Sullinger and Olynyk both start, play well in rising stars game


NBA All-Star weekend kicked off Friday in New Orleans in exciting fashion with the BBVA Rising Stars Challenge. Both Jared Sullinger and Kelly Olynyk started in the front-court for team Webber, alongside hometown hero Anthony Davis. It was team Hill that ended up victorious, but both young Celtics played well in the game.

Sully and Olynyk were both in the starting lineup, and played a fair share of their minutes together. Kelly finished with nine points in 25 minutes, shooting 4-of-5 from the field while dishing out two assists and grabbing three steals in a game that lacked defense to say the least. Sully only played 20 minutes, but dropped 13 points and dished out four helpers. Jared wasn't shy, he hoisted up nine 3-pointers in the game, connecting on three of them.

Basketball really had nothing to do with why Olynyk was in the spotlight during the broadcast though. Chris Webber often compared the rookie to Fabio, due to his fantastic hair which is becoming Olynyk's claim-to-fame.

The game was really a joy to watch as a basketball fan, from an offensive standpoint at least. Here are some of the crazy highlights on the night:

The final score was 142-136. . . they only played 20 minutes halves.

Andre Drummond won the game's MVP with 30 points and 25 boards (a rising stars game record)

The featured presentation however, was Tim Hardaway Jr. and Dion Waiters going head-to-head burying 3-pointers in each other's faces late in the game.

There was a stretch where Hardaway (16) and Waiters (15) had 31 of the game's last 33 points.

Hardaway finished with 36 points (7-of-16 from downtown) in only 24 minutes. Waiters dropped 31 of his own (4-of-6 from outside) while playing a mere 21 minutes.

Trust me when I say the highlights of the battle are worth watching.



Follow Julian on Twitter @julianedlow

See more of Julian's articles here