Sacramento's Tyreke Evans scored 26 points and San Antonio's DeJuan Blair added 22 with 23 rebounds as the NBA rookies notched a rare win over a second-year squad Friday as part of the All-Star festivities. The sophomores had won seven straight editions of the Rookie Challenge and eight of 10 since the format pitting first-year against second-year players was adopted in 2000. This year, however, the rookies triumphed 140-128. Russell Westbrook of Oklahoma City scored 40 points for the sophomores, but he was one of seven players on the second-year team to lose for the second year in a row - after being defeated as a rookie last year. Evans, the league's top-scoring rookie and 14th overall with an average 20.3 points a game, made 11 of 15 shots to go with six rebounds and five assists. Halftime was enlivened by the first-ever “Dunk-In,” a new competition to earn a spot in Saturday's slam dunk contest. Toronto rookie DeMar DeRozan won, defeating Los Angeles Clippers guard Eric Gordon. DeRozan earned 61 percent of the votes from fans, who voted online and by text message. In the slam dunk competition he'll go up against defending champion Nate Robinson, Charlotte All-Star Gerald Wallace and Lakers guard Shannon Brown. The weekend's activities culminate with the All-Star game Sunday, where officials expect to set a basketball attendance record at Cowboys Stadium, the new state-of-the-art home of the Dallas Cowboys NFL team. Hall of Fame finalists Two-time NBA Most Valuable Player Karl Malone, six-time titlist Scottie Pippen, and the 1992 Dream Team were named Friday as finalists for the Basektball Hall of Fame. Nineteen finalists were announced Friday at the start of the NBA's All-Star weekend. The class of 2010 will be announced on April 5 in Indianapolis before the NCAA collegiate championship game. The 1992 Dream Team, the first Olympic team to include NBA players, romped to victory in Barcelona with an average victory margin of 43.8 points. The side was nominated in the “team category.” Eight members are already in the Hall of Fame as individuals, and seem likely to be joined by at least two more - Pippen and Malone. Malone was the NBA's MVP in 1997 and 1999 and finished his career as the league's number two scorer with 36,928 points. He never won a title, because Pippen's Bulls teams blocked the path both times Malone's Utah Jazz made it to the Finals. Pippen teamed up with Michael Jordan to win six championships in the 1990s. Also nominated in the team category are the 1960 Olympic gold medal-winning side, led by Hall of Famers Jerry West and Oscar Robertson that won its games in Rome by an average 42.4 points per game. Returning finalists include Chris Mullin, another Dream Teamer, Dennis Johnson, coach Don Nelson and four-time WNBA champion Cynthia Cooper.
