Nate Robinson of the New York Knicks upstaged defending champion Dwight Howard to win the slam dunk competition that highlighted Saturday's programme at the NBA All-Star weekend. The five-foot-nine Robinson leapt over the seven-foot Howard, who stood in front of the basket as his rival soared for a dunk that won over the fans whose votes decided the outcome.
"Dwight was a great sport letting me dunk over him," Robinson, who also won the dunk title in 2006, said of the Orlando Magic center. "I asked him yesterday in the elevator. He was like, 'Hey, I'll do it.' I thought he was joking. He said, 'Yeah, I'll do it.' "I was like, 'All right, that's going to be the final dunk if I make it to the finals.'"
Howard, who was the top vote-getter for Sunday's main event, the All-Star Game exhibition between the Eastern and Western conferences, had a relatively tame final round. He pumped in a one-handed jam after ricocheting it off the side of the backboard.
He then threw one down from just inside the free-throw line. "It was a lot of fun," Howard said. "Everybody expected so much from last year but all around we had a lot of fun." Howard said it wasn't surprising the more diminutive Robinson won.
"The shorter man will win in a dunk contest because it looks real hard for him and easy for me. The better man won tonight. He had the crowd into it and I am happy for him."
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