NEW ORLEANS — With his dad — who was named a finalist for the Basketball Hall of Fame for a second year in a row — watching from the stands, Tim Hardaway Jr. finished with a game-high 36 points for Team Webber, which lost 142-136 to Team Hill in the Rising Stars game Friday night.
“You’ve got to enjoy the moment, embrace it and go out there and have fun,” Hardaway said. “That’s what I was trying to do, just go out there and have fun and just soak up all the energy that the fans were giving us.”
The score of the game wasn’t the story afterward, however, as the duel down the stretch between Hardaway and Cavaliers guard Dion Waiters took center stage.
Beginning with two free throws midway through the second half, Hardaway went on to score 24-of-36 points during one stretch, and 26 of the final 48 points for Team Webber as he and Waiters took turns knocking down one deep 3-pointer after another.
“We were just trying to do a great job of getting the fans involved,” Hardaway said. “It was kind of dead in there, and we just wanted to just start something, a little one-on-one battle here and there.
“It was great. We saw the fans standing up, saw [Kevin Durant] and James Harden on the sideline getting into it, as well. So it was great.”
The two’s duel was not accidental, as Waiters had told Hardaway he was looking for payback after Hardaway made a 3-pointer in the dying seconds of the Knicks’ blowout win over Cleveland at the Garden late last month.
“He came down and made a shot, I came down and made a shot,” said Waiters, who finished with 31 points to lead Team Hill. “Once the crowd got into it, I knew it was on. But I let him take them. … I let him take them.”
It seemed as if both players were trying to shoot from farther back than the other each time down, as they traded 3-pointers on two straight possessions before Waiters stole the ball from Hardaway and made another one.
For as well as Hardaway played, though, he wasn’t the only player from New York to impress. Nets big man Mason Plumlee also excelled, finishing with 20 points, seven rebounds, an assist, four steals and a blocked shot.
“I wish we could’ve won,” Plumlee said. “It was fun to play, but I’m glad it wasn’t a blowout.”
Plumlee also tried to keep Team Webber in the game late, combining with Hardaway to score 40 of the team’s final 48 points. But he said even he couldn’t help but watch Hardaway and Waiters go back and forth against each other.
“He really, really got going,” Plumlee said of Hardaway with a smile. “Him and Waiters were putting on a show. But I think that’s great for the game. Sometimes these games, I played in them in high school, and they can get really ugly when no one is into it.
“It’s fun to see Shaq up on the sidelines, and see those guys getting into it. I thought it was good for the game, and it made it more fun to play in, honestly.”