Kings guard De’Aaron Fox had a big lead in Skills Challenge, but then he lost it

Kings point guard De’Aaron Fox just missed in his bid to advance in the Skills Challenge on All-Star Saturday Night at the Spectrum Center.

Fox went into the event as the favorite, but he was eliminated in a tough first-round matchup with Atlanta Hawks rookie Trae Young after missing his first 3-point attempt.

“I was really trying to win,” Fox said. “I’m really mad, but I’m hiding it inside.”

Young went on to reach the finals and opened a big lead over Jayson Tatum of the Boston Celtics, but Tatum prevailed when he made a half-court shot to win it.

The Skills Challenge is an obstacle course in which eight contestants — four frontcourt players and four backcourt players — compete in head-to-head matchups in a bracket-style tournament testing their ball-handling, passing and shooting abilities.

Each participant must dribble through four obstacles, pass the ball into a net, dribble up court to make a layup and then dribble back down court to make a 3-pointer from the top of the arc. The first player to make the 3-pointer wins.

The field featured Fox, Young, Tatum, Mike Conley of the Memphis Grizzlies, Luka Doncic of the Dallas Mavericks, Nikola Jokic of the Denver Nuggets, Kyle Kuzma of the Los Angeles Lakers and Nikola Vucevic of the Orlando Magic.

First-round matchups were determined in a blind draw by Minnesota Timberwolves star Karl-Anthony Towns and rapper Ludacris. Fox was matched with Young.

Big men took home the title two of the past three years. Towns won it in 2016. Kristaps Porzingis won in 2017.

Point guards have not fared as well as expected in an event that seems tailor-made for them, but Kings guard Buddy Hield expressed confidence in Fox, who went in as the odds-on favorite.

“I think he has everything,” Hield said. “He has the quickness. He has the passing ability. All he has to do is make that shot. That shot is the biggest thing about it. Once he gets past that, I think he’ll be fine.”

That’s where Fox’s evening went awry. Fox and Young were even through the obstacle course, but Fox opened a lead after Young needed all three attempts to make the pass.

Fox raced down the floor with the first shot at the 3-pointer, but his shot hit the front of the rim. Young quickly made up for lost time, streaking down the floor to meet Fox at the 3-point line.

Fox put up his second 3-point attempt just before Young released his first, but Young’s shot had a lower trajectory and reached the rim first. Young’s shot dropped through the net a fraction of a second sooner, ending Fox’s evening.

“I see his ball go in and then mine went in, and I was like, ‘Oh, my God,’” Fox said. “I wanted to go out there and win it, (but) it was great. It was a little nerve-racking because I was really trying to win it, but I went out there and had fun. I made the shot, but he made it a split second before me.”