The Skills Challenge kicks off Saturday night at 2022 NBA All-Star Weekend. The competition has a new format this year, with three teams competing. Each team consists of three players, and this year’s teams are Rookies, Cavaliers and Antetokounmpos. Per DraftKings Sportsbook, the rookies are the favorites to win the competition. The Skills Challenge will begin at 8:00 p.m. ET as the first event of the night. We’ll have live updates on how each team does and who wins here.
2022 Skills Challenge Updates
Cade Cunningham hits the shot in 9.9 seconds for the Rookies, but the Cavaliers were able to hit their second shot when Evan Mobley put up his effort. It’ll be the hometown team capturing the Skills Challenge, making those who backed them at +200 quite happy.
EVAN MOBLEY FROM HALFCOURT TO WIN #TacoBellSkills FOR TEAM CAVS IN CLEVELAND!#StateFarmSaturday #NBAAllStar pic.twitter.com/TKYL6eiafZ
— NBA (@NBA) February 20, 2022
The Cavaliers were unable to finish the relay in under 1:18, to the Rookies have made their backers happy as they’ll be in the final round for sure. The tiebreaker between the Antetokounmpos and Cavaliers goes to the Cavaliers, so it’ll be the top two teams per the odds in the final.
Darius Garland knocks down the tiebreaking 3 to send Team Cavs to the final round!
— NBA (@NBA) February 20, 2022
They'll face Team Rooks for the #TacoBellSkills title on TNT pic.twitter.com/WNkWqqdBOO
The Antetokoumpos were unable to complete the relay in under 1:18, so the Cavaliers will determine which teams will go the finals here.
The Rookies did the timed relay in 1:18, and there was some jogging going on with Giddey and Cunningham. It’ll be interesting to see how the Antetokounmpos and Cavaliers do, especially with an extended shooting component here. The favorites are in trouble right now.
The Antetokounmpos also put up 88 in their round, while the Cavaliers scored 70. This means there’s a tie between the Rookies and Antetokounmpos for now but there are tiebreakers based on types of passes made. The Antetokounmpos win the challenge on the tiebreaker and now have 100 points. They’re tied with the Cavs at the top of the leaderboard, while the favorites Team Rookies are in trouble.
The Rookies put up 88, but it could’ve been more if Giddey and Cunningham didn’t run into each other a few times. It’s definitely hardest to go first in these skills challenges under the new rules, so the Cavaliers might be at the biggest advantage from a planning standpoint here.
We’re on to the passing challenge, and every member of the team will be participating at the same time here. The players have to pass at targets, with each target varying in points. The Rookies are going first once again.
The Cavaliers go last and end up with 44 points, meaning they take 100 points to open up the Skills Challenge. The home team has to be liking this development and bettors who took them at +200 will also be excited.
The Antetokounmpos went second, and finished with 20 points. This was going to be a weak spot for this group, as all three struggle to hit shots. The Antetokounmpos did hit the five-point shot but that was the highlight of their round.
The Rookies end up putting up 32 points in the shooting portion of the Skills Challenge. Josh Giddey led the way with 16 points individually. It’s a good opening mark for the team favored by oddsmakers to win this whole thing.
The shooting portion of the Skills Challenge is about to get underway and it’ll be the Rookies to start things off. Let’s see how Josh Giddey, Cade Cunningham and Scottie Barnes do.
A last-minute check on the odds here as the Skills Challenge gets underway. The Rookies are favored at DraftKings Sportsbook at -125. The Cavaliers are at +200 and the Antetokounmpos are at +320.