It's time once again for the NBA's biggest weekend gala event of the year-the 2013 NBA All-Star Game Weekend, live from Houston, Texas.
The stars will be aligning at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas Friday through Sunday as the best and brightest from around the NBA come together to showcase their skills.
Before the big game on Sunday between the East All-Stars and the West All-Stars, Friday already featured the NBA All-Star Celebrity Game and the Rising Stars Challenge, where Damian Lillard, Kyrie Irving and the rest of the league's up-and-coming young stars took each other on.
Saturday will feature the next round of this year's festivities.
First at 3 p.m., the NBA's D-League will be holding their own All-Star Game on NBA TV.
Then at 8 p.m., NBA All-Star Saturday night on TNT will be showcasing four star-studded events.
Sears Shooting Stars Challenge
First up is the Sears Shooting Stars Challenge, where four teams--two teams representing the East and West apiece--will compete against each other in a shooting contest.
From six numbered shooting locations, each one harder than the next, each team will try to make all shots in numeric order in the fastest time.
For the West, NBA All-Star Russell Westbrook will team with former Houston Rocket and NBA great Robert Horry and Maya Moore of the WNBA's Minnesota Lynx while Houston Rocket All-Star James Harden will pair along with NBA legend Sam Cassell and WNBA all-time leading scorer Tina Thompson in a shooting competition.
And for the East, Miami Heat All-Star Chris Bosh will team with Hall of Famer Dominique Wilkins and WNBA star Swin Cash, while Brooklyn Nets star Brook Lopez will team with NBA legend Mugsy Bogues and WNBA Champion Tamika Catchings.
Taco Bell Skills Challenge
All-Star Tony Parker, last year's Skills Challenge champion, will be facing a stiff set of point guard competition as Jeremy Lin, Damian Lillard, Jrue Holiday, Brandon Knight and Jeff Teague go for point guard glory in the Skills Challenge.
All the participants will be competing against each other in a two-round obstacle course run consisting of dribbling, passing and shooting locations in the fastest time. Whoever can dribble around the obstacle stations, hit their target with a pin-point pass and hit a jump shot at a specific mark in the fastest time over two rounds will be the winner.
Last year, Parker clocked the fastest time with 29.2 seconds in the first round and 32.8 seconds in the second round. But with Lin, rookie sensation Lillard and others gunning for him Saturday night, a repeat won't be easy.
Foot Locker Three-Point Contest
The best sharpshooters from around the NBA will face off in the annual three-point contest.
And what a crowd it will be as Indiana's Paul George, Cleveland's Kyrie Irving, New York's Steve Novak, New Orleans' Ryan Anderson, San Antonio's Matt Bonner and Golden State's Stephen Curry will step up and take aim to determine who is the best three-ball shooter in the NBA.
Each contestant will be firing from five shooting stations around the three-point arc and have one minute to hit as many threes as possible. Last year, Kevin Love outdueled Kevin Durant to win the contest. A new champion will be crowned this year; but who?
Sprite Slam Dunk Contest
The most anticipated event of the night, however, will be the contest that made Jordan's dunking image an icon for Nike, had Dwight Howard proving his "Superman" nickname true, and made Blake Griffin's jams famous.
Yes, folks, the 2013 Slam Dunk Contest will be taking center stage to close out the evening, with Houston Rockets legends Clyde Drexler, Dikembe Mutombo, Hakeem Olajuwon, Rudy Tomjanovich, and Yao Ming on hand to serve as the judges for the competition.
And this year's crop of challengers looks promising, as the LA Clippers' Eric Bledsoe, Utah Jazz's Jeremy Evans, Denver Nuggets' Kenneth Faried, Indiana Pacers' Gerald Green, Toronto Raptors' Terrence Ross, and New York Knicks' James "Flight" White will be bringing their most creative, flamboyant, rim-rattling jams and slams in a two-round competition.
In the past, some of the best slam dunks have included jumping over other players, jumping over cars, using capes, dunking two balls at the same time, and so on.
Past winners have included Jordan, Kobe Bryant, Dwight Howard and Dominique Wilkins, among other famous luminaries.
And this year, fans can vote for the champion in a number of ways, including:
1.) SMS Text Message* - Text the player's last name to 38657 (DUNKS)
2.) Twitter - Tweet #SpriteSlam with the player's last name
3.) Vote via the official NBA All-Star App (Available on iTunes, Google Play and at https://www.nba.com/allstarapp/)
4.) Log on to NBA.com from any computer or mobile device.
Fans helped defending champion Evans win the contest last year in a very tight three-way race between Evans, Houston's Chase Budinger and Indiana's Paul George.
Can Evans repeat as champion? Or will another superstar rise above the rim to take the crown as this year's dunking king?
TV Schedule, Live Stream
NBA All-Star Saturday Night coverage will begin at 8 p.m. EST on TNT. For live streaming of all events, go to NBA On TNT Overtime.
Sunday
And on Sunday, the gala event concludes with the Beasts of the East taking on the Best in the West as the East All-Stars and West All-Stars collide in the 62nd Annual NBA All-Star Game.
At 6 p.m., Ludacris and B.o.B will open the Sprint Pregame Concert for the game, with Ke$ha headlining the concert event at 7 p.m. during TNT's live telecast.
For the East, it will be LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, Kevin Garnett, Chris Bosh and Dwayne Wade to start, taking on Kobe Bryant , Kevin Durant, Blake Griffin, Dwight Howard and Chris Paul for the West.
James and Wade combined for a 60-point showcase, but it wasn't enough to stop game MVP Durant's 36-point night and the West, who defeated the East 152-149 in a thriller to secure the second straight win for the West in the gala event.
But with James playing at a record-pace this year and a crop of dominating superstars including New York's Tyson Chandler, Irving, and George, will the East come out on top over the West, armed with Harden, Parker and San Antonio's Tim Duncan? We'll find out this Sunday.
TV Schedule, Live Stream
The 62 NBA All-Star Game will begin at 8:30 p.m. EST on TNT. Coverage starts at 7 p.m. EST. For live streaming of all events, go to NBA On TNT Overtime.
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