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NEW ORLEANS - Shortly after hoisting his second Slam Dunk trophy, this one hell have to share, Terrence Ross was stunned to hear that the contests format change was not especially well received. "It was one of the best shows ever," said the Raptors guard, disagreeing with the critics. "Its really what people wanted to see. You couldnt see those dunks without three players on the court so it worked out for the best I think." The Slam Dunk Contest - the pride and joy of All-Star Saturday Night - adopted a team concept this year, pitting the three participants from the East against the Wests trio in a two-round showcase. It was, for all intents and purposes, a bust. In the final round, a head-to-head session, the team from the East - consisting of Ross, John Wall and Paul George - defeated the West in a clean sweep. It was an unorthodox victory for Ross, who only threw down one dunk, outside of the initial freestyle round. "Hey, a wins a win," the sophomore said, elated after the competition came to an end, not unlike most in attendance and watching from home. "Im gonna take it either way. Ive never lost a dunk contest at this point so Im happy." The real champion, assuming anyone can really be considered a winner after that performance, was John Wall, who was awarded the fan vote for Dunker of the Night. Wall capped off an anticlimactic evening with the only real jaw-dropping dunk, leaping over Wizards mascot G-Man, taking the ball out of his hands and completing a two-hand reverse jam to seal the Easts victory. Off the top, each team had 90 seconds to work together and complete as many dunks as they could. The team dynamic, allowed the dunkers to collaborate and be creative in their attempts. Ross and the East took advantage, while the West - with Damian Lillard, Harrison Barnes and Ben McLemore - ate up nearly a third of their allotted time before converting a notable slam. To call it organized chaos would be putting it mildly. Mostly, it was a disjointed mess with an occasional highlight, a couple from Ross, who put down a reverse to open the contest. The battle round had promise but lacked any semblance of rhythm or flow, as actual dunks were few and far between. Just as it started to come around, it ended abruptly. Lillard led off the proceedings - competing in his third event of the night - facing Ross, who brought along a friend and colleague for assistance. With last years trophy in hand, Raptors global ambassador Drake accompanied Ross on the floor to the tune of Started from the Bottom. Ross, wearing a boxing robe as he entered, would miss his first two attempts before eventually taking the ball from Drake, putting it through his legs and throwing it down with the opposite hand. As it turns out, Drake was a late substitution for Ross teammate and original assistant. "At first I knew the dunk I wanted to do and then I was like, DeMar (DeRozan) is going to do it," said the Raptors sophomore. "And then I was like, let me ask Drake because that would be a little better fit with him being the global ambassador, so I said that might work. I had fun with it, he was willing to help in any way he could." In the end, Ross was happy with the format change and embraced the chance to team up rather than go at it alone. "We got to throw off the shot clock, the backboard, bounce it off the ground," he said. "It was fun, everybody loved it." Ross maintained the team concept allows participants to be more creative, giving each of them a greater opportunity to come up and execute something new. For that reason, he believes the format should be here to stay. "It was fun, just coming up with certain things. I was trying to see if we could throw it off the jumbotron and see if we could do something like that but they said that would probably break it." Format changes encapsulated the entire night, certainly not what the league was going for. The Skills Challenge also had participants competing in teams for the first time. DeRozan - who was paired with Bucks rookie Giannis Antetokounmpo - more than held his own, sinking the chest pass on his first attempts and nailing the jump shot from the top of the key in two tries. His partner needed three tries to complete the pass and as a result, they were eliminated in the opening round, bested by Michael Carter-Williams and Victor Oladipo by 1.7 seconds. That pair would go on to lose to Lillard and Trey Burke by a tenth of a second in the finals. Former Raptor Marco Belinelli, the eventual winner of the Three-Point Contest, would not have made it past the first round if not for a new twist which allowed for one entire rack filled with money balls. He went on to defeat Wizards guard Bradley Beal in a tie-breaking round. Nike Shoes Sale . Leave it to Matt Niskanen, the newly proclaimed Eddie Haskell of the Washington Capitals. Wholesale Nike Shoes . Milan was held to 1-1 at home by Torino. Cagliari scored six minutes from halftime when Mauricio Pinilla blasted home from the penalty spot after Facundo Roncaglia