Atlanta ? Jason Richardson won his second straight All-Star slam-dunk contest Saturday night, using a soaring between-the-legs approach on his final attempt to score a perfect 50 and beat Desmond Mason.

“I knew if I got the last dunk, I could win the contest,” said Richardson, a budding standout for Golden State.

The 6-foot-6 Richardson received a 50 on three of his four attempts to defeat Mason of the Seattle SuperSonics, who won the competition in 2001. The score for the final round was 96-93.

The 6-foot-5 Mason applied the pressure starting off the second round. He drove for the basket, took the ball between his legs and then dunked left-handed to get his first perfect score of 50 from the five judges.

Richardson answered with a 46 when he caught the ball off the floor, went under the basket and double-clutched before slamming it home.

Mason missed on his next attempt, but under the rules he was allowed another try. He took off along the baseline and double-clutched before slamming it home for a score of 43.

That gave him a two-dunk total of 93 and meant Richardson needed at least a 48 to retain the title.

He got it. And more.

Richardson bounced the ball in front of him, caught it as it rose off the floor and, just as he reached the basket, took the ball between his legs and slammed it home left-handed.

When he landed, he raised his arms in triumph as five 10’s went up from the panel of judges.

Rookie Amare Stoudemire of the Phoenix Suns and Richard Jefferson of the New Jersey Nets were eliminated after the first round with respective scores of 79 and 74. Richardson had 100 in the first round and Mason 90.

Each player was allowed two dunks in each round, with a maximum score of 100 and a minimum of 60 per round. Players could replace one missed dunk each round, and Stoudemire missed twice in the first round.

Judges were all former dunk champions — Dominique Wilkins, Michael Jordan, Spud Webb, Julius Erving and Dee Brown.

Richardson won $25,000 and Mason $15,000.