Team Pacers wins 2024 Kia Skills Challenge

It took a pair of tiebreakers, but the hometown Team Pacers came away with the hardware at the 2024 Kia Skills Challenge.

The home team always wins.

This was the third straight year in which the Kia Skills Challenge at 2024 State Farm All-Star Saturday Night was a team event, and it was the third straight year in which the home team won. After the Cavs and Jazz each won on their home court, it was Team Pacers — Tyrese Haliburton, Bennedict Mathurin and Myles Turner — taking the crown in 2024.

It was also the third straight year in which the contest was determined in a half-court-shot, tie-breaker round. The Pacers won the first two rounds, each worth 100 challenge points. Team All-Stars — Scottie Barnes, Tyrese Maxey and Trae Young — then dominated the shooting round, which was worth 200 challenge points.

The All-Stars began the tie-breaker round, but needed 58.8 seconds to make a half-court shot. The Pacers took their time and still beat that time by more than 20 seconds, with Haliburton ending the competition with a swish.

The Pacers won first round by finishing the three-man relay in 1:07. The All-stars set the pace with a time of 1:18, but Barnes had fumbled the ball out of bounds and Maxey went the wrong way around the first pylon. Team Top Picks – Paolo Banchero, Anthony Edwards and Victor Wembanyama — couldn’t beat that mark, running out of time when Edwards’ first two corner 3-point attempts went off the side of the backboard. The home team then ran a relatively clean relay, with all three Pacers making their first corner 3 and Haliburton finishing off the run by tossing a through-the-legs alley-oop off the backboard to himself.

The passing round came down to a tie-breaker between Team All-Stars and the Pacers, who both finished their initial pass-through 74 points. The All-Stars began the tie-breaker with a new record of 90, only for the Pacers to top it with 92, ignoring the two-point goal and just alternating between the four and the six.

— John Schuhmann

2024 Participants:

> Team PacersTyrese Haliburton (Pacers), Bennedict Mathurin (Pacers), Myles Turner (Pacers)

> Team Top PicksPaolo Banchero (Magic), Anthony Edwards (Timberwolves), Victor Wembanyama (Spurs)

> Team All-StarsScottie Barnes (Raptors), Tyrese Maxey (76ers), Trae Young (Hawks)