The tension at the first event of NBA All-Star Saturday hadn't been this high in years, not for the skills competition. The stakes were rising with each round, the basketballs being flung with less and less regard for shooting form. The most energetic spectators may have been two players who already were eliminated: DeMarcus Cousins and Anthony Davis, former Kentucky bigs who wanted nothing more than fellow Wildcat product Karl-Anthony Towns to come away with the victory over the last of the heavily favored little guys.
Then the shot went in. Towns, a rookie center, had defeated All-Star point guard Isaiah Thomas.