tripped Marco Sau. The home side could have doubled its tally in stoppage time as first Fiorentina defender Stefan Savic almost scored an own goal then Albin Ekdals shot clipped the top of the upright. https://www.wholesalenikeshoesauthentic.com/. Appearing on TSN 1050 on Tuesday, Sean McAdam of Comcast SportsNet New England reported that the Blue Jays, along with a number of other playoff contenders were in the mix for the Boston ace. Discount Nike Shoes .That is precisely what they got Sunday.The Ravens trailed at halftime and never built a comfortable lead against lowly Jacksonville, yet did just enough to squeeze out a 20-12 win to stay in the thick of the AFC playoff race. Cheap Nike Shoes . Vincent Lamar Carter is no longer the lean, athletic dynamo who dazzled Raptors fans with eye-popping dunks that posterized even the leagues best defenders. LOS ANGELES -- Dodgers manager Don Mattingly is going to have a difficult time keeping all five of his outfielders happy, because four of them are regulars. And the way Carl Crawford has been hitting lately, it isnt likely hell get a day off anytime soon. Crawford hit an RBI double in the 10th inning, lifting Los Angeles to a 3-2 victory over the Detroit Tigers on Tuesday night. Joba Chamberlain (0-1) struck out the side in the ninth for Detroit, but walked pinch-hitter Chone Figgins to open the 10th and was replaced by Phil Coke. Dee Gordon popped out to first baseman Victor Martinez on an attempted sacrifice bunt, but Figgins scampered home when Crawford lined a 2-0 pitch past left fielder Rajai Davis. "I was just trying to stay short and take it the other way," Crawford said. "Once it got past the outfielder, I knew Chone was fast enough to score." The Tigers were down to their final out in the ninth when Victor Martinez got Max Scherzer off the hook with an RBI single against Dodgers closer Kenley Jansen -- who had just struck out two-time AL MVP Miguel Cabrera -- to make it 2-all. Ian Kinsler started the rally with a leadoff double. J.P. Howell (1-0) pitched a perfect 10th. Austin Jackson homered for the Tigers in an interleague matchup between division winners from last season. Gordon led off the first with a homer against Scherzer, and Justin Turner had a sacrifice fly in the seventh. Scherzer allowed two runs and eight hits over seven innings and struck out eight, after throwing eight scoreless innings of four-hit ball last Wednesday in another no-decision against Kansas City at Comerica Park. "I can only control what I can control," Scherzer said. "The win-loss thing is a fluke. All last year, I said: Im 21-3 because I had a good offence behind me. But Im sure those guys will pick it up and theyll score 10 more runs for me." Matt Kemp, who hit his first two homers of the season in Sundays win over the Giants, was 0 for 2 against Scherzer and is hitless in 18 career at-bats against him. "Hes a great hitter, so youve got to be aggressive right back at him,"; Scherzer said.dddddddddddd "Youve got to go up there with a plan, just kind of feel what kind of pitches are working in a particular at-bat and keep attacking." The Tigers got a scare in the second when 38-year-old Torii Hunter tried to make a sliding catch of a foul ball by Tim Federowicz down the right field line and jammed his left knee as the ball landed in the seats. "It was a tough play," Hunter said. "Its weird over there, because you have the foul line right next to the wall. But you dont want to give up on the ball because it might stay fair. So you use whatever manoeuvr you can come up with and try to keep the ball from bouncing on that line." The nine-time Gold Glove winner, who homered in each of his previous three games, remained down for several minutes while a trainer looked him over and flexed the knee. Hunter gingerly went back to his position, but left the game when his teammates took the field in the fifth. The Tigers called the injury a bruise. "The style that I play, I play rough. I try to get everything. Its just my instincts. I cant help it," Hunter said. "Unfortunately, Ive got a swollen knee because of it. We iced it three times just to get the swelling down. My wrist is jammed up and my shoulders a little sore. But its not going to keep me out -- hopefully not at all, and Ill be ready to go tomorrow." Dan Haren pitched six innings and allowed three hits, including Jacksons homer in the second. Alex Avila followed with a single, Detroits last hit until Ian Kinslers double in the ninth. The injuries kept mounting for the Dodgers, who just got Kemp off the disabled list Friday and are expecting to activate right-hander Josh Beckett to start Wednesday night. Catcher A.J. Ellis joined Clayton Kershaw, setup man Brian Wilson and Chad Billingsley on the DL, and right fielder Yasiel Puig sat out his second game because of a swollen left thumb. NOTES: Don Kelly replaced Hunter in right field. ... Ellis had arthroscopic surgery to repair a torn meniscus, and is expected to be sidelined four to six weeks. Federowicz was recalled from Triple-A Albuquerque. ' ' '