Foretelling the future and throwing the game-winner, Jose Alvarado shines NBA Rising Stars 2023
New Orleans Pelicans defensive and steal expert Jose Alvarado turned into a star today, shining in the semifinals before throwing the game-winner in the final at the 2023 NBA Rising Stars event.
A total of 28 players attended the event, including 21 freshmen/sophomores and 7 players from the NBA G-League Ignite team. All are divided into 4 teams: Team Pau, Team Terry, Team Joakim and Team Deron (coached by 4 former NBA stars Pau Gasol, Jason Terry, Joakim Noah and Deron Williams).
Unlike regular matches with 4 innings, each 12 minutes, a match of NBA Rising Stars 2023 is calculated by points, with no time limit.
The team that reaches the target point first will win, called Elam Ending style. In the semi-finals, the target score is 40. In the final, the target score is 25.
Jose Alvarado scored 13 points in the first semi-final, helping Team Pau overcome Team Deron with a score of 40-27. In the second semi-final, young talent Quentin Grimes of the New York Knicks shined with 13 points, bringing team Joakim to victory over Team Jason Terry.
In the final with an attractive tit-for-tat game, Alvarado scored 5 of the last 9 points of Team Pau. That includes a 3-point game-winner to bring a 25-20 victory for the legendary Los Angeles Lakers team.
A fun detail is that Alvarado had a small bet with All-Star defender Donovan Mitchell right before launching the game-winner.
Jose's body-mounted microphone captures a conversation between him and Donovan, asking: "How much do you want to bet if I throw in this last one?" Mitchell replied that he would take care of dinner.
In the end, Mitchell happily accepted the loss to his colleague, only the Cleveland Cavaliers All-Star defender said he would "pay" for only $ 1.
The series of NBA Rising Stars 2023 matches also closes the series of NBA All-Star events on Friday night (US time). Starting at 8:00 a.m. tomorrow, Sunday, February 19, Vietnam time, the three most anticipated competitions, Skills Challenge, 3-Point Contest and Slam Dunk Contest, will take place.
