Warriors’ Richardson wins dunk contest

Philadelphia With a last-second reprieve, Golden State’s Jason Richardson won the NBA’s slam dunk title.

Richardson bounced the ball to himself, then flushed down a two-handed windmill reverse to score a 49 and beat Gerald Wallace, 85-80, in the final to cap All-Star Saturday.

“It was something new, like a windmill into a backward dunk,” Richardson said. “That was only my second time doing that dunk, and I think it worked out pretty good.”

Needing a 47 to beat Wallace, Richardson initially tried a different dunk, but he lost the ball bringing it between his legs. There was a brief discussion over whether the attempt was valid, and for a moment it appeared one of the NBA’s premier events was going to end with a whimper.

But, after conferring with a league official, referee Scott Wall gave Richardson another chance, and the league got its big finish.

“I didn’t bring the ball up,” Richardson said. “They tried to say it was an attempt, but it wasn’t because it didn’t go toward the basket.”

Kings’ Stojakovic three-point champ

Philadelphia Sacramento forward Peja Stojakovic beat Cleveland’s Wesley Person in a 24-second playoff to win the three-point shootout with 21 points Saturday at All-Star weekend. Stojakovic was 5-of-15 for a total of nine points in the playoff. Person made just three shots for a total of five points.

Dallas’ Steve Nash finished third with 18 points. Boston’s Paul Pierce and San Antonio’s Steve Smith tied for last with eight points.

Sacramento wins inaugural Hoop-It-Up

Philadelphia The star of “Ed” helped win another trophy for Sacramento. Tom Cavanagh was the celebrity member of the Kings team that won the inaugural Hoop-It-Up tournament at All-Star Saturday, although he was on the bench when Hedo Turkoglu hit the game-winning three-pointer that beat Philadelphia 12-9 in sudden-death overtime in the championship game. The event replaced 2ball and featured four teams comprised of an NBA player, a WNBA player, a former NBA player and a celebrity.

Rookies turn back sophomores, 103-97

Philadelphia A funny thing happened in the second half of the NBA’s rookie-sophomore game: The rookies started playing defense.

In a game known for sloppy play and schoolyard moves with passive resistance, coach Chuck Daly managed to convince his team to start making the sophomores work for their shots. The result was a tide-turning 13-2 run to start the half as the rookies kicked off All-Star Saturday with a 103-97 victory.

Overseas expansion possible, Stern says

Philadelphia The NBA is looking anew at international expansion and could have more than one franchise based overseas by the end of the decade, commissioner David Stern said Saturday.

“It wouldn’t surprise me that at the end of the decade there would be a very strong NBA international presence on the ground,” Stern said.