NBA

Knicks rookie stands tall

By wire services
Published February 19, 2006

HOUSTON - NBA basketball is a big man's game.

Don't tell that to 5-foot-9 Nate Robinson.

New York's rookie won the All-Star slam dunk competition Saturday night, beating out 6-foot-6 Andre Iguodala of Philadelphia, 6-9 Hakim Warrick of Memphis and 6-9 defending champ Josh Smith of Atlanta.

Robinson, who earned a $35,000 first prize, electrified the Toyota Center by taking a bounce pass from Spud Webb, the 1986 champion, and leaping over the 5-7 Webb to jam. The stunt earned a perfect 50-point score to force a dunk-off against Iguodala, who received two perfect scores.

In the dunk-off, Robinson jammed on the 14th try, catching his own pass off the backboard. He earned 47 points, edging Iguodala by a point.

"This is something I dream about," Robinson said before the contest. "Hopefully, kids go out there and one day want to be like me. Hopefully I can just go out there and just send a message to some of these kids that, even though you're small, you can mean so much more to yourself and your friends and family and to people all across the world."

Each player dunked twice in the first round, with a panel of five judges awarding composite scores between 30 and 50 points. The top two scores advanced to the final.

SKILLS CHALLENGE: Dwyane Wade won the Skills Challenge, edging LeBron James and dethroning Steve Nash by deftly negotiating a basketball obstacle course.

With Miami teammate Shaquille O'Neal cheering him on, Wade finished in 26.1 seconds, narrowly missing Nash's record 25.8 seconds from last year. Wade will play in his second All-Star Game today.

James ran through the course in 33.7 seconds, capping it with a strong one-handed dunk. The Cleveland standout missed a round target with three chest passes, mistakes that cost him a chance to beat Wade.

Nash, a Phoenix guard, missed five straight shots from the top of the key and finished the course in 52.8 seconds.

New Orleans rookie Chris Paul struggled with an outlet pass target and finished third in 42.6 seconds.

Earlier Saturday, Tony Parker, Steve Kerr and San Antonio star Kendra Wecker won the Shooting Stars contest in record time, hitting six different shots in 25.1 seconds.

There were four teams in the event, all comprised of a current and former NBA player and one WNBA player.

THREE-POINT CONTEST: Dirk Nowitzki finally won after coming close twice, beating Gilbert Arenas and Ray Allen. With Dallas teammate Jason Terry and Mavericks owner Mark Cuban looking on from the sideline, the 7-foot German finished with 18 points. Arenas had 16 points and Allen, the 2001 champion, had 15. Nowitzki finished 15-for-25 in the final round. "That's kind of my game," Nowitzki said. "I'm going to shoot it first and everything else is second."

[Last modified February 19, 2006, 01:09:21]