The trend of the big men showing up and showing out during the Skills Challenge continued on Saturday night. Much to the detriment of Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
Gilgeous-Alexander was matched up against Khris Middleton, the two-time All-Star from the Milwaukee Bucks during the first round of the Skills Challenge.
Neither player had difficulty dribbling around the obstacles during the ball-handling portion of the challenge, but things broke down for Gilgeous-Alexander when he got to the pass.
While Middleton hit the target on his first pass, SGA’s was off the mark. He then didn’t know where the ball rack was, turning the wrong direction and losing precious seconds. He missed his next pass before finally hitting his third.
Both players made the layup and Gilgeous-Alexander almost caught Middleton at the end. Middleton’s first 3-point attempt was long off the back of the iron, and SGA put up a shot from around the hash mark to try and win the round on a heave.
His shot wasn’t off by much, but Middleton knocked down his second 3-point try for the victory.
Middleton lost to former Thunder center, Domantas Sabonis in the second round.
Sabonis then lost to the Heat’s Bam Adebayo in the final.
