Karl-Anthony Towns becomes first big man to win Skills Challenge

TORONTO — Karl-Anthony Towns of the Minnesota Timberwolves proved big men have skills when he became the first frontcourt player to ever win the Skills Challenge at NBA All-Star Weekend.

It was the first of three events at All-Star Saturday Night, which went down at Toronto's Air Canada Centre. Towns beat Isaiah Thomas of the Boston Celtics in a razor-close final to take the crown.

"I like proving people wrong, so I'm glad I was able to make a lot of people wrong," Towns said. "I was able to make critics wrong. Vegas wrong, Ricky Rubio wrong. So I'm just so ecstatic right now."

The Skills Challenge required players to dribble a full length of the court through obstacles and complete a chest pass through a target. They then had to come down the other side and make a layup. Once the layup went in, the players took the ball down to the other end of the court to hit a three-point shot. The first player to complete the course advanced to the next round.

In the quarterfinal of the guard bracket, C.J. McCollum of the Portland Trail Blazers bumped Jordan Clarkson of the Los Angeles Lakers from the contest. Thomas took out Emmanuel Mundiay of Denver Nuggets.

When the big men took the court, Towns topped Draymond Green of the Golden State Warriors while DeMarcus Cousins of the Sacramento Kings beat Anthony Davis of the New Orleans Pelicans.

The semifinals were extremely lopsided in both brackets. Thomas easily dispatched of McCollum to advance to the finals while Towns did the same to Cousins.

The final was much more competitive. Towns and Thomas were neck-and-neck from start to finish. They each had the chance to win several times on the three-point shot, but after several misses, Towns was the first to sink and became the first forward to ever win in the 14-year history of the Skills Challenge.