McClung's 4 perfect dunks clinch historic 3-peat; Herro wins 3s title - ESPN

SAN FRANCISCO — Mac McClung dialed up a retro move Saturday night in setting the tone to make NBA history as the only player to win three consecutive slam dunk contest titles.

The G League star's team parked a silver Kia sedan under the basket, reminiscent of the prop used in the 2011 dunk contest by Blake Griffin, and the 26-year old soared over it, flashing championship form on a night Milwaukee's Damian Lillard failed in his bid to win a third-straight 3-point contest title.

Miami Heat guard Tyler Herro bested the field in that event to become the fifth player in franchise history to win a 3-point contest championship.

«I was extremely honored to be a part of this weekend,» McClung said. «I genuinely love this contest and [I'm] just very appreciative.»

McClung's opening-round dunk generated a score of 50, and he posted four jams worth 50 points to become one of four players with at least four such dunks in a single dunk contest. The other three are Zach LaVine (2016), Aaron Gordon (2020) and Derrick Jones Jr. (2020), according to ESPN Research.

McClung cleared the Kia on his first dunk, as an assistant with his head poked out of the sunroof of the car held the basketball.

Despite the eye-popping tone-setter, McClung found himself in a hotly contested final showdown with San Antonio rookie guard Stephon Castle, who logged a score of 99.6 in the last round and narrowly finished second. Castle is just the fourth Spur to compete in the event, and the first since 1988 (Greg Anderson).

«I felt like my third dunk should have been a 50,» Castle said. «We could've [gone] to a dunk-off. I don't know if that's what the crowd would've wanted. But overall, I was happy with it.»

McClung failed to stick the landing on his first dunk