Heat's Keshad Johnson soars to a slam dunk title, edging Carter Bryant who had a perfect score

INGLEWOOD, Calif. (AP) — Keshad Johnson of the Miami Heat won the Slam Dunk contest at NBA All-Star Saturday, overcoming perfect scores by San Antonio rookie Carter Bryant on his first dunk in the final round.

For his final dunk, Johnson started behind the judges' table, took off from the free throw line and threw down a one-handed windmill jam. His first dunk earned a slightly higher score for a between-the-legs move.

Bryant earned the contest's highest score for his first dunk in the final. He bounced the ball in front of him, caught it between his legs and dunked with his right hand, earning perfect 50.0 marks from all five judges.

But Bryant struggled on his second dunk. He missed his first two tries, pausing to talk to Vince Carter in between. He attempted bouncing the ball off the glass and throwing down a reverse but it rolled around the rim and out. He settled for a less flashy but successful dunk on his third and final attempt.

It wasn't enough, giving the NBA a new slam dunk champion in Johnson. He accepted the trophy from Hall of Famer Julius Erving after shaking hands with all of the judges.

“All the kids out there, keep dreaming, anything can happen,” Johnson said. “I just came out here and showed people.”

If there'd been a dance contest, Johnson would have won that, too. He came dancing onto the court, smiling all the way, and danced after claiming the title.

Three-time dunk winner Mac McClung — currently on a two-way contract with the Chicago Bulls — didn't participate. He was the only competitor in history to have a perfect contest, scoring 50s from every judge on all of his dunks last year in San Francisco.

It was a four-man field for the fifth consecutive year, with Jaxson Hayes of the Lakers and Jase Richardson of Orlando joining Johnson and Bryant. But Hayes and Richardson didn't advance to the final.

In the first round, Johnson brought out rapper E-40. After missing on his first try, he leapt over E-40's bowed head and slammed the ball down while keeping his left hand behind his head.

Judging the contest were Erving, fellow Hall of Famer Dominique Wilkins, Dwight Howard, Corey Maggette and Brent Barry.

Damian Lillard isn't playing this season. He still scored big anyway, winning the 3-point contest over Devin Booker.

Lillard tied Larry Bird and Craig Hodges with his third title, most in the contest's history. Defending champion Tyler Herro of the Miami Heat didn't compete.

Lillard scored 30 points in the final round, edging Booker, who got hot early but tailed off and finished with 27. Booker of the Phoenix Suns was the champion in 2018.

“I was praying for his downfall,” Lillard said.

Charlotte Hornets standout rookie Kon Knueppel finished third with 17 points, wrinkling his nose at the result.

Lillard won his first title in 2023 while playing for the Portland Trail Blazers. He won it again the following year with Milwaukee. He's not playing for the Blazers while rehabbing from a torn left Achilles tendon. Still, he told the NBA he'd suit up for the contest if he needed.

“That’s all I do it for, keep adding to my legacy,” he said.

Booker was the top scorer after the first round with 30 points. Knueppel and Lillard were tied for second with 27.

Lillard fired away in the final, with the The Wall section of fans at the Los Angeles Clippers' Intuit Dome holding up red umbrellas in a sign he was making it rain.

“You just got to let the ball fly, trust your instincts as a shooter, and you can’t get ruffled when someone else gets hot,” Lillard said.

Eliminated after the first round were Donovan Mitchell, Tyrese Maxey, Norman Powell, Jamal Murray and Bobby Portis Jr.

Among the celebs on hand were Spike Lee, Magic Johnson, Queen Latifah, James Worthy, comics Keegan-Michael Key and Chris Tucker and singer Joey Fatone. Ludacris performed “All I Do Is Win” and other hits in a flame- and firecracker-filled show before the dunk contest.

Team Knicks, comprised of Karl-Anthony Towns, Allan Houston and Jalen Brunson, won the Shooting Stars trophy with 47 points. Lee, wearing his New York bucket hat, grinned from courtside.

