WASHINGTON Wizards’ star guard, John Wall, and Marco Belinelli of the San Antonio Spurs were surprise winners in the All-Star weekend’s Slam Dunk and Three-Point contests respectively.

Wall, representing the East along with Terrence Ross and Paul George, triumphed over Sacramento King Ben McLemore in the last of a three-part contest.

In a slightly confusing and much criticised new system, the first section saw East vs West in a freestyle contest, which saw the competitors try to complete as many dunks as they could with 90 seconds on the clock. Then, there were three one-on-one match-ups. The East won both sections.

However, Wall cemented the sweep by topping Ben McLemore’s dunk over Shaquille O’Neal, by completing a double-clutch reverse slam over his team mascot.

Belinelli earned his victory by beating out the likes of Damian Lillard in the point-based system. He was tied with Bradley Beal of the Wizards however, and the two went into a shootout tie-breaker, which Belinelli won.

Earlier in the day, Lillard, along with his West teammate Trey Burke of the Utah Jazz, beat their competition in the timed Skills Challenge obstacle course. The two faced the Eastern pair of Victor Oladipo and Michael Carter-Williams in the final round, beating the rookie pair by a 10th of a second. The final time was 45.2, giving the West their second victory of the weekend.

The two conferences headed into the blockbuster All-Star Game all square at 2-2, however, as Chris Bosh and WNBA star Swin Cash had given the East another win in the Shooting Stars contest. Bosh sealed the win by hitting a half-court shot.

In the Rising Stars challenge another riveting, albeit untallied event of the weekend, Team Hill claimed a 142-136 win over Team Webber. Team Hill, consisting of the likes of Damian Lillard, Bradley Beal, Andre Drummond and the Miles Plumlee who was a late draftee replacing the injured Pero Antic of Atlanta, worked hard for the narrow win over Team Webber, consisting of the likes of Anthony Davis, Michael Carter-Williams, Tim Hardaway Jr and Victor Oladipo. Team Hill’s Drummond was the MVP of the match, for his 30 points and 25 rebounds although Team Webber’s Tim Hardaway Jr had a game-high 36 points.

Meanwhile, in the All-Star Celebrity game, Kevin Hart was again voted MVP, although US Secretary of Education was the true standout in his team’s 60-56 win, scoring 20 points to go with his 11 rebounds and six assists.

The All-Star Game began after press time.