge.
A perfect score was 50.
After two dunks, the two players with the highest combined scores would advance to the finals.
In the finals, the winner would no longer be decided by the judges, but by live audience voting through text message or official website voting, with fans choosing the player who performed better.
First came the opening dunk.
The order was still decided by drawing lots.
This time, Blake Su went first, followed by DeRozan, Ibaka, and Griffin.
"Tap!"
Blake Su stepped onto the court, accompanied by cheers from the entire arena.
"Go, Blake Su!"
"Blake Su, let's go!"
"With Blake Su's terrifying athletic talent, he's definitely going to shine in the Slam Dunk Contest!"
Amid the explosive atmosphere inside the arena, Blake Su began his first dunk.
"Blake Su... Blake Su has the ball on the left side of the arc and is accelerating toward the basket. How will he complete his first dunk?!
"He's under the rim, he jumps, and he's up so high!
"Wow! Blake Su spins 360 degrees in the air, and there's more... a between-the-legs switch!
"Bang!
"A 360-degree midair spin plus a between-the-legs switch dunk. With that kind of height behind it, Blake Su's dunk was both difficult and incredibly stylish.
"The key is that he finished it on the first try. That was simply a perfect dunk!"
Van Gundy delivered the call with passion.
"Wow!"
"That was insane!"
"A 360-degree midair spin is already hard enough, and he added a between-the-legs switch too. Blake Su's bounce, hang time, and core strength are just ridiculous. That dunk looked amazing!"
"Dominant!"
The fans roared excitedly.
The already surging arena atmosphere grew even hotter after Blake Su's first dunk.
At the same time.
"Swish, swish, swish!"
All five judges unanimously gave him 10s, awarding Blake Su a perfect score of 50.
A first dunk that was both difficult and gorgeous put serious pressure on the other contestants.
DeRozan came out second. Originally, he had planned to catch a pass from a teammate in the air and finish with a between-the-legs switch dunk, but compared with Blake Su's dunk, a dunk at only half that level would be eliminated.
After thinking it over, DeRozan attempted a between-the-legs switch plus a windmill dunk. That level of difficulty was enough to match Blake Su's previous dunk.
But...
Precisely because it was difficult, DeRozan failed several dunk attempts in a row. With the two-minute limit almost up, he ultimately chose to lower the difficulty to a between-the-legs switch plus a reverse dunk.
Even so, DeRozan only succeeded after three tries.
In the end, he scored 46 points.
In fact, DeRozan's dunk was also difficult and entertaining, but Blake Su's perfect first dunk had instantly raised the bar for the Slam Dunk Contest.
By comparison, DeRozan could only get 46.
Next, Ibaka attempted a free-throw line dunk. It was difficult, but it lacked beauty, and compared with Blake Su's first dunk, he only received 45 points.
Griffin, who came out last, was the contestant everyone was looking forward to the most besides Blake Su.
To surpass Blake Su, Griffin chose a 450-degree midair spin plus a two-handed dunk. Spinning one and a half times in the air made the difficulty genuinely high.
Basically, as long as Griffin completed it, it would also be worth 50 points. And he did complete it, but it took him a full three attempts to succeed.
It was still spectacular.
But compared with Blake Su, who had completed his dunk perfectly on the first try, the judges ultimately gave Griffin 49 points.
"Exciting!"
After watching all four players' first dunks in the first round, Russell Westbrook laughed. Harden nodded, and Durant clapped in praise. "It really was exciting.
"And this was only the first dunk. The dunks coming next are definitely going to be explosive and even better to watch!"