NEW ORLEANS - Shortly after hoisting his second Slam Dunk trophy, this one hell have to share, Terrence Ross was stunned to hear

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. Hydro Flask 40 Oz Black . "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. White Hydro Flask 32 Oz . Tokarski, a somewhat controversial choice -- with his 10 games of NHL experience and all -- to replace an injured Carey Price in Game Two had a night to remember, turning back a Rangers team that was dominating play from the get-go, outshooting the Canadiens 14-4 in the first period and 37-25 overall. Hydro Flask 24 Oz Pink . Sopoaga hit the upright with his first shot at goal from 15 metres. He then kicked nine goals in succession -- two conversions and seven penalties -- before being replaced in the 62nd minute, three points short of the Highlanders record for most points in a match. http://www.cheaphydroflaskstore.com/ . Particularly when speaking in the stadium of Tuesdays opponent: Manchester City. "Maybe they dont fear us as before," Pique said on Monday, "because in the last two years we didnt win the Champions League.OKLAHOMA CITY -- The Detroit Pistons had Kentavious Caldwell-Pope. The Oklahoma City Thunder had Kevin Durant. Even on a career night for Caldwell-Pope, advantage Oklahoma City. Durant scored 42 points, including 21 in the fourth quarter, and the Thunder secured the No. 2 playoff seed in the Western Conference, rallying from 10-point fourth-quarter deficit to beat the Pistons 112-111 Wednesday night. Oklahoma City (59-23) had lost two straight to put itself in the must-win situation in the regular-season finale to earn the No. 2 seed. Durant rallied the Thunder while recording his 14th 40-point game of the season. He drove for the go-ahead dunk with 16.5 seconds left and won a tip over Greg Monroe with 1.8 seconds to go after a scramble for a loose ball resulted in a jump ball in Detroits end. Detroits Brandon Jennings could only manage a 30-foot heave at the buzzer that banged off the rim. "We just figured it out," Durant said. "We got it done. It wasnt the best game. We didnt play well defensively. We didnt shoot the ball well offensively. But theres something about just getting it done, having that willpower, having that fight in you, no matter what. It was a tough game, we persevered and we got a good win." The Thunder extended their winning streak over Detroit (29-53) to nine games, dating to December 2008. Caldwell-Pope scored 30 points for the Pistons (29-53), while Monroe had 22, Kyle Singler added 20 and Andre Drummond recorded his ninth straight double-double to end the season for Detroit, finishing with 22 points and 13 rebounds. "Our guys played their hearts out, competed from the opening tip," Detroit coach John Loyer said. "I feel terrible for them because they deserved to win the game. They did anything we asked them to do tonight. Some guys stepped up and made some incredible shots and they put together 48 minutes of as good of basketball as we can play." Russell Westbrook added 22 points for Oklahoma City, which will play Memphis in the first round of the playoffs. It was the ability of Westbrook, and especially Durant, to attack the rim in the fourth quarter that made the difference. Durants fourth quarter left Loyer almost speechless. "Hes one of thee top one or two players in the world," Loyer said. 24 OZ Graphite Hydro Flask. "Thats what he did." For much of Wednesday, the Thunder looked and played like a tired team. Oklahoma Citys late-season defensive issues were on full display, as the Pistons shot 50.6 per cent from the field and Caldwell-Pope joined other non-marquee players such as Jodie Meeks (Los Angeles Lakers), Gerald Green (Phoenix Suns) and Tyreke Evans (New Orleans Pelicans) in enjoying a career night against the Thunder. Oklahoma City trailed for most of the first half before taking a one-point lead twice in the third quarter. Detroit went on a 15-7 run and took an 87-79 lead on a basket by Jonas Jerebko with 5 seconds left in the quarter. Detroit led 94-84 with 10:13 left in the game after a basket by Monroe. But Durants offensive flurry cut into that gap and the Pistons didnt score a basket in the final 3:17 or at all after Jennings hit two of three free throws with 2:07 left. On the Pistons final possession, the ball found its way to Jerebko, but he lost the handle as Thunder players slapped at the ball and officials ended up calling a tie ball. Caldwell-Pope hit four 3-pointers in the first half -- making one over the outstretched arm of the 6-foot-10 Durant -- and eclipsed his previous career high of 15 points by the 5:27 mark of the second quarter. His next basket put the Pistons ahead 48-37 with 4:52 left in the first half and hushed the crowd at Chesapeake Energy Arena. Durant, who was 2 of 8 from the field to that point, hit two free throws, then drained a 3-pointer to start a 17-7 run by Oklahoma City. Westbrook scored seven points in the final 2:41 and Durant drained an 18-foot jumper in the final second to pull the Thunder within 55-54. NOTES: Drummond set the Pistons record for highest field-goal percentage in a season, finishing at 62.3 per cent. Dennis Rodman had held the previous team record of 59.5 per cent, set during the 1988-89 season. ... Kendrick Perkins was called for a technical foul by official Tony Brothers with 8:01 left in the third quarter when he protested after picking up his fifth foul. ... The Thunder recorded their 130th straight regular-season sellout at Chesapeake Energy Arena, which seats 18,203 fans. ' ' '