H-O-R-S-E came down to a three-point shootout from the top of the key due to time constraints and despite a truly valiant effort from Rajon Rondo, Kevin Durant took the competition for the second year in a row.
Check out the full blog transcript after the jump. It was an exciting contest. Especially once Rondo was only one shot away from elimination. He definitely stuck with Durant longer than most people probably expected him to. Does this mean Rondo can shoot threes? Well, let's not get ahead of ourselves. But it was definitely an exciting contest down the stretch. Sorry for the minor hysteria towards the end the end of the recap, but it was pretty thrilling towards the end of the contest.
Be sure to check back later during the three-point shoot out. Our guy, Paul Pierce is participating of course, so I'll have another live blog up and running. Good luck to Paul.
Update #1: All three competitors (Rondo, Kevin Durant, Omri Casspi) had to attempt a backwards, between the legs, underhand shot from the top of the key. All three missed. Rondo and co. all have "H".
Update #2: Who says Rondo can't shoot? Rondo buries a jumper from the "HORSE" logo on the right side of the court, about five or six feet behind the three point line. Casspi misses badly. Durant and Rondo both have "H".
Update #3: Rondo missed a standing behind-the-backboard shot. Durant's in the lead with "H".
Update #4: Who says Rondo can't shoot free throws? Rondo banks in the freebie. Durant still in the lead with "H".
Update #5: Rondo can't hit the shot off the shot clock.
Update #6: Rondo buries a jumper from the corner out of bounds. Pressure's on Casspi.
Update #7: At the second television commercial, Durant has "H", Rondo has "H-O" and Casspi has "H-O-R". Rondo's showing some surprising long range accuracy. Perhaps Durant's caught off guard by that...
Update #8: Rondo can't hit the one-handed backwards over the shoulder shot from half court...
Update #9: Rondo banks it in off his right leg. Bring it Casspi.
Update #10: Rondo can't toss it in off the scorer's table. On the plus side, Rondo appears to be the fan favorite...
Update #11: At the third commercial break the score hasn't changed. Durant's leading with just "H", while Rondo's in a close second with, "H-O", and Casspi's bringing up the rear with "H-O-R".
Update #12: Rondo tries spinning it on his finger and putting it off the glass, but the ball had too much spin on it...No letter for Rondo though.
Update #13: Rondo buries the jump shot with a 10-year old in his face. Take that Durant.
Update #14: Rondo matches Durant's "tap it off the left hand side of the glass and bring it around to the right for a reverse layup" shot. For the record, that was a horrible description of that shot...
Update #15: At the fourth commercial break the score is still the same. Durant has "H", Rondo has "H-O" and Casspi is hanging in there with "H-O-R". Now, TNT's set to have a pre-game show at 8:00pm. Are they even going to be able to finish this contest?
Update #16: Rondo once again can't hit the layup after spinning it off his finger. Way off on the second attempt.
Update #17: Rondo can't bank it in from the elbow...
Update #18: Durant blows the between the legs reverse layup, so Rondo's now tied for the lead with "H-O".
Update #19: Rondo hits nothing but net from the right hand corner. Casspi misses, so he's stuck with "H-O-R-S". Charles Barkley just called him Omar and was completely serious.
Update #20: Rondo matches Durant's three-pointer from the right hand wing. Casspi misses and is OUT. It's now between Rondo and Durant.
Update #21: Here's where we stand. Casspi is out, so it's now between Rondo and Durant. Both have "H-O", but because this contest is taking longer than TNT anticipated, the contest is about to come down to a three-point shoot out from the top of the key. Now, most would favor Durant in such a contest, but Rondo's been burying long range shots from all over the court so far. This could get interesting...
Update #22: Kevin Durant is such a mama's boy...Just kidding KD.
Update #23: Rondo goes between the legs and brings it up on the left hand side. Durant gets it to go as well.
Update #24: We're in a shootout now. Rondo misses, KD makes it. Rondo with "H-O-R".
Rondo and KD both make their second attempts. And their third.
Rondo's got "H-O-R-S" and Durant's just burying them.
Rondo stays alive, but Durant just isn't missing...
Both guys are on fire. Rondo can't miss again or he loses.
RONDO'S STILL IN IT!
THIS IS INSANE! RONDO'S HANGING WITH KD. AND KD MISSES..."H-O-R" FOR KD.
BOTH GUYS ARE JUST ON FIRE RIGHT NOW.
Darn it. Rondo misses. Durant wins, but Rondo hung with him. Give him some credit.