NBA Skills Challenge: Cavs defeat Warriors to win title after early controversy
Cleveland Cavaliers players Donovan Mitchell and Evan Mobley defeated the hometown Golden State Warriors on Saturday to win the 2025 NBA Skills Challenge in San Francisco, California.
Team Cavs completed the on-court obstacle course in 1-minute in the final round, topping Draymond Green and Moses Moody. Mitchell and Mobley cruised through the passing, shooting and dribbling drills, while Green stumbled through the chest-passing portion, which sealed the win for the Cavs.
The two All-Stars narrowly advanced out of the opening round after beating Zaccharie Risacher and Alexandre Sarr by just 1.2 seconds. They followed Team Rooks and knew the time needed to beat to punch their ticket to the championship round.
TEAM CAVS (MOBLEY & MITCHELL) ARE THE 2025 #KiaSkills CHAMPS 🏆 pic.twitter.com/blkOMl2v5G
— NBA (@NBA) February 16, 2025
The field was narrowed down when Team Spurs were disqualified from the competition after Chris Paul and Victor Wembanyama intentionally missed their 3-pointers and free throws. They opened the contest with a recorded time of 47.9 seconds, which was the fastest time of any team.
Paul was visibly frustrated with the disqualification and launched a courtside petition to allow their time to stand. However, the decision was confirmed because the players competing must have three valid shot attempts to remain in contention and advance to the next round.
CP3 and Wemby were DISQUALIFIED after trying to hack the NBA Skills Challenge 😭 pic.twitter.com/lXoyha5IQ4
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) February 16, 2025
The strategy by Team Spurs, which Wembanyama said was his idea, received loud boos from the fans at the Chase Center and a thumbs-down by Mitchell. But Mitchell admitted afterward that had Team Spurs not been disqualified, they likely would have used the same method to try to win.
"I don't regret it," Wembanyama said. "I think it was a good idea.'
This article originally appeared on Rookie Wire: NBA Skills Challenge: Cavs win title, defeating Warriors, Rooks, Spurs
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