Evan Mobley, Darius Garland dominate shooting competition of NBA Skills Challenge

On3 imageby:Wade Peery02/19/22
On3 image
(Photo by Soobum Im/Getty Images)

Evan Mobley and Darius Garland dominated the NBA Skills Challenge tonight on All-Star weekend. Both players couldn’t miss during the shooting competition, torching the nets. Garland scored 24 points in the Team Shooting Challenge, more than Team Antetokounmpos combined: 20 points.

Check out the video below.

Mobley is currently in the Top 5 among all rookies in the NBA in points, rebounds, and double-doubles. Garland is also one of the game’s bright young stars, as he’s connecting on 37.8 percent of his shots from beyond-the-arc this season for the Cleveland Cavaliers. This season, Garland is averaging 20.3 points per game, 3.3 rebounds per game, and 8.0 assists per game.

A former McDonald’s All-American, Darius Garland was one of the highest rated recruits in the 2018 recruiting class. He played his high school basketball at Brentwood Academy (Brentwood, Tennessee), winning a TSSAA-record tying four state championships with the Eagles. Not only that, but Garland also became just the second player in state history to win three consecutive Mr. Basketball Awards. He ended up signing with the in-state Vanderbilt Commodores. The 6-foot-1 guard only played five games for them during the 2018-2019 season before suffering a season-ending knee injury.

In those five games he started, Garland shot 53.7 percent from the field, including 47.8 percent from beyond-the-arc. He flashed his superstar potential, dumping in 33 points with four assists and four rebounds in a win over Liberty. In his collegiate debut, Garland scored 24 points and stuffed the stat sheet with four assists, two steals, two blocks, and three rebounds.

Cleveland Cavaliers fans are hoping the dynamic duo of Mobley and Garland continue to shine for them on the hardwood for years to come. At the All-Star break, the Cavaliers currently sit at 35-23 overall, putting them 2.5 games behind the Heat and the Bulls in the Eastern Conference.