For the first time in his career, Gordon Hayward spent the NBA All-Star weekend as part of the main event as a Western Conference All-Star, and it was the experience of a lifetime for the Brownsburg, Ind. native.

Gordon participated in the All-Star Weekend Skills Challenge, finishing second, and he played part in the West’s 192-182 win over the Eastern Conference.

“The biggest thing I’m going to take from it is being around the guys and knowing that I belong here,” Gordon said. “Just being out there and interacting with the guys made it all worth it. I had a lot of fun, and this has been a great weekend.”

G-TIME SHOWS SKILLS

It was a fun experience early in the weekend for Gordon, participating the Skills Challenge, which displays a player’s ball-handling, passing, fast-break speed and 3-point shooting. In the first two rounds, Hayward had to come from behind against two quick, athletic guards in John Wall and Isaiah Thomas by making the final 3-point shot to advance him to the final round.

“I thought for sure Isaiah would’ve beat me then,” Hayward said. “I was way off, but he just happened to miss. I actually thought I was going to lose in the first round, but John missed then, too.”

The pace picked up in the final round, and Gordon and New York’s Kristaps Porzingis were neck-and-neck, but the Knicks big man hit his first 3-point attempt to take the win. Even with a finals appearance, the competitor in Hayward wasn’t satisfied with second place.

“It was all right, but second place is the first loser,” Hayward said. “I wish I would have won.”

After the excitement of Saturday night, Gordon was just ready to suit up for the big game on Sunday night.

“I’m definitely ready to get to the game, that’s for sure,” Hayward said. “It’s all gone by so fast. I feel good physically, and this weekend has been a lot of fun. Tonight was fun too, so I’m just taking it all in. Tonight was one of the best parts of the weekend.”

THE MAIN EVENT

Gordon scored eight points with two dunks and two layups. The two stacked rosters neared 200 points each in the exhibition contest.

“I was nervous the first time I went out there,” G-Time said. “It’s almost like you don’t know what to do. Am I playing defense, do I run back, do I not run back? But it’s all just good fun. It was just cool being out there, hanging with everybody.”

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After leading the NBA’s best defense all season long, it was surely an adjustment for Gordon, as evidenced by his four steals, which tied Wall for a game-high.

“I didn’t know that — I guess I was playing more defense than I thought,” Gordon said. “I’ll take it.”