BROOKLYN, N.Y. — It was a game that featured little more than dunks, blocks, three-pointers, and crossovers — sounds like the perfect game, doesn’t it? — and two Nets showed off their respective skills.
Nets center Mason Plumlee scored 13 points, adding 9 rebounds for Team USA, and guard Bojan Bogdanovic added 16 points for Team World in the BBVA Compass Rising Stars Challenge Friday night as Team World won, 121-112.
Both Plumlee and Bogdanovic came off the bench for their squads in the first half, but started the second after scoring 10 & 9 points in the first half, respectively. Bogdanovic hit three three-pointers, and Plumlee put down a series of dunks, plus a nice stifle of Dennis Schröder on what looked like a surefire layup in the fourth quarter.
Plumlee did pull off one fancy move at Bogdanovic’s expense, faking a pass ahead and pulling Bogdanovic off the floor, before driving downcourt past him and dishing to Orlando Magic guard Victor Oladipo for a pretty dunk:
Both Plumlee & Bogdanovic laughed recollecting the pass. “Yeah, I figured he would go for that,” Plumlee said.
Bogdanovic’s weekend is over, but Plumlee has one more event: Saturday night’s Sprite Slam Dunk Contest, where he’ll take on Victor Oladipo, Zach LaVine, and Giannis Antetokounmpo, all of whom participated in the Rising Stars Challenge.
Plumlee broke a nail on his dunking hand, which was bloody during the post-game media availability. He does not anticipate it to hinder his dunking, but admitted coming up with creative dunks is a struggle. “At the end of the day, you’re just throwing the ball through the hole,” Plumlee said. “So how many ways can you do that? There have been so many dunk contests, so many great dunkers, it’s hard to come up with something new and original. But we’re going to try.”
Plumlee added he didn’t know what his competitors were up to.
“The thing about the dunk contest is I could know everything about what Zach LaVine’s doing. If he does it, and hits it all on the first try, like, what are you gonna do? There’s no defense,” Plumlee joked.
