Duke Basketball: Jayson Tatum’s half court heave wins Skills Challenge

The former Duke Basketball standout, Jayson Tatum, was the winner of the NBA Skills Competition on All-Star Saturday night.

On a night where many former Duke Basketball players flocked to Durham to see the Duke Blue Devils take down the North Carolina State Wolfpack, Jayson Tatum had to stay in Charlotte to compete in the Skills Competition.

It was worth it for Tatum as he was able to win the NBA Skills Competition over Trae Young in the Championship Round.

Tatum had to defeat Mike Conley of the Memphis Grizzlies in the first round of the Skills Challenge and then had to face Nikola Jokic in the semi-finals before facing Young in the Championship Round.

Young had a step on Tatum when the two left the starting blocks and Young was set up for his 3-point attempt to win the event, but Tatum then threw up a prayer from half-court, hoping for the best.

The best happened to Tatum and his prayer was answered.

Tatum was coming off of a game in the Rising Stars Challenge with 30 points, nine rebounds, three assists, and two steals in Team USA’s 161-144 victory over Team World, where Tatum was 12-of-was 24 from he floor and six of fourteen from 3-point range.

Kyle Kuzma won MVP of the game with 35 points, six rebounds, and two assists.

After the All-Star Break, Jayson Tatum will get back to Boston and try and help the Celtics in the stretch run and improve its playoff positioning.

Current the Celtics are 37-21 which puts them tied with he Philadelphia 76ers, but due to tiebreakers at the moment, the Celtics hold the No. 4 seed while the 76ers are in the No. 5 seed.

Boston is one game behind the Indiana Pacers for the No. 3 seed in the Eastern Conference and six and a half games behind the Milwaukee Bucks for the No. 1 seed.

The Celtics will start the second half of the season in Milwaukee to face the Bucks on Thursday, February 21 at 8:00 pm ET.