They rallied in the final seconds to beat Team Cameron's Knueppel, Jalen Johnson and Maggette, who finished with 38 points in the contest's return for the first time since 2015.

Brunson's father, Rick, a current Knicks assistant, served as the winning team's “celebrity” passer.

Team Cameron, a nod to the trio's alma mater of Duke, took its passes from actor-comedian Anthony Anderson.

Ron Harper Jr., Dylan Harper and Ron Harper of Team Harper, along with Team All-Star's Richard Hamilton, Chet Holmgren and Scottie Barnes were eliminated after the first round.

Teams had 70 seconds to score points while rotating through seven designated shooting locations around the court, with all three players on a team shooting at each spot in a set order.

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Miami Heat forward Keshad Johnson celebrates after dunking during the slam dunk contest at the NBA basketball All-Star weekend festivities Saturday, Feb. 14, 2026, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

Miami Heat forward Keshad Johnson dunks during the slam dunk contest at the NBA basketball All-Star weekend festivities Saturday, Feb. 14, 2026, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

Miami Heat forward Keshad Johnson gets the winner's trophy from Julius Erving after winning the slam dunk contest at the NBA basketball All-Star weekend festivities Saturday, Feb. 14, 2026, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

San Antonio Spurs forward Carter Bryant dunks during the slam dunk contest at the NBA basketball All-Star weekend festivities Saturday, Feb. 14, 2026, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

New York Knicks guard Jalen Brunson participates in the shooting stars competition at the NBA basketball All-Star weekend festivities Saturday, Feb. 14, 2026, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

New York Knicks forward Karl-Anthony Towns and guard Jalen Brunson celebrate during the shooting stars competition at the NBA basketball All-Star weekend festivities Saturday, Feb. 14, 2026, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Queen Latifah attends the 3-point contest at the NBA basketball All-Star weekend festivities Saturday, Feb. 14, 2026, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

Charlotte Hornets guard Kon Knueppel shoots during the 3-point contest at the NBA basketball All-Star weekend festivities Saturday, Feb. 14, 2026, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Philadelphia 76ers guard Tyrese Maxey shakes hands with competitors during the 3-point contest at the NBA basketball All-Star weekend festivities Saturday, Feb. 14, 2026, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Portland Trailblazers guard Damian Lillard hols the winner's trophy after the 3-point contest at the NBA basketball All-Star weekend festivities Saturday, Feb. 14, 2026, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

Phoenix Suns guard Devin Booker reaches for the ball during the 3-point contest at the NBA basketball All-Star weekend festivities Saturday, Feb. 14, 2026, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Portland Trailblazers guard Damian Lillard holds the winner's trophy after the 3-point contest at the NBA basketball All-Star weekend festivities Saturday, Feb. 14, 2026, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — Seven players were ejected from Saturday’s game between No. 17 St. John’s and Providence after a fracas resulting from a hard foul by Friars forward Duncan Powell on Bryce Hopkins sent the Red Storm star crashing to the ground.

St. John’s coach Rick Pitino, who led Providence to the 1987 Final Four, was in the middle of it, trying to hold back his players. But several of them entered the fray as it drifted toward the Red Storm bench.

“You’re not supposed to come off the bench, but you can’t let your players get beat up,” Pitino said after the 79-69 victory gave the Red Storm its 11th straight win. “You can’t fight. Back when I was the Kentucky coach we fought almost every SEC game, and it was not a big deal. But you can’t fight any more, so toughness has to come between the lines.”

The game was delayed by nearly 20 minutes while the referees sorted out the punishments: Four St. John’s players were booted along with two from Providence, and by the time the Friars got the ball back they had watched a one-point lead turn into a four-point deficit. A third PC player was ejected after another hard foul later in the game.

