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0 The 2024 Kia Skills Challenge at State Farm All-Star Saturday Night was an exciting event that saw the hometown Team Pacers emerge victorious. It was a team event, and the Pacers – comprising Tyrese Haliburton, Bennedict Mathurin, and Myles Turner – won the competition after two thrilling tiebreakers.
The contest was divided into several rounds, with the first round being a three-man relay. In this round, the Pacers finished first by completing the relay in 1:07, beating Team All-Stars, Team Top Picks, and the clock. The All-Stars set the pace with a time of 1:18, but they couldn’t beat the Pacers’ time. Team Top Picks came in third, while the clock ran out on the All-Stars. The Pacers ran a clean relay, with all three players making their first corner 3 and Haliburton finishing off the run by tossing a through-the-legs alley-oop off the backboard to himself.
The passing round was the second round, and it came down to a tie-breaker between the Pacers and the All-Stars. Both teams finished their initial pass-through with 74 points. The All-Stars began the tie-breaker with a new record of 90, only for the Pacers to top it with 92. They ignored the two-point goal and just alternated between the four and the six, making all of their passes count.
The third round was the shooting round, and it was worth 200 challenge points. The All-Stars dominated this round, making more shots than any other team and earning the maximum points available.
However, the contest was ultimately decided in the tie-breaker round, which was worth 300 challenge points. The All-Stars went first but needed 58.8 seconds to make a half-court shot. The Pacers took their time and still beat that time by more than 20 seconds, with Haliburton ending the competition with a swish. It was the third straight year in which the Kia Skills Challenge was decided in a half-court-shot tie-breaker round, and the third straight year in which the home team won.
The win was a historic one for the Pacers, who became the first team to win the Kia Skills Challenge three years in a row. The competition featured some of the best young talent in the league, including Tyrese Maxey, Scottie Barnes, Trae Young, Anthony Edwards, and Victor Wembanyama. However, it was the Pacers who emerged victorious, thanks to their teamwork, strategy, and skill.
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