Magicgames II » e struck out in the seventh in his last opportunity.

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. Russell Wilson Jersey . The league-leading New York Rangers outhit and outmuscled the Maple Leafs during a 3-0 victory on Saturday. Backup goalie Martin Biron stopped all 20 shots he faced to complete a nice workmanlike effort by the visitors. Seahawks Jerseys China Cheap .Y. -- Mark Steenhuis scored four goals and added two assists to lead the Buffalo Bandits over the Toronto Rock 12-10 in National Lacrosse League action on Saturday. http://www.cheapseahawksjerseysauthentic.com/.C. -- Kevin Harvick won his first career pole at Darlington Raceway on Friday as he looks to chase his first Southern 500. Seattle Seahawks Jerseys China .Y. -- The Buffalo Bills have fired receivers coach Ike Hilliard. Steve Largent Jersey . It was a day that saw England slump off a World Cup field once again battered and bruised. This time there was no red card to wonder about, no goalkeeping error or individual mistake. They were thoroughly beaten by something they have nothing of – genuine world class ability. ST. LOUIS -- Matt Carpenter came up empty Sunday in his bid for a 200-hit season. St. Louis second baseman could have cared less. Carpenter and the Cardinals clinched home-field advantage throughout the National League playoffs when they beat the Chicago Cubs 4-0 for their sixth straight win. "That last one (hit) was tough to find," Carpenter said after going 0 for 4. "From an individual standpoint 200 hits is a cool thing, but more importantly we won a big game today and have the best record in the National League." With the top seed, the Central League champions will host the wild-card winner in Game 1 of an NL division series on Thursday. Joe Kelly (10-5) pitched 5 1-3 innings of three-hit ball in relief of Jake Westbrook as the Cardinals matched a season high winning streak to finish 97-65, their most since reaching 100 in 2005. St. Louis also won six straight from April 30-May 5. The Cardinals have won eight of nine and 17 of 22. Carpenter finished with a league-leading 199 hits. He struck out in the seventh in his last opportunity. Carpenter said he felt a little pressure in his at-bats Sunday. "Its one of those things, when guys are chasing certain (goals) it can kind of get to them a little," he said. "I dont know if it did or not." The milestone was important to manager Mike Matheny, who said Carpenters failure was the lone damper on the afternoon. "He was pushing hard, "he said. "But what a season." Carpenter also finished first in the NL in runs (126), doubles (55) and multihit games (63). "Now all those stats go out the window, its just about winning games," he said. "But, Im pleased and proud with what Ive done." Jon Jay, Daniel Descalso, Shane Robinson and Tony Cruz drove in runs for St. Louis. The Cubs, who lost 41 of their last 59 games, finish last in the Central at 66-96. Chicago manager Dale Sveum, who is scheduled to meet Monday with Cubs management to discuss his future, says a lack of offence hurt his club the last month. "We didnt score a lot," he said. "When youre facing the Cardinals, Reds, Pirates, Atlanta, its going to be tough." St..dddddddddddd Louis starter Jake Westbrook pitched one inning before Kelly came on in relief. Westbrook is not likely to be on the post-season roster and the Cardinals are not expected to pick up his option for next season. Kelly struck out five in his first relief appearance since re-joining the starting rotation on July 6. "It was a little different, but my mindset was the same the whole time," Kelly said. "I felt like I was commanding my fastball on both sides of the plate. I was just trying to keep a high level of focus and attack these guys." Matheny called it, "one of his best all-around outings." Randy Choate, Carlos Martinez and Kevin Siegrist contributed to the five-man, five-hit shutout. The Cardinals scored twice in the fourth off Chicago starter Jeff Samardzija (8-13) to take a 3-0 lead. Matt Adams and Descalso hit back-to-back doubles to push the advantage to 2-0. Robinson followed with a run-scoring single. Samardzija gave up three runs on eight hits in six innings. "I had a strong year, I felt good," Samardzija said. "I pitched every start, threw a lot of innings and had a lot of strikeouts." Jay, who drove in a run with a single in the third, extended his hitting streak to a career-high 14 games with a single in the first. St. Louis catcher Yadier Molina took the field to start the game, but was removed before the first pitch. Molina received a standing ovation as he walked to the dugout. Right fielder Carlos Beltran was taken out at the start of the fifth inning and also left to a loud applause. "Today, we were proud to do something that could honour our guys," Matheny said. "The fans like to acknowledge our guys." NOTES: St. Louis recognized the 50th anniversary of Stan Musials last game as a Cardinal with commemorative patches on their uniforms. Musial went 2 for 3 and singled in his final at-bat of a 3-2 win over Cincinnati. ... Matheny indicated that Adam Wainwright (19-9, 2.94) will start the first game of the NL division series. The Cubs closed the season losing 41 of their last 59. ...A crowd of 44,808 gave the Cardinals their 25th sellout of the season. 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