Northwest Conference at All-Star Weekend

The Northwest Conference was well represented in Houston for the All-Star Weekend festivities.

By Kristina Callahan

AP Photo/ Eric Gay

With the first half of the season behind them, it was time for some of the NBA’s best to show off their skills while having a little bit of competitive fun. The West escaped with the win, led by the All-Star MVP, Chris Paul, who finished with 20 points and 15 assists.

The Northwest Conference had three representatives in last night’s win. Dynamic duo Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook, both of the Thunder, contributed 30 and 14 points, respectively. LaMarcus Aldridge of the Trailblazers also played some minutes for the West.

If you’ve ever watched the All-Star game before, you know that the entire weekend is filled with fun. On Friday night, rookies and second-year players participated in the Rising Stars Challenge. There were four players hailing from the Northwest Conference in that contest. Damian Lillard from Portland, Alexey Shved and Ricky Rubio from Minnesota and Kenneth Faried from Denver all were able to have some fun while being coached by either Shaquille O’Neal or Charles Barkley. Denver Nugget Kenneth Faried took home MVP honors after scoring 40 points and grabbing 10 rebounds.

Saturday night featured the Slam Dunk Contest and the Taco Bell Skills Challenge for guards around the league. Portland Blazers guard Damian Lillard was the first rookie to win the Skills Challenge by defeating Jrue Holiday by 5.8 seconds.

"I think the biggest thing for me was to try not to be too cool and speed through it," Lillard said, "but take my time with the passes and shots."

Lillard’s victory won a $25,000 scholarship from the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Houston for a young man names Poppie Simmons.

"I was honored to win this competition," Lillard said. "The bigger thing for me was the fact that I was able to get the scholarship money for him. I come from a tough situation. If it wasn't for sports, I probably wouldn't have been able to attend a college. It means a lot for me to be able to do that for him."

The Slam Dunk contest may be the most anticipated event of the entire weekend. Last year’s champion, Jeremy Evans of the Jazz and Kenneth Faried of the Nuggets both participated in the popular event but didn’t come out as the winner. Toronto Raptor’s Terrence Ross brought home the trophy.