NBA ALL STAR: DUNKING GRIFFIN SOARS

By Mark Woods on February 20, 2011

Blake Griffin had something special in mind for the NBAâ€™s All Star Dunk Contest: Baron Davis.

Not quite. But the slam which propelled the Clippers rookie to victory caught everyone in LA by surprise as he leapt over a car to win over the crowd â€“ and the judges – while Crenshaw Select Choir, lined up on the court, sang â€˜I Believe I Can Fly.â€™

“When they first came to me … they said there were no rules,” Griffin said. “I was like, ‘So I can jump over a car? Yeah? Oh, maybe I have to do it now.’ I figured I could probably clear it, and Baron came up with the choir.”

Elsewhere on All Star Saturday night, Miami forward James Jones out-gunned Boston Celtics duo Ray Allen and Paul Pierce to win the Three-Point Shoot-out.

Jones got 15 points in the first round to advance, then scored 20 in the finals to become the third Heat player to win in five years.

â€œIt’s a dream come true for me,â€ Jones said. â€œI put in a lot of hard work to get this opportunity. And you just want to represent your team and yourself as well as you can. It feels good.â€

Wall dishes out Rookie win

Washington Wizards guard John Wall racked up 22 assists to help himself to the MVP Award as the Rookies rallied to beat the Sophomores 148-140 at the NBA’s All-Star Rookie Challenge in Los Angeles.

But he had a big assist from his former Kentucky team-mate, Sacramento’s DeMarcus Cousins, who had 33 points and 14 rebounds.

“We were trying to work together,” Cousins said. “He wanted to break the assist record, and I wanted to be MVP.”

Hometown hero Blake GriffinÂ scored 14 points for the Rookies, 48 hours before making his All-Star debut.

Los Angeles native James HardinÂ scored 30 points for the Sophomores, while San Antonio’s Deuan Blair had 28 points and 15 rebounds.

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