Source: Agence France-Presse
-- Sacramento's Tyreke Evans scored 26 points and San Antonio's DeJuan Blair added 22 with 23 rebounds as the NBA rookies notched a rare win over a second-year squad as part of the All-Star festivities.
The sophomores had won 7 straight editions of the Rookie Challenge and 8 of 10 since the format pitting first-year against second-year players was adopted in 2000.
This year, however, the rookies triumphed 140-128.
Russell Westbrook of Oklahoma City scored 40 points for the sophomores, but he was one of 7 players on the second-year team to lose for the second year in a row - after being defeated as a rookie last year.
Evans, the league's top-scoring rookie and 14th overall with an average 20.3 points a game, made 11 of 15 shots to go with six rebounds and five assists.
Halftime was enlivened by the first-ever "Dunk-In," a new competition to earn a spot in Saturday's slam dunk contest.
Toronto rookie DeMar DeRozan won, defeating Los Angeles Clippers guard Eric Gordon.
DeRozan earned 61% of the votes from fans, who voted online and by text message.
In the slam dunk competition on Friday he'll go up against defending champion Nate Robinson, Charlotte All-Star Gerald Wallace and Lakers guard Shannon Brown.
The weekend's activities culminate with the All-Star game on Sunday, where officials expect to set a basketball attendance record at Cowboys Stadium, the new state-of-the-art home of the Dallas Cowboys NFL team.
Friday, February 12, 2010
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