Patrick Beverley wins Skills Challenge at All-Star Saturday Night (Video)
By Phil Watson
Patrick Beverley of the Houston Rockets was a late replacement for the Skills Challenge at NBA All-Star Saturday night and wound up winning the whole thing.
None of the players in Saturday night’s Skills Challenge at NBA All-Star Saturday Night traveled the road to the NBA that Houston Rockets point guard Patrick Beverley embarked upon.
In a competition featuring a former national collegiate player of the year, a couple of guys who will be playing in Sunday’s All-Star Game and a passel of first-round picks, however, it was Beverley that outshined all of them to take the Skills Challenge title.
He wasn’t even on of the initial choices, instead replacing John Wall of the Washington Wizards, who withdrew.
Beverley came from behind in the championship round, canning his first 3-point attempt to oust Brandon Knight of the Milwaukee Bucks.
Beverley was a second-round pick of the Los Angeles Lakers in the 2009 NBA Draft after leaving the University of Arkansas after his sophomore year and playing professionally in the Ukraine for a year.
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His draft rights were traded to the Miami Heat, but he signed to play in Greece in 2009-10.
He was waived by the Heat at the end of training camp in 2010 and finished the season in Russia, where he was the Eurocup MVP for Spartak St. Petersburg.
He finally made it with the Rockets in 2013, playing in the D-League before making his NBA debut on Jan. 15, 2013.
Now the starting point guard for the Rockets, he is averaging 10.7 points, 4.5 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 1.1 steals in 30.9 minutes per game, shooting .386/.365/.725 on the season.
Beverley followed the same route he used in the final to get past Jeff Teague of the Atlanta Hawks in the semifinals—falling way back early and stealing the win with a one-and-done 3-pointer. Knight got through the semifinals by beating Kyle Lowry of the Toronto Raptors.
In the first round, Beverley topped Isaiah Thomas of the Phoenix Suns, Teague beat Elfrid Payton of the Orlando Magic, Knight ran past Trey Burke of the Utah Jazz and Lowry topped Dennis Schroder of the Hawks.
Here is the whole competition:
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