LOS ANGELES, US —
Cade Cunningham was named most valuable player of the NBA All-Star
Weekend's Rising Stars game as Team Barry defeated Team Isaiah 25-20 in the
final on Friday night in Cleveland.
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The Detroit Pistons'
Cunningham, who was the No. 1 pick in the 2021 draft, scored five points in the
final while teammate and crowd favorite Evan Mobley of the
Cleveland Cavaliers also scored five.
Under the annual
contest's new format, the first team to reach 25 points is declared the winner.
"We were happy to
pull it out," Cunningham said. "My goal coming in was to win. We had
the team to do it, and we had to prove ourselves."
The new format saw the
28 game participants split into four teams that played two semi-finals followed
by the final.
The four teams were
coached by Hall of Famers Rick Barry, Gary Payton, Isiah Thomas and James
Worthy.
The
NBA All-Star Game
is Sunday, with the Los Angeles Lakers' LeBron James and
Brooklyn Nets' Kevin
Durant captaining the two teams in the showcase event.
Asked how he picked his
winning Rising Stars team, Barry said: "I tried to get diversification. I
am proud of these guys. It is so good to see them play the way the game should
be played.
"Everybody did
their job. It is about team basketball."
Jae'Sean Tate of the
Houston Rockets also had five points for Team Barry.
Precious Achiuwa of the
Toronto Raptors led Team Isiah with 12 points in the final.
Both of Friday's
semi-finals were decided by two points or less.
Team Isiah made it to
the final round by winning 50-49 against Team Worthy on free throws from the
Memphis Grizzlies' Desmond Bane.
In the second
semi-final, Team Barry broke a 48-48 tie on Tate's drive for the winning
points.
On Sunday, 37-year-old
James will be playing in his 18th All-Star Game, matching
Kobe Bryant and
moving within one of the record held by Hall of Famer Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
This is the third
All-Star Game played in Cleveland, along with 1981 and 1997.
Saturday's events will
include a skills challenge, three-point contest and slam dunk competition.
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