“I feel like we responded in the best way possible,” said St. John's forward Zuby Ejiofor, who anticipated a frigid reaction for Hopkins in his first game back since he transferred from Providence. “Coming into this game we knew exactly how rowdy this environment was going to be — not only for him, but for all of us. We knew it was going be tough. You have to have a great mindset to come in here and win, and I think that’s what we did.”

St. John’s led by as many 13 points in the first half, but the Friars rallied in the second to take a series of one-point leads and had a 40-39 edge with 14:25 left when Hopkins — who played three seasons in Providence — went up for a fast-break layup and was raked across the head and face by Powell’s arm, taking him to the ground.

Providence coach Kim English didn't like the foul, either.

“There’s a time to foul hard. There’s a time to foul a poor free throw shooter hard. That’s fouling to not let them get the ball above their head. Fouling their arms. It’s a good, clean basketball play. A good hard foul. You don’t want to give up ‘and ones,’” English said. "He had plenty of opportunity to get in front of him, just playing straight up."

Hopkins, who was booed during warmups and cheered when he missed shots, got up and moved toward Powell but was held back and guided away by his former teammate, Friars forward Oswin Erhunmwunse. Others in the game got involved and the players from the nearby St. John’s bench couldn’t be held back any longer.

The pushing and shoving continued while coaches, referees and security tried to break it up. Referee Nathan Farrell appeared to be favoring one arm the rest of the game.

During the delay, players for both teams warmed up at their baskets. As the refs updated the coaches on their decision, the fans broke into a chant of “Duncan Powell!” and then cheered for Providence guard Jaylin Sellers as he was led down the tunnel.

He was soon joined by Powell. According to a pool report, Powell was ejected for a Flagrant 2 foul and issued a technical foul for fighting and Sellers was ejected for a dead ball flagrant foul; Mitchell was kicked out for a dead ball flagrant technical and the other three Red Storm players were ejected for leaving the bench.

The pool report said the conference will review the game to see if additional penalties are warranted.

Pitino began his postgame media availability by saying with a smile, “We’re getting out of here before the fans beat the coaches up.” And he ended it by joking, “Get me (Big East Commissioner) Val Ackerman on the phone.”

In between, he chastised a reporter for asking Ejiofor about the fight, saying, “We’re not going to address that; let the league address it. If you want to talk basketball, talk basketball. You write what you saw. Don’t ask my players that.”

Hopkins made two free throws, then St. John’s Oziyah Sellers made one of two and followed it with a layup for a five-point play that gave the Red Storm a 44-40 lead. After a Friars miss, St. John’s Dylan Darling hit a 3-pointer for a seven-point lead and the Red Storm were never threatened again.

“I thought we came out really good in the second half,” English said. “And the scrum happened, I thought, at a bad time for us. We got the lead, we’re up 1 ... and then everything else ensues.”

Tensions flared again with five minutes left after a hard foul by Erhunmwunse on Ejiofor. That was ruled a common foul, but Providence fans under the basket got the Red Storm players riled up enough for the referees to step in and PC forward Jamier Jones was ejected in the aftermath.

“The crowd lost objectivity of what they’re here for,” Pitino said. “If they’re just here to poke fun at Bryce Hopkins and not get a win for the Friars, that’s not the Friars I remember in '87.”

This story has been corrected to show that Jones was ejected from the incident with five minutes left.

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St. John's forward Dillon Mitchell, left, a game official and cheerleaders fall as a fight broke out during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game against Providence, Saturday, Feb. 14, 2026, in Providence, R.I. (AP Photo/Mark Stockwell)

Providence forward Duncan Powell (31) is escorted off the court after getting ejected following a fight during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game against St. John's, Saturday, Feb. 14, 2026, in Providence, R.I. (AP Photo/Mark Stockwell)

A game official separates St. John's coaches and players after a fight broke out during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game against Providence, Saturday, Feb. 14, 2026, in Providence, R.I. (AP Photo/Mark Stockwell)