Zach LaVine of the Minnesota Timberwolves overcame Aaron Gordon of the Orlando Magic to repeat as the NBA Slam Dunk champion in the most riveting contest of recent years.
Many were saying the annual dunk contest at the All-Star weekend had grown stale until the two 20-year-olds turned on gravity-defying displays of athleticism and imagination and drew comparisons with the 1988 showdown between Michael Jordan and Dominique Wilkins.
LaVine and Gordon went toe-to-toe in the first two rounds of the final round then needed a pair of tie-breakers, where the former sealed it with his fourth consecutive perfect 50 score.
LaVine, a second-year NBA player, joined Michael Jordan (1987-88), Jason Richardson (2002-03) and Nate Robinson (2009-10) as the only players to win consecutive slam dunk contests.
A streak of perfect scores from the two players ended when Gordon ran along the baseline en route to a jackknife dunk that earned him 47 points.
LaVine sealed it on the next attempt when he soared into the air from a step inside the free-throw line and made a between-the-legs dunk that earned a perfect score from a panel of judges that included basketball greats Magic Johnson and Shaquille O'Neal.
In his most spectacular dunk, Gordon jumped over the Magic mascot Stuff, who was standing on a hoverboard, grabbed the ball from his hand and passed it underneath both legs before throwing it down.
"I just think that was the best contest," LaVine said. "There was some stuff that's never been done before. I don't want to get into the greats -- Mike, they're in a different breath. If you really look at it as a whole, we were doing dunks that professional dunkers take four or five tries to do and we were doing it on the first try. It was ridiculous, man."
Gordon was a gracious loser.
"Zach's an incredible dunker," Gordon said. "He went through the legs from the free-throw line. That is insane. So off that dunk, you've got to give it to him. That's why the trophy's with him and not with me."
Earlier, Klay Thompson knocked off defending champion and Golden State Warriors team mate Stephen Curry and Devin Booker of the Phoenix Suns to win the three-point contest after capping the final round by draining his last eight shots.
Minnesota Timberwolves rookie centre Karl-Anthony Towns pulled off an upset in the Skills Challenge, an event that tests dribbling, passing, and shooting, when he became the first big man to win a competition normally dominated by guards.
Towns, the top pick of the 2015 NBA Draft, dribbled through an obstacle course, sent a pass through a target, made a layup and a three-point shot quicker than Boston Celtics guard Isaiah Thomas in the final round of an event that included front court players for the first time.
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