For the second straight year, Pacers forward Domantas Sabonis reached the final of the Skills Challenge at All-Star Weekend. After falling to Bam Adebayo in the finals a year ago, Sabonis came away with the title on Sunday night in Atlanta, defeating Orlando Magic center Nikola Vucevic in the finals.
Sabonis made quick work of Knicks All-Star forward Julius Randle in the first round, nailing the pass on his first try while Randle botched his first attempt, then knocking down the 3-pointer to finish the round on his first attempt before Randle could even get a shot off.
That set up a semifinal showdown with Mavericks guard Luka Doncic, who had a bye in the first round. Doncic struggled worse than Randle on the passing station, while Sabonis once again was flawless, securing another easy win.
In the final, he faced off against Vucevic, who knocked out Chris Paul in a tightly contested semifinal. Sabonis trailed Vucevic slightly down the final stretch and both players struggled to hit the 3-pointer at the end. But the 6-11 Lithuanian fired shots in quick succession, eventually connecting on his fourth attempt to come away with the title.
"I just wanted to come out here and have fun with," Sabonis said on TNT after the win.