The NBA Skills Contest has been evolving over the years and has seemed to settle on the team format that we will see today. The competition is broken down into 3 rounds. The first being a relay race, incorporating dribbling, passing and shooting challenges. That is followed up by a passing round and finally finished off with the shooting round. The first 2 rounds award 100 points to the victor. The last shooting round is worth 200. In case 2 teams are tied at the end of the 3 rounds, it goes to a tie breaker. Both teams shoot from the half way line to see who can knock d own a shot fastest.
Check out our breakdown of the teams and our pick for the winner below.
The skills challenge now more than ever seems to favour guards. Luckily for team Jazz, they have 2 of the 3 competing in the contest. Jordan Clarkson and Collin Sexton should excel at the relay race. The pair are making 34.5% and 41% from 3-point range this season. No other player in the field is making above 34%. That should certainly make them the favourites in the shooting part of the challenge. While Walker Kessler could be a bit of a passeger on this team, he has shown a nice enough touch around the rim this season to stop him from being a major liability. This team will be firmly in the mix in each round tonight.
The rookies should be the ones causing the Jazz the most trouble tonight. Paolo Banchero has already shown himself to be a very versatile forward in the league. He has been a better than expected passer while also taking 4.2 threes per game. Jaden Ivey averages the same amount of shots from deep, and is also one of the fastest players taking part in this. Jabari Smith Jr. may be the one to let this side down. He has not been playing with much confidence this season. He is shooting just 38.9% from the field which is far from great for a power forward. This team should do well in the relay, but are likely to fall short on the shooting and passing aspects.