LOS ANGELES: NBA fans had their say and turned unknown Jeremy Evans into a Slam Dunk champion. A late replacement, Evans won the Slam Dunk Contest at All-Star Saturday Night, spicing up a lackluster competition with a pair of spectacular jams and winning an electronic vote by fans worldwide. “It's just amazing to come out here to give the fans what they want,” said the 6-9 Evans, a second-year reserve forward on the Utah Jazz who averages just 1.7 points per game. A pair of Western Conference All-Stars won earlier events as Minnesota Timberwolves forward Kevin Love captured the Three-Point Contest and “French Flash” Tony Parker of the San Antonio took the Skills Challenge. Earlier this week, Evans was named as a replacement for injured New York Knicks guard Iman Shumpert. He missed the fewest dunks of any of the four entrants and won over viewers with a two-ball slam and a flying jam over comedian Kevin Hart. For the first time, the winner was not determined by a panel of judges but by fans, who entered their votes via text message or Twitter. Evans received 29 percent of more than 3 million votes. On his first dunk, Evans wore a tiny camera secured by a headband to give fans a bird's-eye view of his reverse slam off a lob bounce. His next two dunks were much better. Jazz teammate Gordon Hayward sat in a chair in the lane and tossed two balls in the air. On his second try, Evans jumped over Hayward, caught both balls and slammed them home. “My agent, teammates, my fans on Twitter, that's what they wanted me to do,” Evans said. For his final dunk, Evans received a No. 32 jersey of former Jazz great Karl “Mailman” Malone delivered by Hart, who was dressed as a postal carrier. Evans donned the jersey, then jumped over Hart and slammed on his first try. The competition was devoid of stars such as recent winners Dwight Howard and Blake Griffin, who chose not to defend his title. Evans has the lowest scoring average of any winner. Houston Rockets forward Chase Budinger began the contest dressed like actor Woody Harrelson in the film, “White Men Can't Jump.” He took a flip pass from P-Diddy, jumped over the rap impresario and dunked. Indiana Pacers forward Paul George wore a glow-in-the-dark uniform on his second jam. Timberwolves rookie forward Derrick Williams missed nine attempts on an off-the-backboard, through-the-legs dunk. Known more for his rebounding, Love was the surprise winner of the Three-Point Contest, overcoming fellow All-Star Kevin Durant of Oklahoma City and defending champion James Jones of Miami in the final round. “I had some stiff competition,” Love said. “That's a bunch of great shooters. For me to come out and win this really means a lot.” In the final round, Love and Durant each scored 16 points. They wound up in a playoff when Jones managed just 12 points. In a tie-breaking 60-second shootout, Love scored 17 points, then watched Durant come up short with 14. “I'm basically a set shooter,” Love said. “I don't jump too much on my shot. I just wanted to get out there and get in a good rhythm.” Love scored 18 points in the first round, then won a 25-second shootout with Miami's Mario Chalmers to advance to the final with Durant (20) and Jones (22). Also eliminated in the first round were Orlando's Ryan Anderson (17) and New Jersey's Anthony Morrow (14), who wore the No. 3 jersey of former Nets star Drazen Petrovic of Croatia. Parker won the Skills Challenge, zipping through the obstacle course of dribbling, passing and shooting with just one mistake in two rounds. “It's very hard,” Parker said. “When you make one mistake, it's like, ‘Oh my God.' I think the shot is the hardest because we sit and get cold.” Nothing seemed hard for Parker, who had a time of 29.2 seconds in a perfect first round and 32.8 seconds in the final. Also reaching the final were fellow All-Stars Rajon Rondo (34.6) of Boston and Deron Williams of New Jersey (41.4). The night began with the Shooting Stars, in which teams shoot from six spots on the floor. After Orlando and defending champion Atlanta were ousted in the first round, the New York team of Landry Fields, WNBA star Cappie Pondexter and former Knicks All-Star Allan Houston clocked 37.3 seconds, well ahead of Texas (47.6). BM with Chris Bernucca of dpa ShortURL: http://goo.gl/wMHZp Tags: Dunk, Jeremy Evans, NBA Section: American Sport, Latest News, Sport
