Newly minted superstar and New York Knicks point guard Jeremy Lin participated in the 2012 BBVA Rising Stars Challenge in Orlando on Friday night. The evening was a kickoff to the NBA All-Star Weekend, with the main event being the NBA's freshman and sophomore up-and-comers facing off in an exhibition game that ended up being wildly entertaining.
In a twist on the normal format of Freshmen vs. Sophomores, this year's game pitted hybrid teams led by Shaquille O'Neal and Charles Barkley. Lin was a member of Team Shaq and was, unfortunately, on the losing end on Friday night. Lin had a largely uneventful night. He only played five minutes in the first half, going 0-for-1 shooting with one assist: a nifty alley-oop dunk to teammate Blake Griffin. All told, Lin played for only nine total minutes and took just four shots, sinking only one.
Alley-oops, dunks and gaffes were the order of the night. Kyrie Irving put on a spectacular show of shooting for Team Chuck, particularly from beyond the three-point line. Irving picked up the MVP with 34 points, including eight treys. Team Chuck led for the entire game and picked up the win by a final score of 146-133.
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