The USA team defeated the World team 157-154 in the 2016 NBA’s Rising Stars Challenge. Both Emmanuel Mudiay, Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Nikola Jokic, Serbia, played for the World team and had nice showings while representing the Denver Nuggets.
From Kevin Pelton, ESPN.com.
As Pelton points out, Mudiay had a nice night from beyond the arc as he went 5-10 from long range and hit two threes in a row late in the game to give the World team a fighting chance.
At the 15:15 mark of the first quarter, Mudiay hit this elbow three over Los Angeles Lakers guard Jordan Clarkson:
At the 13:01 mark of the first quarter, Mudiay hits another three over Clarkson with the step-back in the corner.
On the play below, Mudiay finds Dallas Mavericks talented forward Dwight Powell, Canada, for the easy assist late in the first quarter.
As Pelton mentioned, had the World team won the game, Mudiay easily could have been the MVP as he scored with ease and set up teammates all night. One day we may look back and say, ‘Mudiay should be in every All Star game for his passing, alone.’ Heck of a night for Mudiay.
From Kevin Pelton, ESPN.com.
At the 17:57 mark of the first quarter, Mudiay finds his teammate for the familiar pick-and-roll. Jokic finished with the nice jam.
While Jokic’s scoring isn’t exactly made for All-Star type games, his passing again can set him apart for games like this. A solid outing for Jokic and both players did the Nuggets proud in Toronto.
Mudiay will be back in action tonight as he will take part in the Skills Challenge at 5:30 p.m. MT on TNT. And Will Barton will be participating in the Slam Dunk Contest against defending champion and Rising Stars MVP Zach LaVine, Andre Drummond and Aaron Gordon.
