SAN FRANCISCO — Congratulations, Team C.
You’ve won the Rising Stars compeтιтion.
Your reward?
A trip to the All-Star Game on Sunday night — where LeBron James, Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant are among those who’ll be waiting in the second semifinal.
San Antonio’s Stephon Castle scored 12 points, Keyonte George had a 3-pointer for the game-winning score and Team C beat Team G League — composed of players from the NBA’s developmental league — 25-14 in the championship game of the Rising Stars compeтιтion to open All-Star weekend on Friday night.
Stephon Castle won Rising Stars Challenge MVP.Combined, the seven players on Team C — Castle, George, Phoenix’s Ryan Dunn, Memphis teammates Zach Edey and Jaylen Wells, Golden State’s Trayce Jackson-Davis and the Los Angeles Lakers’ Dalton Knecht — have a combined 5,028 points, 25 double-doubles and no triple-doubles in their NBA careers. (An eighth player will be added before Sunday.)
It’ll face the team drafted by Shaquille O’Neal in the All-Star semifinal, meaning Team C will take on James, Curry, Durant, Kyrie Irving, Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Damian Lillard and James Harden.
That team, combined: 7,577 NBA games, 188,331 points, 1,812 double-doubles, 243 triple-doubles.
But it’ll be a first-to-40 game on Sunday night, past stats not mattering much.
The NBA stars will surely feel some pressure against a young team that has nothing to lose.
“Nobody will want to lose to that team,” Curry said.
