to use Cingrani out of the bullpen once he gets back in form. "With a healthy starting fiv

NEW ORLEANS - Shortly after hoisting his second Slam Dunk trophy, this one hell have to share, Terrence Ross was stunned to hear that the contests format change was not especially well received. "It was one of the best shows ever," said the Raptors guard, disagreeing with the critics. "Its really what people wanted to see. You couldnt see those dunks without three players on the court so it worked out for the best I think." The Slam Dunk Contest - the pride and joy of All-Star Saturday Night - adopted a team concept this year, pitting the three participants from the East against the Wests trio in a two-round showcase. It was, for all intents and purposes, a bust. In the final round, a head-to-head session, the team from the East - consisting of Ross, John Wall and Paul George - defeated the West in a clean sweep. It was an unorthodox victory for Ross, who only threw down one dunk, outside of the initial freestyle round. "Hey, a wins a win," the sophomore said, elated after the competition came to an end, not unlike most in attendance and watching from home. "Im gonna take it either way. Ive never lost a dunk contest at this point so Im happy." The real champion, assuming anyone can really be considered a winner after that performance, was John Wall, who was awarded the fan vote for Dunker of the Night. Wall capped off an anticlimactic evening with the only real jaw-dropping dunk, leaping over Wizards mascot G-Man, taking the ball out of his hands and completing a two-hand reverse jam to seal the Easts victory. Off the top, each team had 90 seconds to work together and complete as many dunks as they could. The team dynamic, allowed the dunkers to collaborate and be creative in their attempts. Ross and the East took advantage, while the West - with Damian Lillard, Harrison Barnes and Ben McLemore - ate up nearly a third of their allotted time before converting a notable slam. To call it organized chaos would be putting it mildly. Mostly, it was a disjointed mess with an occasional highlight, a couple from Ross, who put down a reverse to open the contest. The battle round had promise but lacked any semblance of rhythm or flow, as actual dunks were few and far between. Just as it started to come around, it ended abruptly. Lillard led off the proceedings - competing in his third event of the night - facing Ross, who brought along a friend and colleague for assistance. With last years trophy in hand, Raptors global ambassador Drake accompanied Ross on the floor to the tune of Started from the Bottom. Ross, wearing a boxing robe as he entered, would miss his first two attempts before eventually taking the ball from Drake, putting it through his legs and throwing it down with the opposite hand. As it turns out, Drake was a late substitution for Ross teammate and original assistant. "At first I knew the dunk I wanted to do and then I was like, DeMar (DeRozan) is going to do it," said the Raptors sophomore. "And then I was like, let me ask Drake because that would be a little better fit with him being the global ambassador, so I said that might work. I had fun with it, he was willing to help in any way he could." In the end, Ross was happy with the format change and embraced the chance to team up rather than go at it alone. "We got to throw off the shot clock, the backboard, bounce it off the ground," he said. "It was fun, everybody loved it." Ross maintained the team concept allows participants to be more creative, giving each of them a greater opportunity to come up and execute something new. For that reason, he believes the format should be here to stay. "It was fun, just coming up with certain things. I was trying to see if we could throw it off the jumbotron and see if we could do something like that but they said that would probably break it." Format changes encapsulated the entire night, certainly not what the league was going for. The Skills Challenge also had participants competing in teams for the first time. DeRozan - who was paired with Bucks rookie Giannis Antetokounmpo - more than held his own, sinking the chest pass on his first attempts and nailing the jump shot from the top of the key in two tries. His partner needed three tries to complete the pass and as a result, they were eliminated in the opening round, bested by Michael Carter-Williams and Victor Oladipo by 1.7 seconds. That pair would go on to lose to Lillard and Trey Burke by a tenth of a second in the finals. Former Raptor Marco Belinelli, the eventual winner of the Three-Point Contest, would not have made it past the first round if not for a new twist which allowed for one entire rack filled with money balls. He went on to defeat Wizards guard Bradley Beal in a tie-breaking round. 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CINCINNATI, Ohio -- Left-handed reliever Sean Marshall will have surgery on his left shoulder, which has bothered him for the last two seasons and repeatedly landed him on the disabled list. The Reds wont know how long hell be sidelined until doctors operate on the shoulder next Tuesday, manager Bryan Price said. Cincinnatis set-up man was on the disabled list twice last season with shoulder problems. He opened this season on the DL with a sore shoulder and was activated on April 19. He went on the 15-day disabled list last Saturday with more soreness. The Reds moved him to the 60-day DL on Friday. "There are some issues in there that arent going to get better through strengthening and stretching and inflammatory work," Price said. "He needs surgery to get those things corrected. Once he has the surgery, well have a better idea about a course of action and how long it will take before we can expect to see him again." The Reds also optioned left-hander Tony Cingrani to Triple-A Louisville on Friday and called up right-hander Jumbo Diaz before the start of their interleague series against the Toronto Blue jays. Cingrani is 2-8 with a 4.55 ERA in 11 starts and two relief appearances. He lost his spot in the rotation when Mat Latos returned from the disabled list and wasnt sharp in his two relief appearances. The left-hander has struggled since his stint on the disabled list because of a sore sshoulder earlier this season.dddddddddddd The Reds are planning to use Cingrani out of the bullpen once he gets back in form. "With a healthy starting five, thats where Tony can help us best this year," Price said. "Weve seen him pitch very efficiently at times out of the bullpen." Right-handed reliever Jumbo Diaz was called up to take Cingranis spot. It will be his major league debut following 12 seasons and 340 appearances in the minors. The 30-year-old pitcher got up to 340 pounds last season, but reported to spring training at 278 pounds. He was the closer at Louisville hoping to finally get a promotion. "Sometimes, you have some thoughts (about quitting)," Diaz said. "You wake up and youre like, Im working hard every day and I dont get the call, but you have to fight it because you never know when the call is going to come. I said, If I keep working hard every day and playing hard every day, someday Im going to get the call." Teammates congratulated him on his long-awaited promotion when he walked into the clubhouse on Friday. "I was so excited," Diaz said. "I stopped and looked around and said, Oh, my God. This is what Ive been waiting for for a long time." Also on Friday, the Reds transferred right-hander Trevor Bell to the 60-day disabled list and reinstated right-hander Brett Marshall from the 60-day DL and optioned him to Louisville. ' ' '