Former New York Knicks star Allan Houston and Team New York defeated Team Texas in the final round to claim the 2012 NBA Haier Shooting Stars Title.
Team Texas led off the event with a bit of a rocky start. After both Chandler Parsons and Sophia Young struggled to make their long range jump shots, Kenny Smith was able to hit the halfcourt shot to give the the Lonestar team time of 42.7 seconds in the first round.
Team New York got off to a fast start from the field as Landry Fields, Cappie Pondexter and Allan Houston were able to roll through their early shots without ease. Houston ultimately ended it for New York as he nailed the half court prayer, giving team NYC a time of 38.7 seconds in the first round
The hometown faithful of Team Orlando stepped in front of the Amway Arena crowd and put up a pretty mediocre performance. After a relatively quick first cycle of shots, the tandem of Jameer Nelson, Marie Ferdinand-Harris an Dennis Scott struggled through the second cycle and ended up with a total time of 1:04. Ouch.
To cap off the first round of action was Team Atlanta, the defending champions of the event. The Joe Johnson-less Atlanta team of Jerry Stackhouse, Lindsey Harding and Steve Smith looked really awesome, until they got to the half court shot. With a lot of leeway time, Team Atlanta couldn't finish the deed, as they struggled with the half court shot and ended up with a time of just over 50 seconds, eliminating them from contention.
It ultimately came down to Team Texas and Team New York in the final round. After Parsons struggled with his three point field goals during the second cycle, Kenny Smith once again came through for Team Texas by nailing the first half court shot attempt to give Texas a time of 47.6. That was enough to win, right? Not on Team New York's watch.
After Team NYC got off to a great start, and had over 20 second of time to spare before Allan Houston sunk the half court shot, giving New York a final time of 37.3 seconds and the Haier Shooting Stars Title.
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